Hope for the Uninsured? Health Care’s Heavy Hitters try to Find Solutions

The Census Bureau reports that 45 million people went without health insurance in 2003, and that year the number of emergency room visits reached a record 114 million, increasing health care costs for everyone.

As the number of uninsured Americans continues to rise, the consequences become more dire: the National Academy of Sciences estimates that 18,000 adults die each year due to lack of health insurance; many uninsured children do not visit a physician regularly, resulting in disruptions in development and learning; and taxpayer dollars cover an estimated 85 percent of the more than $35 billion in unpaid medical expenses for the uninsured.

Neither The White House nor Congress has found a way to combat the problem due to philosophical rifts over the role of government as well as shrinking budgets at both the federal and state levels.

But unbeknownst to Capitol Hill, a group of health care heavy hitters has been meeting in secret, hoping to find some solutions.

Secret meetings

The New York Times reports that representatives from various sectors of the health care industry have been meeting secretly to create proposals that would help America’s uninsured.

The group includes top executives from groups with very different opinions and specialties, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AARP, the American Hospital Association, Families USA, the Heritage Foundation, the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the American Medical Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Johnson & Johnson, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Governors Association, Pfizer, and the Service Employees International Union.

The group kept its meetings hush-hush in order to avoid political pressure from Democrats, Republicans, and other lobbyists.

Possible solutions

The group plans to present proposals to Congress and the White House and then lobby for their implementation. They are deliberating these options:

• A federal requirement for parents to provide health insurance for their children until a certain age. Tax credits would be offered to parents whose children were not eligible for public programs like the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
• Workers without benefits would be allowed to ask their employers to withhold money from their paychecks for insurance--and forward it to insurers.
• New tax credits for small businesses and low-income individuals and families. The full credit would be sent directly to the insurer.
• Federal financial incentives for states to expand Medicaid to any adult with income below the poverty level (approximately $9,600 for an individual). States would be allowed to choose whether or not to participate.
• Expanding purchasing pools, in which individuals and small businesses buy their coverage together, therefore getting cheaper rates. The federal government would offer small grants to states to help them set up more of these pools.

Which of the above solutions makes sense to you? What would help someone you know who is uninsured? Whose responsibility is it to provide healthcare? Do you think it’s the employer’s responsibility? Maybe it should be the government’s duty? Should individuals shoulder more of the burden?

For more on health care solutions for the uninsured, click here.

What do you think?

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Posted on: 6/2/2005