Conyers supports comprehensive care for all, while Bush supports greater rationing
Department of Health and Human Services
News Release
Jan. 31, 2003
Bush Administration Will Propose Innovative Improvements in States' Health
Coverage for Low-Income Americans
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced today that the President will
propose a sweeping new plan to enable states to improve health insurance
coverage for low-income Americans.
Secretary Thompson is consulting with governors in developing the new plan,
which would be optional for states. The plan would:
* Provide an estimated $3.25 billion in extra federal funding for Medicaid
in fiscal year 2004, with $12.7 billion in extra funding over seven years.
* Preserve comprehensive benefits for "mandatory" groups, while giving
states expanded flexibility to tailor coverage for "non-mandatory"
recipients and services.
* Encourage coverage for whole families, not just the children in a
low-income family.
* Support increased use of home and community based services for Americans
with disabilities.
Based on the successful SCHIP model that Congress adopted in 1997, as well
as successful innovations developed by states in their Medicaid programs
through federally-approved waivers, the proposal would give states
flexibility to simplify eligibility rules and tailor benefits to better meet
current beneficiary needs. For example, as in SCHIP, states could work with
private insurers and provide premium support for beneficiaries enrolled in
private plans.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20030131d.html
Comment: In tough economic times, the Bush administration is offering a 2%
"bonus" as a carrot to entice states to increase "flexibility" in their
programs for low income individuals. (The "bonus" is a loan that will have
to be paid back in years 8 through 10.) The rhetoric of the press release
fails to reveal the deviousness of this nefarious proposal. This is a
proposal to advance the administration's efforts to shift the costs of
health care directly to patients, not only in the Medicare program but now
also in the Medicaid and SCHIP programs.
"Flexibility" allows the states to cover individuals and benefits that are
not mandated by the Medicaid program, without significantly increasing the
overall costs (a goal necessitated by current state budget deficits). These
non-mandated individuals desperately need the coverage, but how can a larger
number of individuals be covered without significantly increasing funding?
It's simple; reduce benefits, and increase premiums, co-payments and
deductibles. In fact, for the two-thirds that are not mandated, provide a
"premium support" and turn them over to the private health plans with their
Spartan benefit packages and high patient cost-sharing.
So the Bush administration is adopting, as our national policy, a program to
ration health care for our highly vulnerable, low-income population by
erecting new financial barriers to that care! The current trend to shift
financial risk to patients will hardly be tolerated by average-income
individuals. But for these low-income patients, this scheme will effectively
block care for even the most modest of medical problems.
We suffer the disgrace of being the only nation that rations care based on
the ability to pay. And those with the least ability to pay now are to have
the greatest amount of rationing!
But there is a solution. Medicaid, being a publicly funded program for the
poor, will never have the political support it needs and will always be
underfunded. It must be eliminated. Including everyone in a single,
universal, public insurance program would assure continuous political
support with adequate funding to provide affordable, comprehensive care for
all of us.
On February 4, Congressman John Conyers will hold a press conference to
introduce the United States National Health Insurance Act. This bill
provides the solution we need.
United States National Health Insurance Act:
http://www.pnhp.org/docs/nhi_bill.pdf
Executive Summary of the Act:
http://www.pnhp.org/nhibill/nhi_execsumm.html