Health Care Policy Roundtable proposes wrong solution
Health Care Policy Roundtable
Press Release
May 10, 2004
Four Million Uninsured Workers to be Given Access to Affordable Health Care
by Coalition of Fortune 500 Companies
More than 50 Fortune 500 companies have joined forces to give an estimated
four million uninsured working Americans access to affordable health insurance coverage.
Specifically, members of the Affordable Health Care Solutions Coalition have
agreed to pool their affiliated uninsured workers and dependents to create a
single group currently estimated at four million people nationwide. They include:
- part-time employees;
- contract and temporary workers;
- independent agents, consultants, and vendors;
- pre-65 retirees who do not have group options;
- employees currently in a waiting period;
- COBRA participants who have exhausted their 18-month coverage; and
- students who are no longer eligible under their parents’ health care
plan.
The coalition will then seek bids from health plans, ultimately selecting one that will offer health insurance coverage at a lower cost than what is currently available in the individual insurance market and with fewer barriers to entry.
“We are aiming to work with one health plan to create a series of coverage
choices at different prices that can be tailored to fit a wide range of budgets, from low-income part-time workers to highly compensated full-time
independent contractors not covered by a company plan,” explained Greg A.
Lee, senior vice president, human resources, for Sears, Roebuck & Company
and chairman of the Affordable Health Care Solutions Coalition.
http://www.hcpr.org/press/2004/pr_051004.asp
Executive Summary of the Leadership Action Plan on the Uninsured:
http://www.hcpr.org/docs/2004/Executive_Summary.pdf
Comment: The Health Care Policy Roundtable, representing many of the nation’s largest corporations, has acknowledged that the nation is facing a crisis in health care costs and coverage. The members recognize that this unstable situation will result in change, and they have decided to take a leadership role in crafting change that presumably would have the least negative impact on their corporations. Without intervention, surely the government would take over.
The current proposal purports to be a solution to obtaining coverage for sectors of our population who face affordability and underwriting barriers to coverage. They propose creating a single group to provide access to the better coverage and lower costs of group plans.
There are a couple of major problems with their proposal. The insurance coverage will have to be paid by the individuals themselves or perhaps by former employers or small business owners. Adverse selection will likely reduce or eliminate any negotiating advantage in premium pricing, and the insurance products will still be unaffordable for the overwhelming majority of these individuals, even without adverse selection.
Recognizing this affordability issue, they propose creating “a series of coverage choices at different prices that can be tailored to fit a wide range of budgets.” An affordable premium is not of much value if the insurance product purchased is so devoid of benefits that it does not provide financial security for those who have or may develop significant health care needs.
A proposal for unaffordable premiums and inadequate benefits is yet another
non-starter. We will not have health care reform until we accept the fundamental principle that risk must be distributed equitably through a common pool, and that pool must be funded in an equitable manner.
If the Health Care Policy Roundtable wants to serve as a moral voice in leading the nation to health care reform, then they’d better go back to their table and draw up plans for a universal, comprehensive, equitably funded system. In fact, they don’t even have to do the work. We’ll hand them the proposal.