Proposal of the Health Coverage Coalition for the Uninsured
Expanding Health Care Coverage in the United States: A Historic Agreement
Health Coverage Coalition for the Uninsured
January 18, 2007
Signatory organizations:
AARP, America’s Health Insurance Plans, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association , BlueCross BlueShield Association, Catholic Health Association, Families USA, Federation of American Hospitals, Healthcare Leadership Council, Johnson & Johnson, Kaiser Permanente, Pfizer, UnitedHealth Group, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
A diverse group of 16 major national organizations with an abiding interest in accessibility to quality health care have reached a consensus on policy approaches to expand health coverage to as many people as possible as soon as possible.
Phase I: The “Kids First” Initiative and State Experimentation
Public Program Enrollment
…improve enrollment of children who are uninsured but currently eligible for SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) and Medicaid.
Family Tax Credit
…creates a new family tax credit for the purchase of children’s health coverage…
State Demonstration Program
…establishes a state demonstration program giving states flexibility to experiment with new approaches that expand health coverage. Competitive grants would be provided to the states…
Phase II: Longer-Term Policy Recommendations
Public-Sector Proposals
…allow states to eliminate family status as an eligibility requirement and determine eligibility for Medicaid coverage based exclusively on financial need.
Private-Sector Proposals
Make… tax credits available for individuals and families with incomes between 100 and 300 percent of the federal poverty level for the purchase of health coverage. …graduated on a sliding scale based on income.
Provide federal grants to states in order to provide health coverage for high-risk populations.
Coalition’s home page:
http://www.coalitionfortheuninsured.org/
The “Historic Agreement:”
http://www.coalitionfortheuninsured.org/pdfs/agreement.pdf
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
What a tragedy. Health care coverage, affordability and access are rapidly deteriorating at an accelerated pace, and this is the best that this coalition of influential organizations can come up with.
They propose moving reform forward a couple of inches when we are sliding thousands of miles backwards.
You can cross this group off your list.