Federation of American Hospitals
February 22, 2007
The Federation of American Hospitals today released a proposal to ensure health coverage for all Americans by building on what works in our system.
The plan, entitled “Health Coverage Passport” (HCP) would assist uninsured Americans who lack financial wherewithal to obtain coverage and assure all Americans access to the health coverage they need. At the same time, those with health insurance will be able to keep the coverage they have, and all Americans are expected to have coverage. With the adoption of the Federation’s Health Coverage Passport plan it is projected that 98 percent of Americans will be covered.
How It Works
* For the neediest, eligible individuals and families are enrolled automatically in Medicaid and state Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIPs), in coordination with other public programs.
* For lower-income individuals and families, HCPs cover the full cost of employer-based premiums. For those unable to get employer-based coverage, HCPs cover the full cost of premiums for comprehensive insurance purchased in a reformed individual insurance market.
* For moderate-income individuals and families, HCPs cover a portion of the cost of employer-based premiums (assistance is based on income). Those who are unable to get employer coverage must purchase insurance in the individual market and can choose either to (1) use an HCP to help pay premiums or (2) claim a tax deduction for premiums.
* For other Americans not offered employer coverage, insurance purchased in the individual market becomes tax deductible, creating equity with employer-sponsored plans.
http://www.fahs.com/passport/index.html
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
The Federation of American Hospitals represents investor-owned hospitals. Their plan would provide relief from the need to continue to provide uncompensated care, especially for lower-income individuals. No surprise here. The interests of the investors must be protected.
Their plan builds on the current fragmented system of financing health care. It would expand public welfare programs (Medicaid and SCHIP) and add an individual mandate to purchase private plans, if not offered coverage by employers. Health Coverage Passports would provide financial assistance for purchasing private plans, on a sliding scale based on income. Individual plans would become deductible for those not eligible for public plans or HCPs.
No attempt will be made to describe once again the policy deficiencies of individual mandates, welfare programs, means testing, vouchers, and regressive tax policies. Suffice it to say that their proposal would increase global costs, increase wasteful administrative complexities, perpetuate demeaning and underfunded welfare programs, fail to introduce cost containment efficiencies, while falling short of universal coverage. Particularly troublesome is the mandate for non-qualifying, moderate-income individuals to purchase coverage that would be inadequate if the premiums were to be affordable.
Some may find the “Side-by-Side Comparison” available at the link above to be of use in identifying differences in several of the current proposals, including those of John Edwards and Ron Wyden. Notably absent is the Conyers-Kucinich single payer “Medicare for All” proposal. If you add that column, you’ll see that single payer trumps them all.