Speak Out As If Our Lives Depended On It

Micah Weinberg at the New America Foundation offers an alternative to the "public vs. private" insurance programs being offered by health care reform advocates. The crux of the debate is whether opening up Medicare to the uninsured represents a real solution or a kind of socialized medicine.

But Weinberg calls it a "false choice:"

Health care reform could offer Americans a choice of a public insurance plan that competes fairly with private plans. In basic terms, this fair competition would have three critical ground rules: equality under the law, self-sufficiency and free choice. Equality under the law means that all regulations apply equally to all plans, public and private. Self-sufficiency means that all plans cover their own costs. Free choice means that those who cannot afford insurance will be given government subsidies to choose either a public or private insurance plan.

He also proposes looking to several states, which have successfully created public-private partnerships to offer plans insured by the state. We have had a lot of success with public-private partnerships, including our work with Healthy San Francisco and a collaboration in Los Angeles to open a trauma center at California Hospital Medical Center after the closure of Martin Luther King/Drew Medical Center.

In the end, we have to agree with his final assessment:

Falling back on easy answers in this debate is a hard temptation to resist. From one side we hear, "We should just let the free market work," from the other, "We should have a single-payer system … like Canada."

The problem with these simple slogans is that neither reflects the reality of the challenges that we must face if we are to end the health care crisis and restore the strength of our economy. We must call upon each side of this debate to work together toward a practical solution. Though it is difficult to make the voice of moderation heard, we must speak out as if our lives depended on it.

Because in the case of health care policy, they actually do.

This has been our mantra for some time now. It will take the best minds from many fields to make health care reform a reality, but it's imperative that we do so. Our president/chief executive officer, Lloyd Dean, will be in attendance at the White House Health Care Summit in Los Angeles on April 6th and we'll continue to advocate for a health care system that provides affordable health insurance to all.

 

Care for the Uninsured via Hospital Taxes

Today in Missouri Governor Jay Nixon proposed a tax on hospitals to help fund coverage for the uninsured. Under the proposal, the parents in a family of four who earn 50 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $11,025, would be eligible for coverage. The state's current plan calls for coverage for parents who make 20 percent of the federal poverty level, or $4,410 a year:

Hospitals pay a 5.25 percent tax that helps the state draw more federal funds. That rate is expected to go to 5.4 percent next year. Missouri's 152 hospitals would contribute $52.5 million, allowing the state to receive $93 million in federal matching funds.

While Nixon portrayed his plan as new, it actually had only one new feature: Hospitals would chip in $15.5 million more than they had proposed in Nixon's January budget.

In other words, the Missouri Hospital Association had already agreed to put $37 million toward coverage for low-income parents. The money comes from state and federal funds that hospitals receive for caring for the uninsured.

Hospitals "are going to be better off" because people with insurance could get preventive care, said Nixon's budget director, Linda Luebbering. "They're not going to show up in the emergency rooms uninsured."

We have supported a four percent fee on hospitals in California to help ensure greater coverage and increase federal matching funds for Medi-Cal. The issue, from our perspective, is bringing the cost of health care into the realm of the realistic so that more people have the coverage they need. For meaningful health care reform to be implemented we're all going to have to give a little.

Sound Off - Is Health Care a Right or a Privilege?

We're strong believers that access to health care is a fundamental human right. But not everyone agrees, including some doctors.

Deciding this question may be the true core of the health reform debate in the U.S. today. BNET described the issue back in 2003, and Maggie Mahar over at the Health Care Blog waded into the murky waters of the "rights vs. privilege" language last year.

We've made our position known. What do you think?

Understanding the Health Reform Debate

The focus is back on health care reform following President Barack Obama's Health Care Summit in Washington D.C. this week.

A number of sites have posted great information to help people understand where we are in the debate process and what to expect. The very excellent The Daily Beast visually summarizes the current state of the health reform debate, and the New York Times' Eric Etheridge tallies up the blogosphere's reaction to the Summit.

Our President/CEO Lloyd H. Dean spent time earlier this week in the nation's capital meeting with members of Congress on the importance of health care reform. We expect much of the coming debate to focus on costs - both how to reign them in and how to pay for universal coverage. We're committed to working with our nation's leaders on a solution that delivers compassionate care to all in need.

U.S. Health Reform Website

The Obama Administration has launched a new website - www.healthreform.gov - to bring together the many voices calling for health care reform in the U.S. Check out the site, add your voice to the discussion, and state your support for health reform this year.

We have long been advocating for health care reform at the local, state, and federal levels. We believe that access to care is a fundamental human right, not a privilege. Our legacy as a champion for the poor and disenfranchised includes co-developing the Healthy San Francisco Program providing health care for all city residents, and working with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and California’s leaders in championing efforts to achieve state health reform.

Given the impact of the economic crisis on Americans and safety net providers, the need for health reform is greater than ever. We believe sustainable health reform will be characterized by four principles:

• Universal Access.We believe every person has the right to be treated with dignity, including the right to high quality, compassionate health care.
• Stable Financing.We believe a health care system that provides universal coverage to all people must include a financing structure that ensures reliable, long-term access to care.
• Improved Quality.We believe quality must become the primary focus for measuring the adequacy of the health care system.
• Improved Accountability.We believe local, state and federal governments need to take greater responsibility for ensuring health care is fully available, adequately financed and of the highest quality possible.

Washington Health Care Summit

President Obama is hosting close to 150 members of Congress & health care experts at Health Care Reform Summit in Washington D.C. 

You can watch the action on CSPAN.

Breakout sessions on health care policy have just concluded. Starting at 4pm ET, the President will have concluding remarks and discussion with the participants.

The Health Care Crisis Hits Home

Karen Tumulty talks about her cover story in Time magazine:

Like most journalists, I do my best to operate in a comfort zone of detachment. But the subject of my cover story in the upcoming edition of TIME is one about which I won't claim the slightest bit of objectivity. It is about my brother Patrick. Last summer, he found out his kidneys were failing; a few weeks later, he found out his health insurance wasn't going to pay for his treatment.

I used to think I was something of an authority on health care; I've covered its policy and its politics for 15 years. But when my family took its own trip through the frustrating maze that is this country's health care system, I discovered how much I had to learn. Health problems are behind half the bankruptcies in this country, and three-quarters of those bankrupt people had health insurance when they got sick. Just about anyone could be one diagnosis away from catastrophe. My editors decided to put this story on the cover not because it is so extraordinary, but because it is so common, and becoming more so every day.

So please read this story. And after you do, go find your health insurance policy and read it, too.

(via Andrew Sullivan)