House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark (D-Calif.) held a hearing on April 15, 2008 to discuss ways to reform the health system. “America’s health system is broken,” he said, adding that every year more people join the ranks of the uninsured while others have inadequate coverage, rising premiums and increasing cost sharing. Stark said the hearing was a “first step” toward understanding the problem of the uninsured and identifying ways to address it.
At the hearing, Dave Durenberger, former Senator from Minnesota, produced ideas for reforming the system, such as creating a more efficient long-term care system. He also said that an individual mandate must be part of overall health care reform. “You have to tie it together with insurance reform,” he said. He added that the tax system should be adjusted to help the uninsured obtain coverage.
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Ranking subcommittee member Dave Camp (R-Mich.) noted that since 2000, employer-based health insurance premiums have increased by approximately 100 percent, or four times the rate of inflation. “These spiraling costs are driving increasing numbers of employers to drop health insurance coverage for their employees,” he said. Durenburger suggested a local health insurance purchasing cooperative to provide access to large group coverage at the local level.
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) said small businesses should be able to pool their resources to purchase health insurance. Durenburger, who has served on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, added that the employer “is a vital part” of the health care system and should not be left out.
Diane Rowland, executive director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, said nearly 47 million people lacked health coverage in 2006, two thirds of the uninsured are low-income and eight in ten come from families with a full- or part-time worker. Moreover, uninsured workers are more likely to work for small firms and in industries such as agriculture, construction, and services where fewer employers offer coverage, she said.
Source: CCH Washington Bureau, April 16, 2008.
For more information on this and related topics, consult the CCH® Medicare and Medicaid Guide.
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