Ceasefire on Health Care:
Finding Common Ground for the Uninsured

Senator John Breaux is spearheading a national campaign titled, “Ceasefire on Health Care: Finding Common Ground for the Uninsured,” in an effort to stimulate dialogue with leading Republican and Democratic policymakers and advocates in order to develop meaningful, incremental reform to the nation’s health care system. The reality is that incremental reform is the road to health care improvements at least over the foreseeable future. Therefore, Ceasefire applauds bipartisan efforts to address the uninsured, and encourages legislative action on policies with broad support. It is time for policymakers to take action where common ground exists.

Affordable Access to Health Insurance is a Problem

The implications of not having health insurance are obvious: uninsured children and adults suffer worse health and die younger than those with insurance, often delaying care and diagnosis of potentially treatable conditions. But, the societal costs are not so obvious. Society is paying for the care of the uninsured through federal, state and local taxes to support government compensation of hospitals and clinics that provide services to the uninsured. Insured patients also feel the cost-shift of caring for uninsured patients through their private insurance premiums. As such, allowing the uninsured problem to continue is not a very good deal for uninsured and insured patients alike.

Potential Common Ground Exists

Health Insurance Tax Credits: The uninsured problem is circular: the costs of treating the uninsured are shifted to other payors through increased premiums, while increasing premiums create added barriers to health insurance for individuals and families. In 2003, over 8 in 10 uninsured individuals came from working families - 70% from families with one or more full-time workers and 12% from families with part-time workers. Unfortunately, these working adults and families often do not have access to affordable health insurance due to their low income (two-thirds earn less than 200% FPL). Tax credits would provide an incentive for these working adults and families to purchase health insurance in the private market, potentially resulting in fewer uninsured patients, less cost shifting, and lower premiums.

Cover the Kids: Over 27 million children are currently covered by the Medicaid or State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). However, despite recent upswings in Medicaid and SCHIP coverage for children, there are still huge numbers of eligible beneficiaries who remain unenrolled. These children are not getting the basic medical treatment and preventative care that they are eligible to receive, and efforts should be made to enroll these children and protect the health and welfare of our youngest and most vulnerable Americans.

Community Health Centers: Community Health Centers (CHCs) are the primary source of health care for many of the impoverished and uninsured people in the United States. The CHC Program is a federal grant program funded under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act to provide for primary and preventive health care services in medically-underserved areas. CHC’s have received widespread, bipartisan support among policy-makers as a way to provide much-needed health care services to underserved rural and urban communities.

High Risk Pools: High risk pools can also play an essential role. They provide health insurance for individuals with serious medical conditions. Furthermore, high risk pools help to stabilize the rest of the insurance market by placing these individuals in a separate insurance pool.

Ceasefire on Health Care: Continuing the Dialogue

Several events are scheduled to elevate the uninsured discussion and promote finding common ground:

  • June 28, 2005, 11:30am, Sheraton Capitol Center Hotel, Raleigh, NC: Leadership Forum on Critical Health Care Issues
  • June 29, 2005, 12:00pm, Rayburn B340: Panel with Congressman Robert Menendez and Congressman Joe Schwarz
  • July 21, 2005, 8:00-9:30am, National Press Club: Dialogue between Senator Clinton and Former Speaker Newt Gingrich
  • August 10, 2005, 11:00am, Atlanta, GA: National Community Health Center Week event with Senator Johnny Isakson
* The “Ceasefire on Health Care” campaign is sponsored by American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies and made possible by Pfizer Inc.