The Washington Post reported concerning news this morning, with an article noting the number of uninsured children rose from 2004 to 2005, the first time since 1998.  Here’s an excerpt:

For the first time since 1998, the number of children younger than 18 without health coverage ticked upward last year by 361,000, along with the overall increase in the ranks of the uninsured, according to census figures released last week. Of the nation’s nearly 74 million children, about 8.3 million, or 11.2 percent, lacked coverage in 2005, up from 10.8 percent the year before.

The discouraging development surprised some health experts, who attributed the change to budget crunches that led some states to curtail enrollment of children in government-subsidized plans and steady declines in the number of people who receive health insurance through their jobs.

This health trend only emphasizes the urgent need for incremental, market-based solutions to expand the role of State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIPs), an idea that Ceasefire has consistently promoted.  SCHIPs and Medicaid have been successful so far in covering millions of children who otherwise would be neglected by rapidly rising health care prices.  But the fact that millions of children cannot obtain health care should be of concern to all Americans.

As legislative action ramps up again in the nation’s capital, it is time that federal policymakers work together to make sure SCHIPs remain financially feasible for working families across the country. 

Click on the link below to hear a podcast from former presidential press secretaries Mike McCurry and Ari Fleischer, in which they discuss their thoughts on how to effectively communicate the benefits of programs like SCHIPs.

An editorial in the Washington Post yesterday calls the increase in Americans without health insurance, as indicated in the Census Bureau’s report Tuesday, “particularly striking because it took place despite a strong economy.”  As the piece indicates, one concerning trend is the increase of uninsured working Americans.  Here’s an excerpt:

Poor Americans remain far more likely than rich ones to be without insurance. But the decline of insurance coverage among the middle class reflects pressures that weaken the system for everyone, and that are likely to get stronger. As health care has grown more sophisticated, health spending per American has doubled since 1975 in inflation-adjusted terms, driving up insurance premiums correspondingly. As a result, small companies and self-employed people think twice before buying insurance; companies that hire mainly young and healthy workers, or self-employed people who are young and healthy, frequently decide that insurance is not worth paying for. This exit of inexpensive patients from insurance pools drives up premiums for patients who remain, forcing yet more exits. Because of this vicious cycle, insurance for small firms or individuals grows prohibitively expensive. Add in the trend toward self-employment and the outsourcing of work to small contracting firms, and you can see why the traditional health insurance market is allowing a growing number of workers to fall through the cracks.

The Bureau’s Web site indicates the number of uninsured Americans has increased from 45.3 million (15.6%) in 2004 to 46.6 million (15.9%) in 2005.  View Health Insurance Coverage: 2005 on the Bureau’s Web site.  Inevitably, increasing numbers of uninsured Americans means a greater burden on taxpayers and those with health insurance through premiums.  Removing barriers to health insurance accessibility is not only the right thing—it’s also the smart thing.

Through incremental, market-based reforms, much can be done to combat this trend and cover those who will otherwise be left without insurance.  Helping to making insurance plans affordable through health insurance tax credits could be a viable way to start this process.

Click here to listen to Ceasefire spokesperson former Senator John Breaux on Massachusetts’ new health insurance plan:

Today Ceasefire joins federal officials in observing the one-year anniversary of one of the most devastating natural disaster in our nation’s history.  In the days following Katrina’s Gulf Coast landfall, Americans braced themselves for reports of the rising death toll, largely the result of the effects of the hurricane, rather than the hurricane itself.  Even with advance notice, America was largely unprepared for a storm of Katrina’s magnitude.  All the challenges in providing basic health care services revealed just how vulnerable—and in need of upgrading—our system is.

Ceasefire spokesperson former senator John Breaux, who is from Louisiana, understands the lessons of Katrina as well as anyone.  Assembling thought leaders and policymakers, Breaux continues to advocate for the modernization of health information technology (HIT) so that a health care disaster such as Katrina never happens again.  For many of those displaced, medical records on paper were swept away with the floodwaters, leaving doctors with no accurate history of conditions or treatment.

Over one year ago, Senator Hillary Clinton and former Speaker Newt Gingrich, appearing in an early Ceasefire program found common ground on the key issue of health information technology.  Much of what they agreed on during that July 21, 2005 appearance resonates today in New Orleans.  Had New Orleans had an HIT program in place, hundreds of thousands of displaced patients today would have access to their medical information, assisting doctors—not only in New Orleans, but also dozens of other cities where the displaced of New Orleans settled—in addressing their medical concerns.

In this election year, we will likely hear competing partisan theories over who’s to blame for the Katrina response shortcomings.  But as with most political finger-pointing, the effect is to divide rather than find solutions.  As we honor those who lost their lives, let’s save the rhetoric for history books and work now to rebuild the health care infrastructure of Louisiana and Mississippi.  Possibly, the health care disaster that was Katrina will lead others to understand how important acting on health information technology, and other incremental, market-based health care reforms will be.

The Washington Post posted an article Wednesday on an executive order President Bush signed Tuesday to encourage the sharing of information on health care services among and between four federal agencies—Defense, Personnel Management, Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs. Here’s an excerpt:

Under the order, the four agencies must establish programs to measure quality of care, a complicated and controversial task that officials said could take years. Beneficiaries must also be able to see the prices that the agencies pay for common medical procedures, to develop and identify practices that foster high-quality care, and, whenever possible, to use compatible computer systems and electronic health records to help track a recipient’s medical care and condition. The changes must be underway by Jan. 1.

“If you have an ATM or a credit card, you can use it anywhere in the world and it works, because it’s interoperable. Everybody competes but uses the same system, basically, to transact their affairs,” Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt told reporters aboard Air Force One.

“Health care isn’t like that. Roughly 85 percent of all health-care records are still paper. So a part of what we’ll be talking about today is the interoperability of systems that manage health records.”

One key issue addressed here is the promotion of health information technology (HIT), a bipartisan issue that Ceasefire hopes will gain momentum in Congress in the coming months. A recent Ceasefire podcast discusses the need to modernize health records, including live highlights from a Ceasefire forum with Senator Hillary Clinton and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Listen to the Clinton-Gingrich podcast:

Last year for the Ceasefire campaign, top pollsters Geoffrey Garin (D) and Bill McInturff (R) conducted identical, partisan polls to determine Americans’ top health care priorities [view QuickTime video clip].  Two of the most important reforms respondents identified included 1) providing better preventive health care to all Americans (73%) and 2) helping control the amount of out of pocket health care costs (70%).

Congress can start to address these issues by supporting computerization of medical records and interoperability between software platforms.  One Ceasefire event in 2005 with Senator Hillary Clinton (D) and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R) addressed these issues [view QuickTime video clip], referencing the Institute of Medicine’s claim that 98,000 lives are lost every year because of “preventable medical errors.”  Senator Clinton suggested many of these deaths are the result of inefficiencies in a system in need of an upgrade, and former Speaker Gingrich agreed. 

Modernizing our health care system is an ideal that transcends party lines.  The ways in which we gather and compare health information has indeed come a long way, but there are still too many unnecessary technological shortcomings doctors and patients must endure that impede quality health care.  We have the technology—it’s only a matter of implementing it and reducing our dependence on old, inefficient methods of collecting and sharing information.  Having accurate records readily available electronically (while protecting privacy, of course) will not only help reduce medical errors, but also help physicians guide their patients’ lifestyle choices in order to avoid preventable illnesses.

Initial costs for streamlining the system will likely be significant, but the costs associated with doing nothing are far greater.  One report from earlier this year from Health Affairs asserted that “fully standardized HIEI [health care information exchange and interoperability] could yield a net value of $77.8 billion per year once fully implemented.”  These are the kind of savings that will start in hospitals and find their way into health plans, ultimately benefiting consumers.

Be sure to look out for the Ceasefire podcast on August 30 as former White House press secretaries Mike McCurry and Ari Fleischer discuss White House health care communications and their views on the ability of Congress to drive incremental, market-based health care reform.

According to HHS, there are nearly 46 million Americans without health insurance, a problem we at Ceasefire believe can and should be addressed as soon as possible. Though there’s disagreement on how to cover the uninsured, both parties in Congress recognize that bipartisan steps, based on incremental, market-based principals, need to be taken to reform our system and better serve the American public. A lack of insurance for so many people means not only a less healthy population, but a burdened health care system that must incur unnecessary emergency room expenses and endure added bureaucracy for reimbursement. The cost of supporting such a large uninsured population also spills over to those with health insurance in the form of increased premiums. Doing nothing about this problem is a lose-lose situation.

What can be done now? First things first: let’s insure the health of our children. As perhaps the most vulnerable of Americans, our children should never be denied access to quality health care, especially of the preventive nature. Addressing preventable disease before it starts is good health care policy, and it increases the likelihood that our children will be healthier as they grow up. State children’s health insurance plans (SCHIPs) are a good place to start. Next year, SCHIP will be a principal topic of discussion within Congress since the program is slated for reauthorization in 2007, and the Ceasefire blog will delve more deeply in SCHIP in future postings.

Secondly, let’s work to create a system that can work for all Americans. Just this week, the Ceasefire podcast series featured commentary from former Senators Tom Daschle and Don Nickles about their views on “individual mandates” and “means testing” as possible ways to reform health care for the uninsured. Daschle and Nickles came together in agreement that although the Massachusetts’ plan to require residents to have some form of health insurance is not perfect, this may be a model that other states and even the Federal Government could consider as a way to reach incremental, market based health care reform. They also agreed that “means testing,” a process that can help determine if an individual is eligible for financial assistance, may be another way to reach common ground on health care reform. This is a prime example of bipartisan leadership on two issues that traditionally divide Democrats and Republicans.

Listen to the Daschle-Nickles podcast:

An important day is fast approaching for seniors and people with disabilities: November 15—the day Medicare beneficiaries will be able to enroll in the prescription drug program for 2007.  The enrollment period is exactly three months away, but those not currently enrolled in the program should start educating themselves now and considering their options.  

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ latest report on the benefit, more than 38 million seniors and people with disabilities now have prescription drug coverage, representing 90 percent of Medicare beneficiaries.  Ceasefire is pleased to know that seniors are saving, according to the report, an average of more than $1,000 per year on their prescriptions.  In a sign of the program’s popularity, a recent AP article on a study out of University of California Berkley indicated that 57 percent of the seniors surveyed said the program is “a major benefit.”

Ceasefire has always been a supporter of the benefit, commonly called Medicare Part D, because it represents the power of bipartisan, incremental, market-based collaboration.  Recognizing millions of seniors’ need for prescription medications, Republicans and Democrats came together in 2003 to approve this sweeping reform to Medicare.  Because of this effort, tens of millions of seniors and people with disabilities have been given access to much-needed medications for chronic conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arthritis, diabetes and many others.  Click on the link below to listen to a recent Podcast with former Senator John Breaux, who discusses the importance of the legislation and the cost savings it is offering seniors.

The program is not perfect, but it has been a very important step to help those in our society who are most in need of quality health care—our seniors.  Congress is currently in August recess, but we hope they’ll also take this time in their home states to encourage their eligible constituents to look into their options and take advantage of  the program if it’s right for them.  Congress made the drug benefit available to Medicare recipients, and it would be a shame if seniors did not take advantage of the program. 

Listen to Breaux’s podcast on Medicare Part D:

This week, Ceasefire salutes the selfless and steadfast efforts of the more than 1,000 community health centers across America. During National Health Center Week (August 6-12), health centers in all 50 states and U.S. territories are celebrating decades of care for those with low incomes and the medically underserved, who now total 15 million. The umbrella group overseeing these activities is the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), which works tirelessly to ensure that small, non-profit health centers have the resources they need to serve their communities. Visit NACHC’s Web site at http://www.nachc.org/ to find out more about what this organization does for health care for those Americans who need it most.

The work of community health centers embodies what we at Ceasefire believe to be important for all Americans: access to quality health care regardless of income. According to latest available data from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, more than 45 million people in this country live without health insurance, a problem recognized by both Republicans and Democrats. To be sure, it will take work from both parties to eliminate this reality, and we think working with health centers is a good place to start addressing these issues. Ceasefire was pleased to learn that a number of prominent policymakers are attending events this week at various health centers to recognize and honor their efforts.

Rep. Roger Wicker (R-MS) speaks at Byhalia Mississippi Health Center on Saturday.

Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) addresses a crowd at a celebration at Family Health Centers, Inc. in Orangeburg, S.C. on Monday.

The Helena, Mont. Independent Record posted an article Tuesday about National Health Center week, noting that NACHC “estimates that health centers save American taxpayers $7 billion per year by keeping people healthy and out of hospitals and costly emergency rooms.” That’s good news to us.

Welcome to the new Ceasefire on Health Care blog. If you’re looking for timely, relevant information on the most important health care topics facing our nation, you’ve come to the right place. Holding to Ceasefire’s mission, the goal of our online discussions is to encourage policymakers on both sides of the aisle to find solid common ground on health care reform.

Effecting meaningful policy change in Washington can be a slow, often tedious process, but Ceasefire believes there’s too much we all agree on to let incremental, market-based health care reform be blocked by political rhetoric. Bipartisan efforts are crucial to ensuring the best quality health care for all Americans.

The Ceasefire blog will feature meaningful discussion on recent health care news, covering topics important to Republicans and Democrats alike, including:

• Insuring the uninsured, especially children
• Medicare Modernization Act
• Health insurance tax credits
• Health information technology

The Ceasefire blog promises to be well-informed, lively and relevant to the most pressing health care topics at hand. Issues covered here will supplement our podcast series featuring a number of experts, including former Health and Human Secretaries Donna Shalala and Tommy Thompson and former White House Press Secretaries Ari Fleischer and Mike McCurry. We’ll also list recaps and previews of our recent and upcoming Ceasefire events. Read several articles from UPI, Kaiser Family Foundation and CQ HealthBeat from our July 24 event with Fleischer and McCurry.

Visit us every Tuesday and Thursday, when a new entry will be posted. We encourage reasonable debate from a variety of perspectives and always welcome our visitors’ commentary.