Universal Health Coverage
ISSUE SUMMARIES
Issue summaries provide a quick reference to Centrists.Org general principles and most important links, within each topic area.
Health (Basics) Health Home Page...
Detailed Issue Summary: Universal Health Coverage
Sub-Categories:
Tax Credits vs. Public Programs
Refundable, Advanceable Tax Credits
Large-Scale Coverage Proposals
Individual Mandates
Medicare for All, Single-Payer Proposals
Employer Mandates to Provide and Finance Coverage
Public-Private Purchasing Pools
Employers As Administrators, "Pass Through" Agents
Transitional Coverage for the Unemployed
Medicaid or SCHIP Expansions
Family Care (Parents of SCHIP Enrolled Children)
Proposals to Raise Poverty Thresholds
Medicaid "Fill In" Proposals For All Under Poverty
Medicare "Buy In" Expansions
"Stay In" Private Coverage Proposals For Medicare Beneficiaries
Charts: Uninsured Now 45 Million, 2004 Health Insurance Premiums Up 11.2 Percent
revised 09.09.2004 || Last month, the Census Bureau reported that the number of people without health insurance rose by 1.4 million in 2004, to 45 million. This morning, the Kaiser Family Foundation announced an 11.2 percent increase in health insurance premiums in 2004.
Policy Report: Senator Kerry's Health Proposal -- Prospects for Bipartisanship?
Report in .PDF format (easier to print)
08.25.2004 || Senator Kerry's proposal avoids the usual pitfalls of Democratic health reform efforts. Several elements of the plan are likely to attract on-going bipartisan support, regardless of who wins the election. Modified versions of Kerry's plan could be scaled to fit the budget, with costs ranging from roughly $200 billion over 10 years to $700 billion or more.
Rising Health Costs Reduce Wage Growth
07.29.2004 || This morning's new Employment Cost Index data contain three lessons: (1) in dollar terms, wages are growing at the slowest pace in 20 years, (2) adjusted for inflation, wage growth is falling again, and (3) rising health costs are one reason wage growth is so sluggish.
Commentary and Outline: Senator Frist's Health Reform Proposal
revised 07.19.2004 || Between Senator Frist's new plan and Senator Kerry's campaign proposal, we have a coherent framework for bipartisan action on health costs and coverage.
A Constructive Conservative Approach on Health Coverage for Small Business
06.21.2004 || A new report by the Heritage Foundation's Stuart Butler exhorts conservatives to improve employer-based coverage, not reject it. This is good practical advice, and it should help reduce the fear factor that sometimes accompanies conservative health ideology.
Commentary: Cover the Uninsured? Not This Week
05.11.2004 || What a joke. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is allegedly spending $100 million to publicize "Cover The Uninsured Week." Meanwhile, Congress re-hashes old failed dead proposals and the Bush Administration offers nothing of consequence.
Understanding Health Coverage Policy in Washington -- The Borg vs. the Klingons
03.29.2004 || Remarks by Jeff Lemieux to the Consumer Directed Health Care Conference, Spring 2004, Las Vegas. Historically, national health policy has been dominated by the galactic struggle for and against socialized health insurance. Liberals are the Borg; Conservatives are Klingons.
The Durbin-Lincoln Small Employers Health Benefits Program (SEHBP)
revised 03.04.2004 || A bill introduced today by Senators Richard Durbin and Blanche Lincoln would create a new version of the popular Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) for small businesses.
Kerry's Health Care Populism -- How Deep? CentristPolicyNetwork.Org)
02.27.2004 || In an interview in Businessweek, Senator Kerry offers an explanation for his populist health care rhetoric.
Expanding the Health Care Tax Credit (CentristPolicyNetwork.Org)
10.06.2003 || Expanding the Health Care Tax Credit (HCTC) to all unemployed workers would be an affordable "next step" on the path toward health coverage for all Americans.
From Transitional to Universal Health Coverage
09.24.2003 || A step-by-step approach that builds from "transitional" health insurance for the unemployed toward a more general system of tax credits and purchasing options that would substantially reduce the number of uninsured.
California Bill Gives Universal Coverage Efforts a Bad Name
09.07.2003 || By casting employers as the sole solution to health coverage crisis, the bill will mobilize the business community in opposition. As a result, the California effort is likely to be a setback for bipartisan national efforts to cover the uninsured.
Two Promising Approaches to Expanding Health Coverage
revised 07.21.2003 || A Senate proposal for transitional coverage for the unemployed and a new House bill creating health insurance subsidies for low-income families are politically feasible and analytically praiseworthy.
A State-By-State Approach to Universal Health Coverage
07.06.2003 || Economists Henry Aaron and Stuart Butler propose a federalist, state-by-state approach to end the deadlock on universal coverage.
CBO Releases New Estimates of Number of Uninsured
05.12.2003 || CBO's new estimates of the number of uninsured imply a two-part strategy: (1) transitional coverage for people between jobs, and (2) permanent coverage for low-income workers.
A Bipartisan Compromise on Transitional Health Coverage
revised 04.28.2003 || A simple plan to cover 3.5 million unemployed workers.
Commonwealth Fund's Surprisingly Relevant Universal Coverage Proposal (CentristPolicyNetwork.Org)
04.26.2003 || Are liberals finally proposing realistic paths toward universal coverage?
