Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Announces Proposal To Expand Health Insurance To Two-Thirds Of Uninsured Residents

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 25 Jan 2008 - 5:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association officials on Wednesday announced a five-point proposal that seeks to expand health insurance to two-thirds of the 47 million U.S. residents who lack coverage, CQ HealthBeat reports. The proposal focuses on private and public cooperation; incentives, rather than mandates; and improvement of the current health insurance system, rather than new forms of coverage.

According to Mary Nell Lehnhard, senior vice president of the Office of Policy and Representation at BCBSA, the proposal seeks to revise the health insurance delivery system, rather than only expand access to coverage. The proposal would reimburse health care providers based on quality standards developed by a third party, help providers and members adopt and use electronic medical records and establish a national database of the claims experiences of 80 million members.

In addition, the proposal recommends actions that the federal and state governments should take in conjunction with the plan. The proposal recommends the establishment of tax credits, health education programs and a Comparative Effectiveness Research Institute to determine the cost and viability of different medical treatments.

BSBSA President and CEO Scott Serota did not disclose the cost of the proposal or possible revenue sources for the tax credits. Serota said, "We believe the best approach is to build upon the current employer-based system -- a system which is working today" (Cooley, CQ HealthBeat, 1/23). He added, "As much as 30% of the care given today is ineffective, redundant or inappropriate" (Edney, CongressDaily, 1/23).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.