The House Republican Health Reform Alternative: Worse Than The Status Quo

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 06 Nov 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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The House Republican health reform proposal issued this week provides no meaningful protection for America's families and businesses, according to a report issued by the consumer health organization Families USA. The report asserts that the Republican bill promotes "old, discredited ideas" that are harmful to most families and businesses.

The report first describes protections needed by families and businesses that are absent in the Republican bill but are provided in the Democratic bill, such as:

- No protections against insurance company denials of coverage or discriminatory premiums based on pre-existing conditions.
- No protections against insurance companies spending disproportionately on marketing, paperwork, and profits rather than health care.
- No protections against unreasonable premium increases.
- No subsidy help to small businesses to make health coverage affordable.
- No subsidy help to make health coverage affordable for middle-class and moderate-income working families.
- No reduction of the "hidden health tax"-increased premiums paid by businesses and families to pay for the uncompensated health costs of the uninsured.
- No limitations on out-of-pocket costs when people need health care, thereby causing widespread accumulation of debt and many bankruptcies.

"The House Republican proposal provides precious little protection for America's families and businesses," said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. "The absence of protections against insurance company abuses would even embarrass the insurance lobby."

The Families USA report analyzes the provisions in the House Republican bill and finds that they constitute "old, discredited ideas" that would exacerbate America's health affordability crisis. Among the Republican proposals analyzed by the report are:

- The expansion of high-deductible Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), which creates incentives to delay or forgo primary care, will cause health insurance premiums to rise for people who need health care the most and promote regressive tax policy.

- The undermining of existing state laws designed to protect consumers against insurance company abuses.

- The establishment of discriminatory premiums, under the guise of promoting wellness, which would make health insurance premiums unaffordable for people most in need of health care.

- The promotion of rigid solutions to needed malpractice reform that fail to balance the interests of both consumers and health providers.

"The House Republican proposal would exacerbate the growing health care affordability crisis," said Pollack. "The proposal is one of the few bills introduced this year that is actually worse than doing nothing."

Source
Families USA

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