National Federation Of Independent Business Recommends 10 Principles To Reform Health Care System
Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical InsuranceAlso Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 14 Dec 2007 - 11:00 PDT
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The National Federation of Independent Business on Wednesday unveiled 10 principles to overhaul the health care system, CQ HealthBeat reports. The principles -- which were developed after consultation with health experts from across the political spectrum -- include universal and affordable health care, NFIB President Todd Stottlemyer said (Straus, CQ HealthBeat, 12/12). However, the group said it opposes the creation of a single-payer system, instead favoring private insurance with a government safety net to help the neediest U.S. residents obtain coverage.
The group also expressed its opposition to proposals that require businesses to provide insurance for employees or pay into a fund for the uninsured. NFIB in a statement said that a "health care system built on employer mandates or on pay-or-play taxes is unacceptable." Susan Eckerly, a vice president for NFIB, said that business mandates "are the No. 1 job killer for the small-business owner" (Freudenheim, New York Times, 12/13).
The group believes that portability in health insurance is an important reform to health care. Potential entrepreneurs might not be able to launch a business if they feel tied to a job because of the health insurance, NFIB spokesperson Stephanie Cathcart said. In addition, the group said that the U.S. health care system should be competitive, transparent, efficient, unbiased and evidence-based. NFIB added that any reform to the current system should be implemented at a pace that gives small businesses adequate time to adjust. Cathcart said, "We're asking (presidential) candidates and members of Congress to use these principles as a starting point."
In related news, NFIB announced that it has joined with the Lewin Group to conduct a research initiative on policy options and preferences of small businesses about health care, Cathcart said (CQ HealthBeat, 12/12). Also on Wednesday, Mercer released a survey showing that 23% of small employers and 25% of large employers with 500 or more workers support pay-or-play proposals (New York Times, 12/13).
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.
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Play Or Pay Health Insurance: Every Man For Himself
posted by conoutofconsumer on 17 Dec 2007 at 5:35 amThe crushing impact of the health insurance industry is the combined effect of increased premiums for less coverage. While there are numerous proposals for saving costs in terms of premiums (high deductibles, lower contribution rates for employers, ever-widening groups excluded as "high risk"), the bargain basement approach does not address the other part of our health care crisis, less coverage, the COST of medical care from endless testing to actual treatment when necessary.
These costs should be the target of health insurance coverage and health care reform. The shift of how to "insure" the healthy on the cheap will not solve the inevitable cost of treating individuals when they are ill.
The idea of play or pay health insurance where companies can opt out of offering insurance to their employees by paying a certain amount of money is idiotic because it assumes that companies have been the "middlemen" between insurance companies and insureds. In fact, companies were originally supposed to use their bargaining power as a GROUP of individuals to negotiate a better insurance rate based on the increased customer base. While the trend is every man for himself, which will tend to equalize the cost of health insurance among comparatively equally healthy people, the ultimate effect of extreme cost for minimal coverage will ultimately INCREASE the number of uninsured as individuals realize that they can afford inoculations and general health exams and it will cost them less than thousands paid in premiums that will not cover them in the event of actual medical need.
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