FACT CHECK: Health Plan Proposals Would Help Small Businesses
Posted by The Campaign on August 31, 2009 at 2:48 PM
Helping small business owners be able to provide health insurance for their employees is a critical part of the reform debate. Health plans recognize this and have put forward several proposals that would help make coverage more affordable and accessible for small businesses and their employees.
Some of these proposals include:
Essential Benefits Plan: We propose the creation of new health plan options for small employers and their employees, as well as individuals. These “essential benefits plans” would be available nationwide and would include coverage for primary care, preventive care, chronic care, acute episodic care, and emergency room and hospital services. Alternatively, “essential benefits plans” should include coverage that meets an actuarial equivalence standard, along with the opportunity to include enhancements such as wellness programs, preventive care, and disease management. To maintain affordability, the essential benefits plan should not be subject to state benefit mandates that do not apply to the generally larger employers that enter into self-funded health care coverage arrangements.
Tax Credits or Other Incentives to Assist Small Business: We support the establishment of tax code incentives or other types of assistance that encourage both small business owners to offer coverage to their employees and employees to take up coverage. We recognize the special challenges, both administrative and financial, that small businesses face in offering contributions toward their employees’ coverage. Providing assistance can encourage these contributions and help enable employees to take up coverage which improves predictability and stability in the small group market.
Improving Coordination of Private and Public Programs: Premium or other assistance offered to low-income individuals and working families can be applied to and work with employer-sponsored coverage. This is important whether the assistance is provided through Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or other expanded programs designed to help individuals and families obtain coverage. Improved coordination allows workers to take up coverage offered by small businesses by leveraging both public and private sources of assistance, and benefits the firms’ employees as a whole by increasing rates of participation in the small group plan.
Reforms for Micro-firms: “Micro-firms” (those with fewer than 10 employees) face special challenges in offering coverage. Statistics show that only about one-third of these firms offer coverage. This reflects the administrative, financial, and logistical challenges many micro-firms face in setting up and establishing plans and offering and contributing to their employees’ coverage. To help these firms meet these challenges, enhanced tools could be developed that would allow those micro-firms that have found it impractical to offer coverage, to contribute to coverage purchased on a pre-tax basis by individual employees. As part of comprehensive health care reform, employees could then use these contributions to help purchase coverage in a reshaped health care system that combines an individual requirement to obtain coverage with reforms in the individual market.
One-stop information source: All small firms will benefit from collaborative efforts between health plans and the public sector (e.g., insurance commissioners) to ensure that small employers and individuals have one-stop access to clear, organized information that allows them to compare coverage options. This “one-stop shop” also could allow individuals to confirm eligibility for tax credits or other assistance and even provide a mechanism to aggregate premium contributions from multiple sources. By providing a mechanism to combine even modest contributions from multiple sources (public and private), this new one-stop shop could be especially helpful to employees who may hold multiple jobs.
AHIP's Statement on Senator Ted Kennedy
Posted by The Campaign on August 26, 2009 at 6:55 AM
AHIP's released the following statement from Karen Ignagni on the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy:
"Senator Edward Kennedy was America's health care champion. His contribution to health care policy is unmatched. AHIP and its members join the entire health care community in extending our thoughts and prayers to the Kennedy family."
Must See TV: AHIP's Robert Zirkelbach on Fox News
Posted by The Campaign on August 25, 2009 at 8:53 AM
AHIP's Robert Zirkelbach appeared last week on Fox News to discuss the latest developments in the health care reform debate and the House Energy & Commerce Committee's request for information.
Watch the video below:
Poll Vault: Forbes - Poll Patrol
Posted by The Campaign on August 24, 2009 at 6:49 AM
Forbes has an analysis of several recent surveys that have examined the public’s attitude about a government-run plan.
A key excerpt of the article notes that supporters of a government-run plan are “…on shaky ground when they claim a public option has strong support. It is soft at best.”
For the full analysis, click here.
ICYMI: GRP = Not Enough Votes
Posted by The Campaign on August 24, 2009 at 6:27 AM
In an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation", Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) said this about the government-run plan:
"...the public option does not have the votes."
To watch the full interview, click here.
ICYMI: Wall Street Journal - Insurers' Employees Counter Criticism
Posted by The Campaign on August 24, 2009 at 6:22 AM
The Wall Street Journal reports on the health plan community's grassroots efforts. Here is a key excerpt:
"Among the throngs of Americans crowding the sessions across the country, the industry employees come armed with talking points about the need for bipartisan legislation and the unintended consequences of a government-run health plan to compete with private insurers."
For the full article, click here.
MUST SEE TV: AHIP's Mike Tuffin on Fox News
Posted by The Campaign on August 20, 2009 at 4:51 PM
Fox News interviewed AHIP this morning to discuss reaction to the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s request for information from health plans.
ICYMI: Intrade Predicts GRP Headed for Defeat
Posted by The Campaign on August 19, 2009 at 2:37 PM
According to the Intrade market a public health insurance option looks set for defeat. Currently the market gives the initiative only a 32.0% chance of being passed into law.
Earlier this week the probability of a public option had sunk to just 14.0% after President Obama appeared willing to compromise and accept non-profit health cooperatives as an alternative to a government run health insurance plan.
FACT CHECK Redux: Putting Health Plan Profits in Perspective
Posted by The Campaign on August 19, 2009 at 2:00 PM
For every dollar our nation spends on health care, less than one penny goes towards health plan profits. A sincere cost-containment discussion would focus on the other 99 cents. Check out this document which sets-the-record-straight about health plan profits. Also, check out Fortune Magazine's recent industry profitability rankings. In 2008, health plans had a profit margin of 2.2% and are 35th on the list.
Check out this chart from the American Hospital Association examining health plans' profit margins from 1990-2006.
POLL VAULT: Doctors Oppose Government-run Plan
Posted by The Campaign on August 19, 2009 at 10:07 AM
The American Society of Medical Doctors today released a new poll on doctors' opinions about a government-run plan.
Here are some key findings:
66 percent believe that a government-run health insurance plan would restrict doctors' ability to give the best advice and offer the best care possible to their patients.
More than 60 percent would not accept new patients with government insurance (including 27% who would not accept any patients on the new government plan).
The head of the AMSD, Dr. Alfred O. Bonati had this to say "Doctors are against the creation of government-run health insurance and many of us will not accept new patients with that type of coverage."
Click here to view the results and click here to read the release.
