Date Published:
18 January 2007 |
US Health care leaders announce ageement to help reduce the numbers of uninsured
Diverse organizations that have often opposed each other on federal health
policies forge consensus, vow to work together for immediate congressional
action
Most of the United States largest health care organizations
today announced that they have agreed on a proposal that would significantly
expand health coverage for America's almost 47 million uninsured, starting
immediately with expanded coverage for children in 2007. Calling itself the
Health Coverage Coalition for the Uninsured (HCCU), the group is made up of
16 influential, national organizations that have played leading roles in every
federal health policy debate of the last 30 years, often on opposing sides.
Despite their divergent political and ideological views, the groups today committed
to immediately and jointly press lawmakers to act on their historic, two-phased
consensus proposal.
The agreement includes a balance of private and public initiatives and is
the culmination of lengthy meetings among the groups over approximately two
years. It allows the new Congress to begin its work on health coverage from
a proposal that already has the agreement of diverse advocates.
" This historic agreement transcends traditional political and ideological
boundaries to break the gridlock about expanded health coverage for the uninsured," said
Ron Pollack, executive director, Families USA.
" Our unprecedented agreement
and coalition should serve as a model for Congress and the President to see
that health coverage is expanded to as many people as possible as quickly
as possible - starting with America's children this year."
HCCU participating organizations include AARP, American Academy of Family
Physicians, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, American
Public Health Association, America's Health Insurance Plans, Blue Cross and
Blue Shield Association, Catholic Health Association, Families USA, Federation
of American Hospitals, Healthcare Leadership Council, Johnson & Johnson,
Kaiser Permanente, Pfizer Inc., United Health Foundation and U.S. Chamber of
Commerce.
" Reaching consensus is a long and sometimes difficult process, but
every participating group put the interests of America's uninsured first
- even when
doing so meant walking away from certain long-held positions," said Scott
P. Serota, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association president and CEO.
" With
such divergent political ideologies, it is unprecedented for these groups
to have a joint agreement. Helping the millions of Americans who do not have
health
insurance is an issue that needs to transcend politics and partisanship,
and that is why we worked together to give Congress a starting point that
we can
all support."
With Congress scheduled to consider the reauthorization of the State Children's
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in the coming months, the proposal could have
an immediate impact. Its first phase is a "Kids First Initiative" to
allow parents to more easily enroll their children in public programs, like
SCHIP and Medicaid. It calls for a "one-stop shopping" system whereby
low-income families could enroll uninsured children in SCHIP or Medicaid at
the same time as they apply for other public programs, like reduced-cost lunches
or food stamps.
The proposal would provide states with the additional funds needed to enroll
eligible children. HCCU members believe this could help up to six million uninsured
children who are eligible for, but not enrolled in, public insurance programs.
The proposal also calls for a new tax credit to help families cover some of
the cost of providing private health insurance for their children. Eligible
families could earn up to three times the federal poverty level (about $60,000
annually for a family of four).
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necessarily those of IvyRose Ltd.. Material in this news item was released
by
the American Medical Association (AMA) on 18 January
2007 and may have been edited (e.g. in style, length, and/or for
ease
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