Congressional Republicans and some of their most ardent supporters seem to believe that if the nation does not tackle health care reform, the status quo will remain intact and they will get to keep the health insurance they now have. Health policy analysts across the board believe nothing could be further from the truth. If the idea of reform seems alarming to some, the prospect of failing to revamp the system is truly frightening.
A raft of studies show that the status quo is running off the rails. It threatens to become not just a far more expensive and less comprehensive insurance system, but one which also will become more bankrupting for American families and for the federal budget.
Americans have to know their health insurance premiums are consuming an ever-rising share of their family income. A study by the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund confirms the toll. In 1999, the average family paid 11 percent of its income for health insurance. In 2007, it was 18 percent. In 2020, the family share is expected to rise to 24 percent. And that doesn’t include sharply rising out-of-pocket expenses for deductibles, co-pays and exclusions.
At this rate, many businesses will have quit providing employer-based, cost-shared coverage, and Medicare and Medicaid will be vastly diminished and breaking state and federal budgets.
The latest tracking poll in February by the authoritative Kaiser Family Foundation confirms that Americans intuitively know the relentlessly dismal trends of soaring health care costs and diminishing insurance coverage cannot continue unabated.
It found overwhelmingly broad support among respondents nationally on six major reform issues when asked if it is “extremely important” or “very important” that each element be passed into law:
1) Reforming the way health insurance works: Total — 76 percent said yes (Democrats-85 percent, Independents-79 percent, Republicans-64 percent).
2) Providing tax credits for health insurance to small businesses: 72 percent (D-77 percent, I-70 percent, R-67 percent).
3) Creating a health insurance exchange/marketplace: 71 percent (D-78 percent, I-71 percent, R-67 percent).
4) Helping close the Medicare “doughnut hole” on prescription drug coverage: 71 percent (D-78 percent, I-70 percent, R-66 percent).
5) Expanding high risk insurance pools: 70 percent (D-79 percent, I-67 percent, R-61 percent).
6) Providing financial help for low/middle income: 68 percent (D-88 percent, I-64 percent, R-48 percent).
For the top five issues, an average of at least 7 out of 10 respondents agreed the specific reform was needed, including at least 61 percent of Republicans. Even among Republicans that’s a filibuster-proof majority in favor, .
In addition, more than half of all respondents agree it is extremely or very important to limit malpractice awards, expand Medicaid to cover more low-income uninsured, establish a commission to reduce growth in Medicare costs, and to allow kids to stay on their parents insurance until the age of 25. Fifty percent agree that insurers should be allowed to sell policies across state lines.
And lastly, a substantial majority (58 percent) of Americans will be angry or disappointed if Congress fails to pass comprehensive reform.
These findings clearly contradict congressional Republicans’ talking point that most Americans are against reform. That’s always been a skewed argument based on loaded questions. There’s a huge difference between a Fox News poll that asks Americans if they favor “a government take-over of health care” versus a more balanced question. In a New York Times/CBS poll, for example, 66 percent of Americans approved a public option when asked if they favored “a government administered health insurance plan — something like the Medicare coverage that people over 65 get.”
It’s not hard to cut through the propagandist approach against health care reform used so adroitly by partisan foes. The reality of a crumbling health care system is defined every day by denied care, declining coverage, growing ranks of uninsured and rising unaffordability. The case for reform is amply apparent.