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Organizer (Joint project with Center on Halsted) Linda J. Slavik Office Wish List Hit Counter started 7/1/01
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Healthcare and Housing
For All “We’re All in this Together and the Time is NOW to Secure our Future”
Come
support Universal Health Care and
Affordable
Housing legislation with
YOUR
Elected State Officials!
Sunday,
May 20th 2:00 pm Anshe
Emet SynAgogue 3751 N Broadway
Limited
Parking available --------------------------------------------------------- On May 20th, LAC will be co-sponsoring a “Health Care and Housing for All” Spring Assembly. The assembly is part of a series of seven assemblies in 22 days organized by United Power for Action and Justice members across the Chicagoland area. At our assembly we will be asking our statewide elected officials to support the governor’s universal health care plan, the community care program, legislation clarifying and strengthening charity care, and more investment in state funds for affordable housing, before the legislative session ends in late May. We are hosting with United Power for Action and Justice, Albany Park Neighborhood Council, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Jane Addams Senior Caucus, the Organization of the North East, PACT, and West Town Leadership United. ---------------------------------------------------- Governor’s Universal Health Proposal Key Components 1.
Expands Medicaid to cover all below poverty level (approx $10,000 for an
individual) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United Power for
Action & Justice Initial Briefing Sheet on Governor’s Health Proposal Four Key
Coverage Components: 1) Expanded Illinois’ Medicaid program to cover all poor people § covers anyone below 100% of the federal poverty level (approx. $10,000 for a single adult) § offers health coverage to poor single childless adults, approx. 400,000 now uninsured. § pays healthcare providers at Medicaid rates (generally lower than private insurance or Medicare). 2) Expanded FamilyCare program § increases income eligibility from 185% to 400% of the federal poverty level (approx. $80,000 for a family of 4) for parents (the children already can get All Kids). § offers health coverage to an additional 150,000 working parents § pays healthcare providers at Medicaid rates. 3) Sliding-Scale Subsidies for Employer-Offered Coverage § up to 400% of the federal poverty level (approx. $80,000 for a family of 4) § coverage is whatever the employer purchases. § pays healthcare providers at private insurance rates (generally higher than Medicaid or Medicare). 4) Sliding Scale Subsidies for State-purchased, Privately managed plan § Anyone at any income level can buy this insurance. For those with income up to 400% of the federal poverty level (approx. $80,000 for a family of 4) there are sliding scale subsidies to pay premiums, annual out of pocket maximums, and limits on co-pays. § coverage is similar to the health plan for state employees. § coverage would be “guaranteed issue,” meaning no one could be excluded because of pre-existing conditions. § pays healthcare providers at private insurance rates. § small businesses of 25 employees or less would be allowed to purchase insurance in this larger pool to get better rates as long as the employer maintained his or her contributions to employee premiums. Other Key
Elements:
Bottom Line:
Total Cost, Funding Sources, & Impact:
Nevertheless, without an individual mandate requiring everyone to enroll in some kind of coverage, the plan will not achieve universal coverage, because not all the eligible people will enroll. An individual mandate could be adopted later or added to the plan and phased in over a period of several years as the plan got up and running and proved itself to be affordable at any income level.
============================================================================= QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS ABOUT ILLINOIS COVERED 1. Question:
Isn't the Governor's health care plan (Illinois Covered, or SB 5) too
expensive? Answer: No, it is not too expensive. There is no cheaper way to do health care reform in a respectable way. To accomplish this important task, we must recognize the cost and forthrightly pay for it. We are willing to pay higher taxes to get this done. We are not willing to see this reform blocked or stalled. The time is now. We need you to vote for it and work for it in your caucus.
Yes, there are front end costs, but the program will save money or at least break even over time. Recent research from Emory University shows that if we make no changes to the current system, it will cost all of us $30 billion over the next 10 years in increased premiums and uncompensated care. The reform will avoid these costs. It will "rearrange" health care spending in a fairer and smarter way than the current system. 2. Question:
How do we pay for it? Answer: The Governor has proposed a Gross Receipts Tax. For us, this proposal has two virtues: It produces the necessary money, and it will expand with the economy, so it is a sustainable source of funds for health care. If there are other sources of revenue that can get this job done, we are open to that. We are willing to pay higher taxes to get health care for all. We are not willing to see this reform blocked or stalled. We need you to vote for it and to vote for the necessary funding. Do not stand in the way of attaining affordable health care for all. 3. Question: I cannot support the Gross Receipts Tax -- here are all the ways it is bad. Answer: We are not tax experts. There may or may not be good answers to some of those concerns. But the GRT has two virtues: It produces the necessary money, and it will expand with the economy, so it is a sustainable source of funds for health care. If there are other sources of revenue that can get this job done, we are open to that. To the extent the GRT may be passed through to consumers, this can be addressed through a family tax credit and/or an expanded state earned income tax credit. We are willing to pay higher taxes to get health care for all. We are not willing to see this reform blocked or stalled. We need you to vote for it and to vote for the necessary funding and to work for these outcomes in your caucus. Do not stand in the way of attaining affordable health care for all. 4. Question: There’s also an “employer assessment”. Isn’t that just another business tax? Answer: The employer assessment most importantly is a way to make sure that all employers contribute to the health care solution. Those already providing health coverage for employees will not pay the assessment. Only those currently making little or no effort to cover employees will pay it. This levels the playing field among businesses, while helping pay for the solution. 5. Question:
How can you ask me to line up with the Governor when he is making
people mad? Answer: Come on. This is much bigger than those kinds of personality and political issues and we need you to recognize that. Yes, he has taken leadership on this issue and identified with it. He is the Governor -- his initiative is making this possible. I can't happen otherwise. This is a historic opportunity to deal with the gross injustice and inadequacy of our health care system. We are not willing to see this reform blocked or stalled by politics or personalities. It is bigger than that. 6. Question:
There are large backlogs of Medicaid payments and many other problems
with that program. Shouldn't we make sure Medicaid is working properly before we
even think about expansions? Answer: The main thing wrong with Medicaid, as your question indicates, is that it does not have enough money. The Governor's plan devotes money to fix these aspects of Medicaid. You also confuse Medicaid with the wider issues of health coverage. Most of the people who care deeply about this never have and never will be covered by Medicaid. They are the people with insurance worried about losing it, and worried about the cost of care even though they have insurance. They are the working middle class people without insurance, or with paper thin coverage. Everyone benefits when we have health care for all, because premium increases are controlled, and everyone has an affordable option, if their own insurance becomes too costly or disappears. 7. Question:
The Governor says his plan will only cover 500,000 of the 1.4 million
uninsured, so its not even universal health care is it? Answer: The plan OFFERS affordable, decent health coverage to everyone regardless of income. The 500,000 is the estimate of how many people will initially enroll. 8. Question:
Well, would you support requiring everyone to enroll (an individual
mandate)? Answer: Our understanding is that the Governor's office is open to this, but wants to see how voluntary enrollment goes first. If the insurance is truly affordable, we would be open to an individual mandate if there was a good reason for it. 9. Question: Isn't this just Canadian socialized medicine? Answer: No. It embraces the employer-sponsored and private insurance system. That system has been failing. It is responsible for the current mess that has everyone so angry and fearful. The Governor's plan applies key public investments and reforms necessary to make that system work. The plan is a uniquely American public-private solution. 10. Question:
Explain to me how the Governor's plan covers everyone? Answer: It expands public insurance to cover the poorest of the poor, and it offers a variety of subsidies and reforms to make private insurance affordable on a sliding scale to everyone else. I cannot give you more details than that, but I can arrange for an expert to answer any question. 11. Question:
Isn't this just too complicated?
How can it ever work? Answer: Sure, its complicated, but so is any large program. The basic concepts are easy enough -- affordable decent health coverage for all. We are willing to pay higher taxes to get this done. We are not willing to see this reform blocked or stalled. We need you to vote for it and work for it in your caucus. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why Businesses Should Support the Governor's Plan to
Provide Affordable Coverage for All The Plan -- Affordable decent coverage offered to everyone in Illinois through a combination of public programs and strategic subsidies to make the private and employer-based and private market insurance system accessible at any income level. -- Working poor and middle class (up to $80,000 a year for a family of four) receive cash subsidies to support payment of the employees' share of premiums for employer-based insurance. -- State will design, procure and subsidize a private insurance product that offers good affordable coverage to those without offer of employer-based insurance. This policy will be "guaranteed issue" (no exclusions for pre-existing conditions). -- Small businesses of 25 or fewer employees can buy into the state-issued plan and take advantage of the large pool of insured in that plan. -- Employers who do not offer insurance are assessed an amount equal to 3% of their payroll. This levels the business playing field and provides at least $500 million to support the program.
Reasons for Business Support -- Stabilized insurance system. Large and unpredictable premium increases would cease. -- Reduced or eliminated cost-sharing. Hospitals charge insured people more in order to make up for the money they lose by serving uninsured people who cannot pay for services. This "cost-shift" results in insured people paying over $1000 more in premiums each year than they would if there were no cost-shifting. The Governor's Plan, by insuring everyone, would greatly reduce or eliminate the instances of uncompensated hospital care and thus reduce pressure on premiums. -- More on-average healthier and lower income workers participate in employer's insurance. When premiums are too expensive, healthier and lower income employees do not participate. By making it possible for these employees to participate, the employer's insured pool performs better actuarially, and this reduces upward pressure on premiums. -- Small businesses have access to huge statewide pool. They have the option to take their whole workforce into the statewide policy and risk pool with its lower premiums, as long as they maintain the same level of employer contribution. -- Healthier
workers, less worker debt, fewer lost work hours due to sick family members,
reduced risk of contagious disease in the workforce. -- A level business playing field, as employers who do not support coverage are assessed to help support the public system.
-- Funding. The Governor's proposed gross receipts tax would not apply to the first $1 million, to goods made for sale outside of Illinois, or to food or drugs. It provides an adequate and reliable source of funding. Its costs, if any (75% of businesses would have no liability), are balanced by the economies and stabilization of health insurance costs now and into the future. United Power understands that true health coverage reform costs money. Opponents of the gross receipts tax should identify alternative revenue ideas that produce adequate recurring revenues. |
