Uninsured Week: Get The Other Side; NCPA Health Policy Experts Available to Provide Balance to Uninsured Debate

3/10/2003

From: Sean Tuffnell or Richard Walker, both of National Center For Policy Analysis 800-859-1154 or stuffnell@ncpa.org

News Advisory:

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, along with several other organizations, have declared this "Cover the Uninsured Week," and are scheduled to stage a series of events to focus attention on the problem and proposed solutions.

As you prepare to cover these events, health policy experts from the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), the nation's leading proponent of a pro-patient approach to health policy, are available to provide balance to this discussion.

WHO: National Center for Policy Analysis

WHAT: Alternative analysis of uninsured problem/solution

WHEN: Available immediately

WHERE: Contact NCPA public affairs at 800-859-1154 to schedule

Reform of the U.S. health care system has been a top priority of the NCPA since its inception. We have an ongoing program to examine ways to empower patients and rely on the discipline and efficiencies of free markets. For the last two decades, the NCPA has assumed a leadership role in developing a pro-patient, pro-free-enterprise approach to health policy. Among the most important NCPA policy ideas were the Medical Savings Account (MSA) and the fixed-sum tax credit for people who purchase their own private health insurance.

------ The NCPA is an internationally known nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute with offices in Dallas and Washington, D. C. that advocates private solutions to public policy problems. We depend on the contributions of individuals, corporations and foundations that share our mission. The NCPA accepts no government grants.

--- NCPA FACT SHEET ON THE UNINSURED

Background on the Problem

-- Of the 41 million uninsured, 14 million uninsured Americans are eligible for -- but not enrolled in -- government-sponsored plans: SCHIP and Medicaid.

-- An additional 13 million uninsured Americans have income levels in excess of $50,000, and many have access to affordable healthcare coverage.

-- The fastest-growing income segment of the uninsured makes more than $75,000 a year. Incentives

-- Middleclass Americans with employer-sponsored plans get federal and state income tax subsidies equal to about 50 percent of the cost of their insurance.

-- Because people who buy their own private health insurance get virtually no tax relief, the after-tax cost of health insurance for them is twice as high.

-- One reason why people remain uninsured is that the U.S. spends $35 billion on free health care for the uninsured -- about $800 per person each year. When the value of physicians' time is included, the amount of free care exceeds $1,000 per uninsured individual.

-- Another reason: we are making it increasingly easy for people to become insured after they get sick, and thus avoid paying high premiums while they are healthy.

Solutions

-- Most of the uninsured have no opportunity to obtain tax subsidized, employer provided health insurance.

-- The Bush administration proposes tax credits for low income people who buy their own health insurance: the subsidy is equal to $1,000 per person.

-- Ironically, those who claim to be most concerned about the uninsured have been consistent opponents of tax relief for people who buy their own insurance.

-- A more comprehensive solution, proposed by the National Center for Policy Analysis, would link spending on free care with tax subsidies for those who buy their own insurance. The proposal would guarantee an adequate safety net without out encouraging people to be uninsured.

-- Expanding public programs is not a good solution: Every dollar spent on public insurance (Medicare, S-CHIP, etc.) reduces spending on private insurance by as much as 75 cents.