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2011 Blueprint for Economic Security
Health Security
Middle-class and working-class American families continue to feel an acute sense of economic insecurity. One major reason for that concern is their continued uncertainty surrounding health care. Many of the reforms that are now law - specifically those reining in insurance industry abuses - remain very popular. As the focus in 2011 turns to judicial and legislative attempts at repeal and defunding, it is critical to remember that state-specific solutions that build on federal law and ensure reforms continue to be popular.
From the Dispatch: Advancing Health Security by Ensuring Strong Exchanges
American Attitudes on Health Security
Despite a two-year campaign on the part of the health insurance industry to attack the federal health care law enacted in March 2010, Americans by and large remain ambivalent about reform overall, while strongly supporting almost all of its individual provisions. A CNN/Opinion Research poll in December 2010 showed that over 6 in 10 Americans favored continuing to prevent health insurance companies from dropping coverage for people who become seriously ill, or from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. And a CBS News/New York Times poll taken at the height of the Congressional repeal debate in January 2011 found that only 20% of Americans supported repealing the entire law.
Moreover, it is worth emphasizing that a significant number of those with a negative opinion of the law hold that view because they want more reform, not less. A January 2011 ABC News/Washington Post poll showed that 25% of people who said they opposed the health law did so because they believed it did not go far enough in reforming the health care system. As states move forward to create and implement their own models, they should do so with the knowledge that even many who oppose the law want states to have the resources needed to implement it well - 62% in a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey said they disapproved of cutting off funding needed to implement popular reforms.
Advancing Health Security in the States through Health Care Exchanges
This legislative session, states have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put consumer protections and stronger access to affordable health care coverage in the hands of their residents. Under the health law enacted in March 2010, states will be setting up health care "exchanges," or marketplaces, that will create new incentives for the health insurance industry to deliver quality care at lower prices while requiring them to spend more of consumers’ premium dollars on actually providing health care - instead of bloated administrative overhead and egregious compensation for CEOs.
Health care exchanges are marketplaces for consumers, set up by states (or regions) to provide access to information online and through a call center. Under the timeline set out in the Affordable Care Act, state exchanges are scheduled to begin operating in 2014 - but every state legislature must act this session to pass a strong version of an exchange in their state if they do not want the federal government to run their exchange. By implementing a strong exchange, states can allow the uninsured, self-employed and small businesses to shop for insurance in a competitive marketplace, giving consumers greater control and power through information and choice. Importantly, a strong exchange creates a competitive marketplace that increases competition for consumer dollars, while providing common-sense rules that will protect families from skyrocketing premiums and other abuses on the part of the private insurance industry.
There are a variety of options for states, even if they elect not to enact a state health care exchange. (More information on these options, as well as model legislation, will be available here on February 14th, 2011. Click here for more resources.)
For more information on Health Security, contact Devin Boerm, Health Care Policy Specialist at 212-680-3116 x120 or dboerm@progressivestates.org.
