Sunday, October 11, 2009
Editorial: Shifting the burden
Virginia's stingy Medicaid program leaves private plans picking up a big part of the health care tab.
From the RoundTable blog
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Whether Congress will enact meaningful health care reform this year -- or any year, for that matter -- is still very much a toss up. Regardless, there are things Virginia can do to improve the health of its youngsters and their parents while at the same time ease the ever-increasing insurance premium burden on businesses and their employees.
A coalition of 59 health providers and purchasers, called Health Care for All Virginians, aims to educate the public and lawmakers about the state of health care in Virginia and the steps needed to improve it. Most especially, they wish to prevent any further cuts to the state's already stingy Medicaid program.
The coalition held a press conference recently in Richmond and is sharing much of the information it's gathered on its Web site, www.havcare.org.
Here are just a few facts to think about:
n The number of Virginians receiving health coverage through work has declined from 67 percent in 2005-2006 to 63 percent in 2007-2008.
n Worker premiums for employer-provided coverage have increased 78 percent for family coverage since 2000, with employers passing along more of the premium cost to employees.
n Virginia workers pay the highest percent of the total premium cost for single coverage in the nation and the ninth highest for family coverage.
One of the reasons that insurance is so costly in Virginia is that the state's Medicaid program fails to pay the full cost of medical treatments. Also, its program shuts out all but the very poorest of adults. Working low-income parents whose children qualify aren't covered themselves.
Someone, though, has to pay the bill when government programs don't. That cost is passed along to businesses and their workers.
A state that prides itself on its business-friendly climate can do better.
The coalition is pushing for reform on a small, reasonable scale. First, Virginia must take great care not to make its programs any worse as it looks for necessary budget savings.
Next, it can do better reaching out to cover the estimated 100,000 children who qualify now for programs but are not enrolled.
Then, comes the politically hard part: raising income thresholds so that another 67,000 uninsured children can be reached and extending eligibility to their parents to purchase coverage through Virginia's Family Access to Medical Insurance Security Plan. In doing so, Virginia would qualify for additional federal funds to offset the cost at a rate of $2 to $1.
It wouldn't be just the currently uninsured who benefit. Over time, it could reduce costs for all.
