The Push For Fundamental Reform
On Saturday, the Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Service Employees International Union will co-host the New Leadership on Health Care presidential forum, featuring Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-ND), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), and Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM). (All the presidential candidates were invited to attend.) The "first of its kind" forum is intended to begin a national conversation about the pressing need for universal health care coverage. Eighty-two percent of primary voters agreelatest New York Times/CBS News poll. "While the war in Iraq remains the overarching issue in the early stages of the 2008 campaign," access to affordable health care is at the top of the public's domestic agenda, ranking far more important than immigration, cutting taxes, or promoting traditional values. The poll found Americans across party lines willing to make some sacrifice to ensure that every American has access to health insurance." Learn more about how you can participate in the Las Vegas health care forum HERE.
BARRIERS TO CARE PERSIST: Broad-based health reforms will benefit those populations who are currently underserved or who are less likely to have health coverage. Since President Bush has taken office, the number of uninsured Hispanic-Americans has increased by more than two million to 14.1 million; the number of uninsured blacks has increased by nearly 800,000 to more than 7.5 million. In 2002 and 2003, nearly 60 percent of Latinos and 40 percent of blacksskyrocketed by 87 percent over the past five years. "My daughter went online to try to get health insurance for me and my husband. It was $799 a month! That's a house note!" said an uninsured Hurricane Katrina victim in January. Medicaid is particularly crucial in the effort to narrow the minority coverage gap, as it "affords coverage to roughly one in five non-elderly Latinos, African-Americans, and American-Indian/Alaska Natives. ... Without this safety net, the numbers of uninsured individuals would undoubtedly be much higher." "Minority populations rate their overall health worse than whites" as they are disproportionately afflicted by specific health problems, such as HIV/AIDS in the black community. "Medicaid is the largest payer for HIV treatment in the nation, accounting for half of all people in treatment. Sixty- four percent of African-Americans being treated for HIV/AIDS pay for it with Medicaid or Medicare." But in his 2008 budget, Bush slashed federal funding for Medicaid services by $24.7 billion. "In addition to cuts that would threaten health coverage, the President's budget also proposes to cut funding for the Office of Minority Health and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. ...This is the second year in a row that the President has sought to reduce funding for these programs."
THE MINORITY GAP: "The nation’s diversity is growing over time." Nearly one-third of Americans identify themselves as a member of a racial or ethnic minority group; this proportion is expected to increase to nearly 50 percent by 2050. While people of color increasingly compose the country, they are underserved by our health care system. "The extent and breadth of racial and ethnic health disparities is staggering. People of color are less likely to have health insurance coverage, see a provider on a regular basis, and receive preventative screenings or routine health care services." "The forces that contribute to health disparities are complex, ranging from broader societal issues such as poverty (and) racism…to factors such as lack of health care coverage, lack of workforce diversity, and a weakening safety net." Today, the most prominent barrier to health care access is lack of health insurance. Consequently, “while a multi-pronged approach is needed to address this issue…increasing access to coverage is key, and public programs provide the best chance for improving the health of communities of color."
NEGLECTING CHILDREN'S HEALTH: "Through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), many minority children have experienced increases in access to health care services...yet, 5.5 million minority children still remained uninsured in 2005." "The President’s fiscal year 2008 budget proposes to reauthorize the SCHIP for five years but provides less than half of the funding needed for states to maintain their existing SCHIP caseloads." Because children of racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to rely on SCHIP for health coverage, a failure to fund the program disproportionately hurts minority health access. "Sixty percent of uninsured children belong to a racial or ethnic minority group," and over half of SCHIP recipients today are children of color. "Since its inception in 1997, SCHIP has been successful in narrowing the coverage gap for minority children." For example, "from 1996 to 2005, the proportion of black children with health insurance rose from 82.4 percent to 88.7 percent in 2005...the proportion of Hispanic children with health coverage rose from 71.9 percent to 80.3 percent." But if states continue to face federal funding shortfalls, children will remain uninsured, and the progress made over the past 10 years may be reversed as states consider scaling back their SCHIP and Medicaid programs. The effects of negligence in children's health care will be devastating: "Without insurance, children are more likely to lack a usual source of health care, delay or have unmet health care needs, use less preventive care, receive poorer quality care, and have poorer health compared to children with insurance." that "everyone has a right to quality, affordable health care coverage." Since 2000, health care premiums have increased four times as fast as wages, and nearly half of small businesses no longer provide health coverage for employees. At the current rate, health benefit costs will soon exceed profits in Fortune 500 companies. In the 2004 presidential election, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) focused on expanding children’s coverage, but failed to propose systemic health care reform that would provide universal heath care coverage for everyone. The 2008 election holds the possibility of bold changes. A majority of Americans say the federal government should guarantee health insurance to every American, especially children, and are willing to pay higher taxes to do it, according to the were uninsured, compared to 23 percent of whites. Despite the existing barriers to care, health care premiums have
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