Three Point Plan for Health Security

Three Point Plan for Health Security
By Congressman Tom Cole
May 17, 2004

For some an unexpected illness is cured by a trip to the doctor, a co-payment and a prescription. But for the 43.6 million uninsured in America, an unexpected sickness is a lingering devastating financial problem. With the cost of health care skyrocketing, a trip to the doctor can make you feel worse instead of better, and it's not the doctor's fault.
Last week the House considered three pieces of legislation that will help make health care more accessible to American workers. All three of these bills passed in the House and must now be considered by the Senate. Securing health care coverage for everyone starts with decreasing its cost to employers, rewarding those who save for medical expenses and putting a stop to frivolous lawsuits that increase health care costs for everyone.

Employers this year will pay an estimated 12 percent more for employee health care benefits than in 2003, marking the fifth consecutive year of double-digit increases. As health care premiums continue to rise, employers are forced to pass more of the expense on to workers in the form of higher co-payments and deductibles, as well as reduced coverage. The Small Business Health Fairness Act (H.R. 4281) gives businesses and their workers the chance to obtain high quality health insurance for uninsured working families at an affordable price. According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute nearly 60 percent of the 44 million uninsured Americans are employed by small businesses or dependent on someone employed by a small business. H.R. 4281 will allow small businesses to create Association Health Plans (AHPs), giving them the opportunity to join together through trade associations to purchase health insurance for their workers at a lower cost. The increased bargaining power from joining together will save small businesses an average of 13 percent on their employee health care costs, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The House also passed H.R. 4279 to allow up to $500 of unused funds deposited in Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) to be carried forward to the next year or contributed to a Health Savings Account. Currently, employees can deposit funds into FSA's, before taxes are taken out, to use throughout the year for medical expenses. But funds remaining at the end of the year are forfeited to employers. Allowing unused funds to be rolled over will encourage employees to contribute to FSA's and will reduce the end-of -the-year excess spending and overuse of health care services.

Few things would be more beneficial to our health care system than medical litigation reform. The high costs of medical liability insurance premiums force doctors out of the profession, closing some specialty practices in entire regions of the nation and placing unnecessary financial burdens on our nation's employer. The average jury award is now $3.5 million - up more than 70 percent since 1995. The cost of these frivolous lawsuits is passed onto all of us, either through more expensive health care, or in the case of the uninsured, no health care at all. H.R. 4280, Medical Malpractice Liability Limitation Bill, will put a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages and establishes a "fair share" rule so that damages are evaluated fairly and liability is more justly assigned to the appropriate party. It also prohibits attorneys from pocketing large percentages of an injured patient's reward. Medical liability system reform is necessary to keep health care affordable.
With health care costs continuously climbing, Congress must act now to ensure that Americans have access to quality, affordable healthcare. Although, one reason that health care costs keep increasing is because of better technology and quality of care, it is also true that much of the uninsured problem can be corrected with changes in law. I believe that if the Senate takes action on the legislation the House passed last week, we can decrease the number of uninsured in America.