Granted, most voters by now are skeptical of campaign promises, with lowered expectations about those promises coming to fruition once a new administration is in place and congressional battle lines are drawn. If a health care reform plan finally emerges it will almost certainly be different from the one Obama has outlined.

There is a different tenor to the discussion in this post-election period than there has been previously. While politicos and health care experts still don’t agree on what needs to be done, most agree now that something needs to be done.

Today, nearly 46 million Americans are uninsured. Research shows that people who are uninsured are more likely to
get sick and die sooner than people who have coverage. The problem is that rising health care costs have made medical
insurance unaffordable for many.

But problems with the cost of medical insurance are just the tip of the iceberg that is America’s health care crisis. The
$2.3 trillion spent annually on health care in America should result in a system in which almost all Americans have access
to quality care. Health expenditures in the United States are on average three percent higher than those of any other developed country, but millions of Americans remain uninsured and without access to health care services.

In the Kansas City metropolitan area, the figures are even more alarming. According to data provided by the Centers for
Disease Control, the metropolitan area has rates of obesity, binge drinking, and a lack of exercise among its citizens that
are higher than the national average. What’s more, Kansas City’s numbers reflect generally poor health, diabetes and
smoking rates that are on a par with national figures. And, unfortunately we’re winning one race we don’t want to: the
race to obesity, compared to our fellow Amer-icans. Blue Cross and Blue Shield says that by 2040, 40 percent of people
in the region will be overweight.

What follows is a top-level look at the health care insurance crisis facing America, and Obama’s plan to tackle it.

 

Coverage for Everyone

Optimistically, Obama’s plan hinges on creating a government-run health care plan that would compete with private
plans, providing affordable and highquality universal coverage through a mix of private and expanded public insurance.
Further, his plan calls for wide inclusion— accepting all applicants—although not everyone would be required to pay for
medical insurance. Those who cannot afford it would receive coverage for free. Obama believes that his reform package
will ultimately lower the cost of coverage thereby making it affordable to the majority of Americans.

Other key components of the Obama plan include:

• Providing mandated coverage for children through either a public or private plan;

• Providing universal coverage based on Federal and free-market solutions that build on the existing health care ystem,
with a Medicare/Medicaid-like program for the elderly and the poor, a program for the uninsured and self-insured that
provides a menu of private insurance options, and federal subsidies for lowincome Americans;

• Creating a National Health Insurance Exchange to help the uninsured find insurance, a program by which catastrophic
illness costs would be reduced by reimbursing employer plans for expenses beyond a certain threshold, coverage for
cancer screening and smoking cessation programs, and increased transparency with respect to costs, quality and safety;

• Establishing an employer pay-or-play provision that would require an employer to either provide health insurance or contribute toward the cost of a public plan;

• Allowing flexibility in embracing state health reform initiatives.

 

The Critics Sound Off

Critics protest that the Obama plan would create a direct path to higher premiums for those who do pay. Early in
the campaign, as Sen. Hillary Clinton battled Obama and former Sen. John Edwards for the Democratic nomination,
she strongly criticized the Obama plan, stating that any candidate who didn’t start off demanding a plan for universal
coverage didn’t stand a chance of getting it. She also campaigned for universal coverage as a “moral obligation of the
nation and a litmus test for Democrats.”

Other critics claim the costs associated with the Obama plan would be enormous, and that proposals for how the costs would be covered are at best vague. Meanwhile, some critics believe that the Obama plan will only serve to increase health care spending and shift the costs to taxpayers.

Others believe that while Obama would be successful in getting most of the uninsured covered and securing coverage for those who already have it, his plan doesn’t sufficiently address the drivers in health care costs, and they fear the plan
will worsen an already ailing system by adding billions of dollars with no effective containment features that would offset
inflation.

 

 

A Leader Weighs In

On Nov. 13, the Robert E. Miller Insurance Agency, Kansas City, was host to “The Future of Healthcare,” a human
resources and benefits seminar for local business leaders at the Doubletree Hotel in Overland Park.

The seminar addressed myriad health care issues facing employers, but focused on three main areas of change in healthcare: those driven by the incoming administration, the importance of working now to keep employees healthy and productive, and how staying healthy should be our community’s collective goal.

Robert Laszewski, political analyst and president of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, LLC, a policy and marketplace consulting firm specializing in health care, addressed Obama’s health care plan and how it could affect the health care industry. Laszewski approves of some aspects of the Obama plan, but is doubtful about the president-elect’s claim that his plan will cut the typical American family’s health care costs by $2,500 annually.

He acknowledges that Obama’s plan is rather unique in that it calls for catastrophic coverage in order to reduce the
cost of family health insurance, he points out that isn’t really a reduction, but simply a cost shift that would have the government absorbing the largest claims.

“That would reduce the price of family health insurance but would also increase federal spending by the same amount,” he says, adding that it would also water down the incentive for insurers and employers to manage these claims.

In summing up the summit’s discussion, Tom Bowser, president and chief executive officer of Blue Cross and Blue
Shield of Kansas City, stressed the need for businesses to promote prevention and education, not unlike the message of the Obama plan.

“As today’s healthcare environment transforms, it is crucial that businesses support the right changes and understand
the consequences,” said Bowser. “The goal of this discussion is to not only highlight the importance of health and wellness but to also raise awareness of the cost impact of productivity in the workplace and how upcoming political changes may affect you, both personally and professionally.”