Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
Health Care Reform: Covering Uninsured Could Save Billions
How much would it cost to reform the nation's badly broken health care system to expand coverage to the uninsured while improving medical care for everyone?
Nothing.
In fact, taking action now could save Americans a collective $1 trillion over 10 years, according to an analysis of reforms put together by one of the most broad-based organizations to ever study the issue.
Comprising corporate giants and small businesses, labor unions including CWA, health insurers, doctors, consumer and religious groups and people of all political persuasions, the National Coalition on Health Care represents 150 million Americans.
The group recently laid out four scenarios for changing America's health care system. Coalition President Henry Simmons said the findings are "unambiguous" in showing enormous cost savings while improving health care and providing coverage for all Americans.
"In short, health care reform is a good investment, a crucial investment, for our nation and our people," said Simmons, a medical doctor who served in various posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations.
On the heels of the coalition's presentation, another study was released showing that workers with health insurance are paying hundreds of dollars extra to pay the medical bills of the uninsured.
The report from Families USA said that $1 for every $12 in employer-paid family premiums—an average of $922 this year—goes toward the uninsured. That's expected to rise to more than $1,500 within five years. Nationwide, the costs will total $43 billion this year and grow to $60 billion by 2010.
"The large and increasing number of uninsured Americans is no longer simply an altruistic concern on behalf of those without health coverage but a matter of self-interest for everyone," said Ron Pollack, Families USA executive director. "The stakes are high, both for businesses and for workers who do have health insurance because they bear the brunt of costs for the uninsured."
Researchers say most of the uninsured are working Americans and their families who aren't offered or can't afford to participate in employer-provided insurance plans, forcing employees to seek public health care assistance.
The coalition's four scenarios for change include requiring employers to provide health care coverage, expanding public health insurance programs, creating new public programs and establishing a universal publicly financed system.
In all cases, independent analyses by a researcher specializing in health care financing showed billions in savings through cost management and covering the uninsured, with the universal system providing the largest savings, an estimated $1.136 trillion by 2015. The analyses used conservative fiscal assumptions and Congressional Budget Office methodology, the coalition said.
Researcher Kenneth Thorpe, head of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University in Atlanta, said that without changes costs will continue to skyrocket and the number of insured Americans will rise by at least another 8 million within 10 years, to more than 54 million.
Thorpe's expertise and experience, including serving as the former top economist at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, makes him especially credible, Washington Post columnist David Broder said in a piece about the coalition's report. "Few experts command broader respect in this field," he wrote.
CWA President Morton Bahr urged union families to put pressure on government leaders to review the proposals and begin taking action.
"The health care crisis is one of the gravest threats to our country," Bahr said. "It affects not only the physical health of our citizens, but the fiscal health of our states, communities, schools and households. Unless we get the costs under control soon and ensure that everyone has medical coverage, our standard of living is destined to decline."
Robert Ray, coalition co-chair and former Republican governor of Iowa, agreed, saying: "The materials released today make a strong case that for serious economic, as well as health, reasons, we—as a nation—must act on health care reform now."
Nothing.
In fact, taking action now could save Americans a collective $1 trillion over 10 years, according to an analysis of reforms put together by one of the most broad-based organizations to ever study the issue.
Comprising corporate giants and small businesses, labor unions including CWA, health insurers, doctors, consumer and religious groups and people of all political persuasions, the National Coalition on Health Care represents 150 million Americans.
The group recently laid out four scenarios for changing America's health care system. Coalition President Henry Simmons said the findings are "unambiguous" in showing enormous cost savings while improving health care and providing coverage for all Americans.
"In short, health care reform is a good investment, a crucial investment, for our nation and our people," said Simmons, a medical doctor who served in various posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations.
On the heels of the coalition's presentation, another study was released showing that workers with health insurance are paying hundreds of dollars extra to pay the medical bills of the uninsured.
The report from Families USA said that $1 for every $12 in employer-paid family premiums—an average of $922 this year—goes toward the uninsured. That's expected to rise to more than $1,500 within five years. Nationwide, the costs will total $43 billion this year and grow to $60 billion by 2010.
"The large and increasing number of uninsured Americans is no longer simply an altruistic concern on behalf of those without health coverage but a matter of self-interest for everyone," said Ron Pollack, Families USA executive director. "The stakes are high, both for businesses and for workers who do have health insurance because they bear the brunt of costs for the uninsured."
Researchers say most of the uninsured are working Americans and their families who aren't offered or can't afford to participate in employer-provided insurance plans, forcing employees to seek public health care assistance.
The coalition's four scenarios for change include requiring employers to provide health care coverage, expanding public health insurance programs, creating new public programs and establishing a universal publicly financed system.
In all cases, independent analyses by a researcher specializing in health care financing showed billions in savings through cost management and covering the uninsured, with the universal system providing the largest savings, an estimated $1.136 trillion by 2015. The analyses used conservative fiscal assumptions and Congressional Budget Office methodology, the coalition said.
Researcher Kenneth Thorpe, head of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University in Atlanta, said that without changes costs will continue to skyrocket and the number of insured Americans will rise by at least another 8 million within 10 years, to more than 54 million.
Thorpe's expertise and experience, including serving as the former top economist at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, makes him especially credible, Washington Post columnist David Broder said in a piece about the coalition's report. "Few experts command broader respect in this field," he wrote.
CWA President Morton Bahr urged union families to put pressure on government leaders to review the proposals and begin taking action.
"The health care crisis is one of the gravest threats to our country," Bahr said. "It affects not only the physical health of our citizens, but the fiscal health of our states, communities, schools and households. Unless we get the costs under control soon and ensure that everyone has medical coverage, our standard of living is destined to decline."
Robert Ray, coalition co-chair and former Republican governor of Iowa, agreed, saying: "The materials released today make a strong case that for serious economic, as well as health, reasons, we—as a nation—must act on health care reform now."