Finally, fixing health care: What's different now?

Health Affairs

Volumn 27, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 689-692

  Wyden, Ron ^a   Bennett, Bob ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

GOVERNMENT; HEALTH CARE; HEALTH CARE COST; HEALTH CARE SYSTEM; IDEOLOGY; INSURANCE; MEDICAL INFORMATION; OPTIMISM; SHORT SURVEY; UNITED STATES;

HEALTH CARE REFORM; HEALTH SERVICES ACCESSIBILITY; HEALTHY PEOPLE PROGRAMS; HUMANS; INSURANCE, HEALTH; POLITICS; UNITED STATES; UNIVERSAL COVERAGE;

EID: 44449135057     PISSN: 02782715     EISSN: 02782715     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.27.3.689     Document Type: Short Survey

References (16)

1. A survey by Consumer Reports found that 82 percent of Americans support reforms that would ensure that all uninsured Americans have access to high-quality, affordable health care. See Consumer Reports National Research Center, "Six Prescriptions for Change," March 2008, http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/health-fitness/healthcare/insurance/ health-care-security-3-08/overview/health-care-security-ov.htm (accessed 14 February 2008).
2. See National Conference of State Legislatures, "2007 Comprehensive Health Care Reforms: Side-by-Side Comparisons," http://www.ncsl.org/ programs/health/2007Comprehensive1.htm (accessed 14 February 2008);
3. Stateline.org, "2007 'State of the State' Addresses: Health Care Looms Large," 8 January 2007, http://www.allhealth.org/briefingmaterials/ StateoftheStateAddresses-HealthCareLoomsLarge-726.pdf (accessed 14 February 2008);
4. and Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, "States Moving toward Comprehensive Health Care Reform," 7 February 2008, http://www.kff.org/uninsured/kcmu_statehealthreform.cfm (accessed 19 February 2008).
5. Following the failure of the California health reform, experts concluded that states are handicapped in implementing health reform because of fiscal limitations. See C. Lee, "Health-Care Reform to Shift Focus," Washington Post, 31 January 2008.
6. In addition, states' efforts are limited by ERISA and the tax code. See National Academy for State Health Policy and Academy Health, ERISA Implications for State Health Care Access Initiatives: Impact of the Maryland "Fair Share Act" Court Decision (Portland, Maine, and Washington: NASHP and Academy Health, November 2006).
7. See R. Kuttner, "The American Health Care System: Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage," New England Journal of Medicine 340, no. 3 (1999): 248-252;
8. and Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust, "Employer Health Benefits: 2007, Summary of Findings," Exhibit D, p. 3, September 2007, http://www.kff.org/insurance/7672/upload/Summary-of- Findings-EHBS-2007.pdf (accessed 19 February 2008).
9. L.H. Teslik, "Healthcare Costs and U.S. Competitiveness," http://www.cfr.org/publication/13325 (accessed 14 February 2008).
10. L.M. Nichols and S. Axeen, Employer Health Costs in a Global Economy: A Competitive Disadvantage for U.S. Firms (Washington: New America Foundation, forthcoming).
11. A retrospective study of the National Employer Health Insurance Survey (NEHIS) found that 57 percent of U.S. workers who were eligible for employer coverage were offered just one plan. C.H. Park and R. McDevitt, "National and State Variation in the Choice of Health Plans Offered to Employees," in Abstract Book Health Services Research: Implications for Policy Delivery and Practice, p. 288, http://gateway.nim.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/102234562. html (accessed 4 March 2008).
12. V. Colliver, "Stuck on the Job: Fear of Losing Insurance Keeps Workers from Moving On," San Francisco Chronicle, 12 June 2003.
13. See Sen. Ron Wyden, "The Healthy Americans Act," http://wyden.senate.gov/issues/Legislation/Healthy_Americans_Act.cfm;
14. and Sen. Bob Bennett, "The Healthy Americans Act," http://bennett.senate.gov/healthyamericans/index.cfm (both accessed 19 February 2008).
15. J. Sheils, R. Haught, and E. Murphy, "Cost and Coverage Estimates for the 'Healthy Americans Act'," 12 December 2006, http://wyden.senate. gov/issues/Healthy%20Americans%20Act/HAA_Cost_Coverage_Report.pdf (accessed 14 February 2008).
16. Based on authors' calculations assuming $2.2 trillion in health care spending and family size of four.