From market competition to solidarity? Assessing the prospects of US health care reform plans from a human rights perspective

Health and Human Rights

Volumn 10, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 123-135

  Rudiger, Anja ^a  

^a NESRI   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COMPETITION (ECONOMICS); FUTURE PROSPECT; HEALTH CARE; HEALTH POLICY; HUMAN RIGHTS; POLICY REFORM; PUBLIC HEALTH;

NORTH AMERICA; UNITED STATES;

COMMUNITY CARE; ECONOMICS; ETHICS; HEALTH CARE DELIVERY; HEALTH CARE POLICY; HUMAN; HUMAN RIGHTS; ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT; POLITICS; UNITED STATES;

COMMUNITY NETWORKS; HEALTH CARE REFORM; HEALTH SERVICES ACCESSIBILITY; HUMAN RIGHTS; HUMANS; POLITICS; UNITED STATES;

EID: 57049138330     PISSN: 10790969     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/20460094     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. See, for example, World Health Organization, The World Health Report 2000 - Health Systems: Improving Performance (Geneva: WHO, 2000). Available at http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/index.html.
2. E. Nolte and C. M. McKee, "Measuring the Health of Nations: Updating an Earlier Analysis," Health Affairs 27/1 (2008): pp. 58-71.
3. S. Woolhandler and D. Himmelstein, "When Money Is the Mission - The High Costs of Investor-Owned Care," New England Journal of Medicine 341/6 (1999): pp. 444-446
4. B. Landon, S.-L. Normand, A. Lessler, A. J. O'Malley, S. Schmaltz, J. Loeb, and B. McNeil, "Quality of Care for the Treatment of Acute Medical Conditions in US Hospitals," Archives of Internal Medicine 166, 11/25 (2006): pp. 2511-2517.
5. See Physicians for a National Health Program; L. Rodberg and D. McCanne, "Upgrading to National Health Insurance (Medicare 2.0): The Case for Eliminating Private Health Insurance (July 13, 2007). Available at http://www.pnhp.org/news/2007/july/_health_insurance_fo.php.
6. See also, S. Woolhandler, T. Campbell, and D. Himmelstein, "Costs of Health Care Administration in the United States and Canada," New England Journal of Medicine 349 (2003): pp. 768-775.
7. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, National Health Expenditures Aggregate, Per Capita Amounts, Percent Distribution, and Average Annual Percent Growth, by Source of Funds: Selected Calendar Years 1960-2006. Available at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ NationalHealthExpendData/ 02_NationalHealthAccountsHistorical.asp#TopOfPage.
8. A. Bitton and J. Kahn, "Government Share of Health Care Expenditures," Journal of the American Medical Association 289 (2003): p. 1165.
9. U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006 (Washington, DC, 2007)
10. S. Dorn, Uninsured and Dying Because of It: Updating the Institute of Medicine Analysis on the Impact of Uninsurance on Mortality (Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2008).
11. For a comprehensive analysis of health care reform efforts from a human rights perspective, see A. Irwin, L. Rubenstein, A. Cooper, and P. Farmer, "Fixing the U.S. Healthcare System: What Role for Human Rights?" in C. Soohoo, C. Albisa, and M. F. Davis (eds), Bringing Human Rights Home: Portraits of the Movement 3 (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2008): pp. 173-208.
12. "Here in Massachusetts, we are trying out a new universal health plan built on individual and shared responsibility," John Kerry, "Health Care for All Americans," speech as prepared for delivery at Faneuil Hall, Boston, MA, July 31, 2006.
13. Max Baucus, "Remarks before the National Health Policy Conference," February 13, 2007. Available at http://www.senate.gov/ ~finance/press/Bpress/2007press/prb0201307.pdf.
14. In 2003, a Washington/ABC poll found that 62% of respondents preferred a governmentrun and tax-financed universal health insurance program to the current private health insurance system; "Washington Post-ABC News Poll: Health Care, October 20, 2003." Available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/vault/stories/ data102003.html. More recently, in a December 2007, California poll, 54% of respondents supported a single-payer health insurance system; The Associate Press/Yahoo Poll, Wave 2, December 2007. Available at http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-voterworries- highlights. Compare S. Collins and J. Kriss, The Public's Views on Health Care Reform in the 2008 Presidential Election (New York: The Commonwealth Fund, 2008).
15. See D. Roberts, Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty (New York: Pantheon Books, 1997).
16. Core principles of the right to health in the ICESCR are outlined in Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR Committee), General Comment No. 14, The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health, UN Doc. No. E/C.12/2000/4 (2000).
17. Hillary Clinton published separate plans for different racial/ethnic groups; however, these plans are all basically identical and do not expand in substance on her general plan. H. Clinton, American Health Choices: Hillary Clinton's Plan to Ensure Affordable, Quality Healthcare for All African Americans; The American Health Choices Plan: Impact on Hispanics; The American Health Choices Plan: Hillary Clinton's Plan to Ensure Affordable, Quality Health Care for All Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (September 2007). Available at http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/healthcareplan/.
18. Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Badger Care Plus: Governor Doyle's Plan to Provide Health Insurance for All Kids (2006). Available at http://www.wiscap.org/PowerPoint%20Presentations/ BadgerCare%20Plus%20-%20Helgerson.ppt.
19. The Tacoma city council resolution is available at http://tacomayesonproposition1.org/Documents/ Tacoma%20City%20Council%20Resolutions37226_37227.pdf.
20. For an overview of health care reform efforts in the states, see, for example, State Coverage Initiatives (SCI) at http://www.statecoverage.net
21. State Coverage Initiatives, State of the State 2007, Building Hope, Raising Expectations (Washington DC: Academy Health, 2007).
22. Legislative Analyst's Office, January 22, 2008. Available at http://www.lao.ca.gov/2008/hlth/health_reform/health_reform_012208.aspx.
23. John Edwards, Universal Health Care through Shared Responsibility (2007). Available at http://www.johnedwards.com/about/issues/ health-careoverview.pdf.
24. Pursuing A New Vision For Health Care: A Human Rights Assessment of the Presidential Candidates' Proposals, (NESRI/NHeLP, 2008). Available at http://www.nesri.org/programs/health.html.
25. "Hillary Clinton's February 12 Speech: Transcript," New York Times (February 12, 2008). Available at http://www.nytimes.com/ 2008/02/12/us/politics/12text-clinton.html?pagewanted=print.
26. K. Sack, "Health Care up to Public, Edwards Says," New York Times (January 25, 2008).
27. Between 2000 and 2007, the total number of employers offering coverage declined by 9%, from 69% of employers to 60%; Families USA, Too Great A Burden: America's Families at Risk (2007). Available at http://www.familiesusa.org/issues/private-insurance/ too-great-a-burden-state.html.
28. In Massachusetts, state subsidies for premium payments have been found inadequate, resulting in large numbers of people being exempted from the individual mandate, while others struggle with high deductibles and co-payments. See, for example, M. Rukavina and C. Pryor, "Tying up the Loose Ends of Healthcare Reform," Boston Globe (April 18, 2007).
29. The Congressional Budget Office reported that payments for Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans are 12% higher than in the traditional Medicare program; Congressional Budget Office, The Medicare Advantage Program: Enrollment Trends and Budgetary Effects (Washington, DC: April 11, 2007). Available at http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/79xx/doc7994/04-11-MedicareAdvantage.pdf.
30. The Commonwealth Fund, for example, has adopted minimum "dislocation" as a criterion for assessing health care reform proposals; S. Collins and J. Kriss, Envisioning the Future: The 2008 Presidential Candidates' Health Reform Proposals (New York: The Commonwealth Fund, 2008). Available at http://www.commonwealthfund.org/ publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=647708.
31. L. MacFarquhar, "The Conciliator: Where Is Barack Obama Coming from?" The New Yorker (May 7, 2007).