Article week of January 29th, 2007

One of the issues that will receive attention during the spring session is the affordability and availability of health care insurance coverage. During the fall election, the governor made this issue one of the priorities of his campaign. The availability of affordable health insurance and the need to make sure that all individuals have access to high quality health care services is not only a state issue but also one that is huge for this nation.

Our country is truly blessed with probably the highest quality health care in the world. My Mother is alive today because of that high quality system. Doctors were able to place a mechanical valve in her heart many years ago which has allowed her to live much longer than she could have without that valve. She has been able to watch her children marry, have children and has experienced so much joy and happiness from her grandchildren, and now, even great-grandchildren. All of us have also been able to enjoy her and have this special person here with us as we have grown.

When talk of health care for all becomes the topic, I pay attention. I know how important it is and I also know what quality health care can provide. I completely agree that all people should have access to the kind of high quality health care that has helped my family. We have the capacity to provide all people with additional years of quality life. It is a huge responsibility and one that we must not ignore or allow partisan politics to interfere with.

We also need to recognize the fact that high quality health care is costly. The kind of medical procedures necessary to provide life-saving operations and other medical techniques that enhance the quality of life are expensive. How do we ensure that all people have access to this system? A system like that could cost billions.

Recent increases in health care premiums have gone up much faster than the rate of inflation and increases in wages. Since 2000, premiums for family coverage have increased by 73%, while inflation has increased by 14% and wages by 15%. Due to the rising costs of health insurance benefits, employers are struggling to provide coverage to their employees while still being competitive in a worldwide economy. During the past five years the percentage of employers offering health insurance to their employees has dropped from 69 to 60 percent. We are clearly headed in the wrong direction.

Last year, a task force was named in Illinois to provide direction to the General Assembly regarding this important issue. The unstated goal of this task force is to expand Medicaid eligibility and convert Illinois to a universal health care system. The Adequate Health Care Task Force recently agreed on some “advisory” recommendations. It is important to note that this task force is solely an advisory body to the General Assembly. Legislation must be passed in order for the recommendations to go into effect.

The recommendations of the task force create a comprehensive statewide health insurance program that, among other things mandates all individuals to be insured by either a state or private insurance plan, expands Medicaid, creates an employer assessment, provides tax credits to businesses that insure employees, expands provider rates, and implements long term care partnerships. A finalized version of the recommendations will be available soon.

There are few issues that will be more important or controversial this session. It will be part of the Governor’s agenda and he will claim that his reelection was a mandate to pursue universal health care. The estimated cost of implementing the recommendations of this task force and a “hybrid plan” is $3.6 billion more than the cost of the existing State health care services currently provided (Medicaid, State Children’s Health Insurance Program, charity care, etc.).

In addition to the direct costs, we must consider the impact that these mandates would have on businesses and consumers. Although the current recommendations contain few “pro-business” initiatives, two positives to note are the inclusion of Long Term Care partnerships and tax credits to employers who pay for employee health insurance premiums. Small businesses are vital to our economy, but many struggle to provide health care benefits to their employees due to rising coasts.

Philosophically, requiring businesses to at least offer health care coverage might seem to make sense. However, states like Massachusetts that currently have such mandates have met some major obstacles. Health benefits, like wages, are part of an employee’s compensation and every employer increase in health benefits is routinely offset by decreases in a worker’s wage. Mandates have been shown to be counterproductive, forcing employers to lower wages or cut jobs as a means of affording mandated health coverage to their workers.

Additional mandates make it difficult to start and maintain a business. According to the National Federation of Independent Business, Illinois has one of the worst environments for small business owners. In the past four years, the Governor has imposed over $3 billion in new business tax and fee increases. Business in Illinois now pays nearly 50% of state and local taxes, significantly more than the 41.3% national average. If we further burden business by requiring insurance for employees, we risk seeing business (and jobs) leave Illinois.

There are no easy answers to this problem. I am interested in your viewpoint though. Stay in touch and contact me at either P.O. Box 125, Hutsonville, IL 62433 or 234-N, Stratton office Building, Springfield, IL 62706. or you can also e-mail me at reddyunit1@aol.com. I will also keep you updated on my web site: www.peopleforeddy.com