Spotlight: Health Insurance – Senate Panel Aims at Plan Overhaul — Kennedy Wants Coverage Expanded to All

By From Staff; Wire Reports / Mark Watson contributed to this report

WASHINGTON – The federal government should join Massachusetts in enacting universal health coverage, said Sen. Edward Kennedy, the new chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Bipartisan state success

Mandate: The new law in Kennedy’s home state of Massachusetts makes employers with 11 or more full-time employees offer health coverage or be subject to a $295 fee per worker, as well as face bills for services their uninsured employees get.

California plan: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week proposed requiring all Californians to have insurance, with the poorest subsidized.

Medicare for all? That’s Kennedy’s preferred approach, but in his first hearing Wednesday as chairman, the Massachusetts Democrat asked 10 witnesses how to make health care more affordable.

Consensus not easy

Tort reform: For example, the Business Roundtable called for medical liability change and for more access to cost information.

Denmark? Karen Davis of the Commonwealth Fund suggested Denmark as a model which pays doctors a capped rate for each patient, plus additional amounts when they perform a service.

Cut state rules: Some Republicans advocated letting firms buy insurance via regional or national trade groups, which would cut many state insurance rules.

More for kids: Most witnesses said Congress should grow a health insurance plan for children in families that make too much to for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private health insurance.

Greater Memphis Reacts

Dr. Cyril Chang, University of Memphis health care economist: “Sen. Kennedy has a good chance to bring the topic of universal health coverage to the forefront but it will take years to bring something of this magnitude to fruition. Universal coverage is an excellent idea as a national policy goal. However, there are many different paths of getting there, and they involve different winners and losers.”

Dr. Robert Brittingham, Christian Brothers University economics professor: “Something like 14 percent of the U.S. economy is spent on health care. To have that in the control of one organization not facing competition – I think we should think long and hard about that before we do it.”

Dr. Arthur Sutherland III, retired cardiologist, member of Physicians for a National Health Program: “I think it’s going to be up to the next president and Congress to (enact a national health program). I’m more optimistic now than before the midterm election.”

Cato Johnson, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare senior vice president for corporate affairs: “Because you have such major extremes philosophically … on how you should reform health care, I think it’s very difficult to get a true consensus. “

Dr. David Mirvis, University of Tennessee Health Science Center professor of preventive medicine, favors a universal health program: “The analogy I use is that of President Kennedy when he said we’re going to the Moon. He didn’t know how we were going to do it. … We need a sign that says, ‘We’re going to cover everybody,’ and then we’re going to have to figure out how to do it.”

Dr. G. Scott Morris, Church Health Center executive director: “Before I or anyone else get excited about the possibility of a solution to our unbelievable health care crisis, we need to be very measured in our response. Entities like the Church Health Center that provide health care for the poor aren’t going away any time soon.”

Source: Associated Press.

Mark Watson contributed to this report.

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