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Volume 27, Issue 460 |
February 6, 2006 |
HEALTH INSURANCE
Do You Want a Revolution?
Dr. John Kitzhaber, former Senate President and Governor of Oregon, has another revolutionary idea for health care. The author of the nation’s first – and so far, only – program to provide Medicaid services based on their effectiveness, Kitzhaber now wants to tear down the state’s existing “antiquated” health system and replace it with a model that would provide care to every Oregonian. In an interview with The Register-Guard, he proposed enlisting Oregon’s congressional delegation and the White House to let the state out of Medicare and Medicaid rules and end the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance. The resulting pool of money – about $6.3 billion a year or $2,000 per Oregonian – would be sufficient to provide basic services for every resident, including the 609,000 Oregonians who are currently uninsured, Kitzhaber said. Individuals who wanted to buy services not covered by the state program could buy private insurance. The physician, who has been considering another run for the governorship, said his message would be “about empowerment – that we don’t have to wait for the future . . . that we can step up and actually take care of ourselves.”
A Free-Market Revolution
The Council for Affordable Health Insurance, a nonprofit research and advocacy group devoted to free-market policies, has published the “2006 State Legislators’ Guide to Health Insurance Solutions.” The free booklet summarizes health insurance issues and actions that can and have been taken by states to promote individually owned health insurance. For example, the guide notes that offering high-deductible health insurance policies with health savings accounts in Medicaid can help save money by giving beneficiaries more incentive to be prudent shoppers for medical services. The Council notes that Iowa and Florida have already incorporated HSAs into their Medicaid programs, and South Carolina is in the process of applying for a waiver that would enable them to do so. To download the guide, go to www.cahi.org.
The number of Americans who have established a health savings account (HSA) joined to a high-deductible insurance policy has tripled since last March to at least 3 million, according to a new survey from America’s Health Insurance Plans, the trade group for health insurers. Employers and individuals can contribute pre-tax dollars into an HSA for future medical expenses. However, the Los Angeles Times notes that an October survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and The Commonwealth Fund found that only one in ten people with private coverage had high-deductible plans. Of them, only one in ten had established either HSAs or health reimbursement accounts, to which only employers may contribute. The survey found that enrollees in high-deductible plans were more aware of health-care costs than those with comprehensive coverage – but the high-deductible policy owners also were less satisfied with their insurance and were more likely to delay or avoid getting care because of costs. For information on how states are using HSAs, go to this NCSL Web site.
BORDER HEALTH
A new federally funded Web site is available to health officials and others seeking information on health and human services for border communities along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Web site includes information on sources of health funding, grant-writing for health projects, health topics, links to health agencies in each border state, an overview of federal activities and a searchable resource database. Funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration, the site will be administered by the University of North Dakota’s Rural Assistance Center. HRSA funded the center in 2002 to provide a single electronic information resource on health and human services for rural communities throughout the United States.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
Landlords and others in Tennessee can now reduce the likelihood that they may rent space or otherwise aid a methamphetamine “cook” or dealer. In accordance with SB2318/HB2334, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has established what is believed to be the first-ever searchable database of persons convicted of meth-related offenses. The registry lists the name of the individuals, their dates of birth, offenses, conviction data and county and other information, but not the person’s social security number. Names are to be purged from the registry seven years after the date of the most recent conviction for a meth-related offense. Critics worry that the list will make it harder for felons who have served their time in prison to reintegrate into society.
OBESITY
Obese children are twice as likely to have diabetes than children who are of normal weight, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Health System. About 229,000 children in the United States – or 3.2 out of every 1,000 children under age 18 – currently have diabetes. About one-third of those children are obese, according to the study, published in the February issue of Diabetes Care. “These data create cause for concern, especially with a nationwide shortage of specialists who care for children with diabetes,” said study lead author Dr. Joyce Lee.
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