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What people are saying...
"Congress
and the Administration can reach agreement on health
insurance for displaced workers, particularly if they
forgo trying to resolve irreconcilable philosophical
differences about public vs private insurance, and let
unemployed workers decide these issues for themselves.
The types of pragmatic compromises outlined in this
paper have been used successfully to reach bipartisan
agreement on similar issues of public vs private coverage
for Medicare, SCHIP, and Medicaid enrollees."
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As Senate Debates Issue in Trade Legislation Bipartisan compromise possible on health coverage for laid-off workers Competing Congressional proposals could be combined to provide affordable coverage for laid-off workers, according to a brief report released today by the Economic and Social Research Institute. ESRI's Issue Alert identifies two hybrid approaches to covering unemployed workers. The first provides refundable, federal income tax credits to help uninsured, laid-off workers buy health insurance from a range of public and private sources. The second offers public programs to laid-off workers with limited resources, and tax credits to those with higher incomes. "With more than eight million Americans still unemployed, the need for effective, bipartisan remedies remains compelling," said Stan Dorn, the report's lead author. This issue last arose during Congressional debates over economic stimulus legislation, when policymakers could not resolve disagreements over how to cover the unemployed. The issue is now before the U.S. Senate, which is considering international trade legislation that could include provisions extending health coverage to workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition.
Past Congressional debates pitted supporters of private,
market approaches against proponents of public programs.
ESRI's paper shows how the essential ingredients from
both strategies could be combined to provide relief.
"We explain two hybrid policies that might work,
but other combinations could surely do as well or even
better," said Jack Meyer, report co-author and
President of ESRI. "Our modest goal is to illustrate
that unemployed workers, many of whom are uninsured
and unable to buy coverage on their own, could receive
effective assistance if policymakers combine elements
that appeal to diverse philosophies and policy preferences."
Click
here to view the report in PDF format
Subsidy amounts and take-up rates: graphs and charts
Covering America promotes serious consideration of a diverse range of comprehensive proposals to provide affordable health coverage for millions of uninsured Americans. The Covering America project is coordinated by the Economic and Social Research Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan institute in Washington, D.C., and is made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey.
To subscribe: tkutyla@esresearch.org
www.esresearch.org |
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"Congress
now has a unique opportunity to help some of the uninsured
while learning important lessons. Covering unemployed
workers could teach us much about solving the larger
problem of the uninsured. This paper describes some
useful combinations of private insurance and public
programs that could cover laid-off workers and let politicians
from both parties take credit." 
"If
America is going to make progress covering the uninsured,
we will need creative solutions that can generate bipartisan
support. Our best bet is to draw from the various proposals
that have been suggested, each of which reflects certain
values and preferences."