Universal Health Care Access

A Right Not a Privilege

The Problem

Connecticut’s Health Care System:A Need For Bold Change

The Health Care Crisis

The rate of growth is not sustainable Families can’t afford increasing

costs Small businesses can’t afford the

premiums and the unpredictable cost increases

Health-related bankruptcies are skyrocketing Doctors and hospitals can’t absorb any more

uncompensated care The uninsured and underinsured are getting too

little care too late at too high a price

Premium costs are out of reach for many From 2000 to 2004, CT workers’ health

premiums grew by 56% while wages grew by only 14%

CT is the 6th most expensive state in the US for family health insurance premiums and 12th most expensive for individual coverage

Source: AHRQ, Health Affairs, Lewin Group, OHCA

Who isn’t covered?

One in nine CT residents is uninsured

365,000 CT residents are uninsured – more than the combined populations of New Haven PLUS Hartford PLUS Waterbury PLUS Middletown

The number is rising – 50,000 more residents were uninsured in 2004 than in 2003 - more than the population of nine out of ten CT municipalities – and things are likely to get worse rather than better

Sources: US Census, CT DOL, Families USA

CT’s Uninsured: Most are working people Most want coverage but can’t afford it Many work for small businesses Many are young, age 19 to 29, often too

old to remain on parents’ plan or HUSKY Many are near-elderly, age 55 to 64,

hoping to stay well until they become eligible for Medicare

Source: OHCA

Why are people uninsured?

Most can’t afford insurance Employers don’t provide it High cost of individual or family

premiums, Many can’t afford their share of the

costs for their employer-sponsored plan Many have a pre-existing condition

making health care coverage hard to obtain

Source: Kaiser Commission

Even if you’re covered, you can be under-insured

If you are insured, you still have co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance. Sometimes the services you need are not covered

Half of all bankruptcies are due to high medical bills – and most of those are among people who HAVE health insurance

Any of us can lose our insurance

Many people are just a pink slip away from being uninsured

People lose insurance when they Lose a job Graduate from school, Get married or divorced

Suffer a major illness or accident

Source: OHCA, IOM

High administrative costs add to health care spending Government programs spend less on

administration than private programs

Administative costs

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

Medicare Medicaid HUSKY CT privatelarge group

CT smallgroups

CT individualpolicies

Sources: CMS, DOI, DSS

Our health care spending is not sustainable for our economy

In 1980, national health expenditures were 8.8% of Gross Domestic Product. By 2014 they are predicted to be 18.7%

Sources: Mapping Health and Insurance Coverage in CT, CMS

$0

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

$2,500

$3,000

$3,500

$4,000

US health care total spending projections

The U.S. spends more on health care than any other country

Total health spending, per capita, 2002

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

US

Canad

a

Germ

any

Franc

e

Austra

lia

Irelan

d

OECD med

ian UKJa

pan

Source: Health Affairs

Health care consumes 16 cents of every dollar in the US economy

Our health outcomes are worse than countries that spend much lessLife Expectancy at Birth, 2003

70

75

80

85

year

s Females

Males

Source: World Health Organization

Taxpayers already pay for a large share of CT’s health care

Private, 40%

Medicare, 23%

Medicaid, 10%

Uncompensated care, 0.40%

Out of pocket, 20%

All other, 7%

Private

Medicare

Medicaid

Uncompensated care

Out of pocket

All other

Source: Mapping Health Spending and Insurance Coverage in CT

Sources of CT health Care Spending, CT 2005

Medical debt can destroy lives…

Out of pocket costs are up 62% since 1993

Four out of ten adults under age 65 have problems related to medical bills or debt

Half of American bankruptcies are triggered by medical bills

Sources: Kaiser Family Fndn, Health Affairs, Access Project

Medical debt kills… Adults with medical debt are

three times more likely to skip a recommended test or treatment and twice as likely not to fill a prescription due to cost

People with medical debt are just as likely to have employer coverage, but they have fewer benefits

Sources: Kaiser Family Fndn, Health Affairs, Access Project

What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God?

Micah 6:8

Where Do We Start?

Why not cover everyone?

Address this moral issue by providing all residents access to quality care

Encourages the use of preventative care and early diagnostic services that enhance lives and save money

Free up emergency rooms for real emergencies

Health Care for Everyone

Stabilize the system that is now increasingly unpredictable

Reduce health care costs by increasing the buying power of consumers and by reducing illness

We can afford to cover everyone Economists estimate that covering everyone

would SAVE the United States between $320.5 billion and $1.1 trillion over a decade

Companies that operate in Canada, with universal health care, save an estimated $4 per hour per worker on health insurance costs compared to the US

The Institute of Medicine estimates that the US economy loses $65 to $130 billion each year in productivity due to workers’ lack of coverage

Sources: Nat. Coalition on Health Care, Washington Post, IOM

Other states are doing it

Massachusetts Maine Illinois

Sources: States of ME, IL, MA

Health Care Reform means… Secure access to health insurance for those

who lack it Improvement in cost-effectiveness and quality

health care Health care that is affordable for everyone!

Why is Universal Healthcare important?

We all pay for inefficiency and those uninsured now.

Thousands of residents are just a paycheck away from being uninsured.

The Institute of Medicine defines Universal Health Care as a system that: Includes everyone;

Is continuous and portable from job to job, employment to unemployment;

Is affordable to individuals, especially those with limited income;

Is affordable and sustainable to society; and Enhances health and well-being.

Working together. Changing lives.

We each can make a difference. Surveys show that policymakers trust their

constituents -- people from the real world -- far more than lobbyists, advocates, even “experts”

Go to the website www.healthcare4every1.org and sign up to be a part of the campaign for universal health care

Get the tools at the health advocacy toolbox www.cthealthpolicy.org/toolbox

What You Can Do?

Stay Informed; Host a Community Forum on Universal Health

Care to educate your congregation and region [sign up today!];

Encourage people of faith and goodwill to contact state legislators and inspire them to provide health care for everyone;

Meet with public officials yourself and urge them to work on health care reform;

“You must be the Change you wish to see in the World.”

--Mahatma Gandhi

Together We Can Make a Difference!!! Together we can make affordable, quality

health care accessible to all residents.