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Search Terms: tax credit AND health insurance, House or Senate or Joint

Document 131 of 231.

JULY 14, 1999, WEDNESDAY

SECTION: IN THE NEWS

LENGTH: 1127 words

HEADLINE: PREPARED STATEMENT BY
ROBERT GARCIA DE POSADA
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HISPANIC BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE
BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMERCE COMMITTEE
OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE

BODY:

My name is Robert Garcia de Posada and I am the Executive Director of the Hispanic Business Roundtable. The Hispanic Business Roundtable was established in 1995 to address policy issues that directly affect the well-being of Hispanics in the U.S. The Roundtable's agenda is to develop and promote policies that will enhance overall business, economic and social development of Hispanics, and to empower those individuals through the promotion of self-reliance and personal responsibility.
When it comes to health insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the highest uninsured rate in the U.S. is among people of Hispanic origin. Over one third, or 34.2% of Hispanics were uninsured compared with only 12% for non-Hispanic whites. U.S. Hispanics also have the largest percentage of the working uninsured at 37.9% compared to only 14.9% for non-Hispanic whites. More than half of foreign-born immigrants do not have health insurance.
The main reason why so many Hispanics do not have health insurance is because they have lower incomes and work for smaller firms. As you know, employment and income level are the leading sources of health insurance coverage in this country. The lower the income the more likely a worker does not have coverage, simply because he or she cannot afford it. Also, workers employed by small firms, with less than 25 employees, were the least likely to provide employment-based health insurance coverage.
Hispanic per-capita income is $10,773. Also, Hispanics in the U.S. disproportionately work in the service industry or small businesses. Furthermore, many Hispanics are employed by Hispanic-owned businesses, which tend to be smaller in size than the average US firm and take in less in receipts. Over 45% of Hispanic owned firms are in the service industry and 14% are in retail.An overwhelming majority of the uninsured in the Hispanic community are working poor. They are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, but too poor to afford health insurance. In addition, there is a high-degree of mobility in the Hispanic workforce, and the current system of employment-based health insurance is simply leaving too many people behind.
At the Hispanic Business Roundtable, we strongly support policies to promote equality and equity between employer-based health insurance coverage and consumer based coverage. We are here to call on Congress to end the discrimination that exists against people who buy health insurance outside the place of business.
If a worker is employed by a large corporation, with a large benefits package, the tax benefits are very generous. However, if a worker is middle- or low-income and is employed by a smaller company, the tax benefits are less generous. Low-skilled workers often do not command a wage that enables them to buy health insurance, and they get little if any government assistance in purchasing it. If a worker decides to purchase individual policies, they will soon realize it is prohibitively expensive.
Let me use Martha Sanchez as an example. She's a mother of two in Miami who works as a receptionist for a small law firm, earning approximately $10 per hour. Her employer does not provide health insurance, and she cannot afford to buy an individual health insurance policy.
So what can Congress do to help someone like Ms. Sanchez get health insurance?
First, enhance tax incentives for individuals without access to employer sponsored coverage. You can enact refundable tax credits or vouchers to help low income workers purchase health insurance. In order to make these tax credits truly accessible to low-income workers and small businesses, we believe that these tax breaks could be blended into the withholding system. In other words, allow the worker to withhold the cost of health insurance from the payroll tax, in order to afford insurance. We should also offer employers the authority to pay this premium if they wish. Second, Congress can also promote the creation of healthmarts or insurance supermarkets that transfer the choice within the current employer-based market to employees and dependents. This initiative would provide employees the freedom to choose from a menu of options and select the one that best meets their needs.
Third, Congress can equalize the tax laws so that associations and community based organizations have the same tax breaks as large businesses, when they provide health insurance. This would promote a more community-based insurance system that would have a better understanding of the community they serve. Don't forget that health patterns in our population are not the same. For instance, in the U.S. Hispanic community, there is an instance of diabetes, three times the level of the population at large. Having organizations and doctors who understand these differences are critical to provide cost-effective services to their customers.Congress and the Administration should also work closely with Hispanic health organizations like the National Association of Hispanic Health and Human Services Organizations and the Inter-American College of Surgeons and Physicians to develop a public education campaign that promotes the importance of having health insurance. We should also encourage young Hispanics to seek careers in medicine. There are not enough doctors in this country who understand the needs and concerns of this bilingual and bicultural community.
Fourth, Congress should eliminate the obstacles to pooling. This will help promote more affordable, accessible and accountable coverage to consumers.
Fifth, Congress can promote changes in our tax laws to help low-income workers and small businesses have access to affordable heath insurance. For example, - Small businesses could get a tax credit that could be phased in beginning with the smallest firms of fewer than 10 employees; - Individual purchasers of health insurance and the self-employed should be able to fully deduct the cost of premiums; - Employee contributions for health insurance should not be considered taxable income: and, - Tax credits should be made available for risk pools sponsored by private industry.
Finally, we cannot ignore the fact that reducing the regulatory burden and government mandates, reforming liability laws, and promoting personal responsibility are also key components of any solution to this problem.
Access to affordable heath insurance is a problem that disproportionately affects the U.S. Hispanic community. The Hispanic Business Roundtable strongly commends this committee for addressing this issue, and we look forward to working with you to break down the barriers and build the necessary bridges to improve the access to affordable health coverage for the uninsured. Thank you.
END

LOAD-DATE: July 16, 1999

Document 131 of 231.


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