How the College is continuing
the fight for access to
careFrom the March 2000 ACP–ASIM Observer, copyright © 2000 by
the American College of Physicians–American Society of Internal Medicine.
The College views recent proposals from the president and Congress as
positive developments in the struggle for universal coverage, but it is
continuing to push politicians and policy-makers to do more to make the
issue a priority.
ACPASIM supported some of the proposals President Clinton outlined
in his State of the Union address that would help expand access to care.
The president proposed making parents eligible for the coverage their
children receive from the Children's Health Insurance Program, creating a
$3,000 per year tax credit for long-term care and allowing Americans
between the ages of 55 and 64 to buy into Medicare.
In a Jan. 31 statement, the College said that Mr. Clinton's ideas to
expand health care coverage for the uninsured are a positive step toward
achieving universal coverage. "President Clinton's proposal contains many
of the same elements of the plan" released in February 1999 by the
College, said ACPASIM President Whitney W. Addington, FACP. "Like
President Clinton, we believe that the expansion of existing government
programs—coupled with the use of tax credits—can help significantly reduce
the number of America's uninsured."
The College's plan calls for the government to create a tax credit for
uninsured Americans with incomes between 100% and 150% of the poverty
level, expand Medicaid coverage to all Americans with incomes up to 100%
of the poverty level and expand Medicaid funds. (For more information on
the College's proposals and efforts to expand access, go to ACPASIM
Online at www.acponline.org/uninsured.)
ACPASIM also supported the intent of the latest proposal from
Congress to provide refundable health insurance credits for low-income
Americans to subsidize health coverage. The proposal was unveiled by Sens.
James Jeffords (R-Vt.), John Breaux (D-La.) and Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), and
by House Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-Texas).
While the Congressional proposal is very similar to the College's plan
of providing low- or moderate-income individuals with a tax credit for
purchasing health insurance, ACPASIM officials said that the credits
proposed by Congress should be increased to better meet the needs of the
low-income uninsured. The College is urging bipartisan support to raise
the tax credit amount.
Finally, while the College has been working with elected officials to
make access to care a priority, it has also been trying to make access an
issue in the presidential primaries. As part of the "Decision 2000"
campaign to make the uninsured a key issue in the presidential and
congressional campaigns, the College ran four full-page newspaper ads to
educate voters about the health risks encountered by those without
insurance. (For more information about the College's efforts in the
primaries, see "How
is the College working to influence the 2000 elections?" from the
February ACPASIM Observer.) .gif) | 
