The Uninsured Rank Among Clinton’s Top 2000 Budget Priorities

Feb 07, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Carrie B. Tydings

February 7, 2000

(202) 824-1786

e-mail: ctydings@hiaa.org

The following statement was released today by Chip Kahn, president of the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA):

The Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA) commends President Clinton for recognizing the problem of the uninsured, and for looking toward solutions that rely, in part, on principles contained in HIAA’s InsureUSA program. We believe that the nation’s 44 million uninsured constitute an epidemic that only coverage can cure. Hopefully, the combination of targeted assistance for the poor can be combined with tax credit proposals by bipartisan congressional leaders to provide a basis for meaningful reform this year.

HIAA, however, is troubled by President Clinton’s recommendation for Medicare coverage for those under 65. Expanding Medicare eligibility to age 55 would no doubt raise the financially beleaguered program’s cost in order to provide coverage to a relatively small number of people. We agree that seniors need help paying for prescription drugs, but the president’s plan to extend prescription drug coverage to seniors would simply be too costly. Instead, we would recommend a combination of tax relief for better-off seniors and block grants to the states for the poor—rather than mandates on Medicare supplemental coverage (Medigap) or free-standing prescription drug coverage policies. The president’s proposed reforms to Medigap also would affect a small portion of the market, add to the program’s expense, and hurt seniors living in under-served, rural areas.

We appreciate the president’s focus on helping long-term care givers. However, we believe it is vitally important to help people purchase private long-term care insurance, which will enable Americans to protect themselves against the potentially catastrophic cost of their own long-term care needs. A 100-percent "above-the-line" tax deduction for the cost of purchasing long-term care insurance, along with making long-term care insurance an eligible benefit under cafeteria plans and flexible spending accounts, would make purchasing coverage more affordable.

The president’s budget is certainly headed in the right direction, with its emphasis on coverage for the uninsured, seniors, and small businesses. However, our concern lies in the path he takes on some of these issues to reach solutions to these problems.

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