Time for Medicare for All? Worries grow that health overhaul could price out many

[Karmadillo]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/12/06/worries_grow_that_health_overhaul_could_price_out_many/

WASHINGTON - President Obama has promised that the nation’s health care overhaul will make medical insurance available - and affordable - for everyone. But while bills in Congress would make insurance more accessible for millions of Americans, advocates worry that the Senate bill would impose significant financial burdens on some of the families who will now be required to buy coverage.

Graphic It is a difficult and politically volatile problem for Democrats working toward passage of a sweeping insurance requirement heading into what promises to be a tough election year.

Bowing to consumer groups’ concerns about affordability, Democratic leaders have already added billions of dollars in subsidies to the proposal being debated on the Senate floor. But advocates remain concerned that even with that government help, premiums under the Senate measure would consume large portions of monthly budgets for families with low incomes.

“I think there’s still a significant problem for anyone who’s at the bottom end of the income scale in the Senate version,’’ said Michael Miller policy director of Community Catalyst, a Boston-based consumer health care advocacy group at the forefront of the affordability discussion.

Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said that if the bill passes the Senate, advocates will try to persuade House and Senate leaders to adopt the contribution levels the House proposed for those with incomes at the lower end of the scale.

“For that group almost any out-of-pocket cost can be unaffordable,’’ he said.

Under the Senate proposal, most Americans would be required to buy health insurance. More than half of the people who could not get affordable coverage through their employers would be eligible for federally subsidized insurance, which could be purchased through an “exchange’’ - a new insurance market similar to the Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector. Those subsidies would cover nearly two-thirds of their insurance premium, according to congressional budget analysts - a huge savings for millions of families.

But advocates worry that such plans could still be too costly for some. A single mother of two with income of around $28,000 a year, for example, could have to pay more than $100 a month for insurance. In Massachusetts, the only state with a similar subsidized insurance system for people with low incomes, she would pay only $39.

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