Health Security For All Wisconsin Citizen Action Health Care Task Force October 9, 2002

1. Health Security For AllWisconsin Citizen Action Health Care Task ForceOctober 9, 2002 dhaber/opeiu9/aflcio/

2. The Failures of Our Fragmented Health Care System • Costs Are Out of Control and Unsustainable • Premiums are going up by double digit percentage increases every year. • As costs skyrocket, employers cut health benefits or shift more costs onto workers

3. 3800 Americans per day are losing health insurance! Based on 2001 U.S. Census Data

4. Our Current Health System is Absurdly Inefficient

5. Therefore, We Are Paying for More . . .

6. And Getting Less!!

7. And What Makes Matter Worse . . . As the costs of insurance goes up: Employers Cut Health Benefits to Employees Which Leads to More Uninsured and Underinsured Who Seek Uncompensated Care in the ER Which Leads to Cost-Shifting

8. . . .which leads to higher health costs for everyone. It’s a Vicious, Upward Spiral!

9. This is Particularly Unfair to Businesses Offering Health Insurance • Businesses Offering Health Insurance aren’t competing on a level playing field with those that do not. • The Businesses Choosing to Insure their Workers are Not Only Paying for their Employees’ Health Care Costs, but for those of the Uninsured as Well!

10. As More Businesses Drop Coverage, and Costs Go Up, More Businesses Have to their Drop Coverage. In fact, 73 percent of the uninsured live in a household that includes a full-time worker.

11. So, What’s the Solution? Provide EVERYONE with Health Insurance in a Unified System with Streamlined Administration

12. WHAT???!!!How Can Paying For MORE Health Care Cost LESS? • Most of the Costs Associated with Health Care are actually relatively fixed, e.g.,: • Health Care Professional Salaries • Hospital and Clinic Buildings • Medical Equipment • Once a Health Care System Evolves to a Certain Size Based on Usage, Costs Should Remain Relatively Fixed

13. Since, as a society we have decided we are unwilling to turn sick people away from the Emergency Room, we are paying for the uninsured now! • AND we are paying for the most expensive form of care! Therefore, health care costs actually go up the more uninsured you have!

14. And Conversely . . . Health Care Costs Go Down the More Insured You Have!

15. Still Skeptical? • Ask Canada, France or Germany!

16. Additional Savings and Advantages of a Unified System of Health Care • A Uniform Benefits Plan and Unified Administration = Streamlined Administrative Costs • Single Risk Pool = Premiums based on Average Risk -- no Cherry Picking or Adverse Selection means a person with illness will have the same premium as a healthy person

17. A Unified System of Administration Means More Bulk-Buying Power to Negotiate Fair Prices with Hospitals, Health Care Providers, and Pharmaceutical Companies

18. A Unified System of Administration Affords a Better Opportunity for Public Accountability and Application of Best Practice Standards to Ensure High Quality Health Care Delivery

19. Isn’t There a Less “Radical” Solution? • Experience has Shown Us That When We Tinker Around the Edges We Make Matters Worse • Since Health Care is not a “Natural” Market, Adding Competition Has Not and Will Not Work in Our Health Care System. It Actually Drives Costs Higher.

20. So, What Would A Unified Health System Mean for My Health Care? • Affordable, Comprehensive, Quality Health Care • Choice of Providers/Access Same Providers as Before • Not Dependent on Where/If You Work • Predictable, Reliable Coverage

21. How Can I Make it Happen? • Talk to Your Elected Representatives and Candidates find out how much they understand about our health care system -- if not much, educate them! • Keep the Ink Flowing letters to your representative, letters to the editor, petitions, letter-writing campaigns • Spread the Word through informal discussion with friends, family and neighbors to formal presentations to community groups (ask for a copy of this PowerPoint presentation).