Tax credits, more care for children key to coalition's plan for uninsured

The diverse collection of interest groups vowed to stick together to promote its vision to Congress for expanded health coverage.

By Doug Trapp, AMNews staff. Feb. 5, 2007.

Washington -- Sixteen organizations with often opposing views on health care reform announced a plan Jan. 19 to cover more than half of the 46.6 million uninsured Americans.

"No group is strong enough to shoulder this problem alone," said Jeremy A. Lazarus, MD, vice speaker of the American Medical Association House of Delegates. "We've learned that to succeed, we must unite." The AMA is a member of the group.

The Health Coverage Coalition for the Uninsured, after two years of discussions, proposed a two-phased plan. The initial part, called Kids First, aims to expand coverage to at least 97% of the 9 million uninsured children in the U.S. at a cost of $45 million over five years.

It would accomplish this, in part, by improving enrollment in the State Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid, and increasing federal funding to pay for low-income children who would join as a result.

SCHIP, the state-federal program created 10 years ago to cover children from families with incomes too high for Medicaid but too low to afford private coverage, is up for reauthorization this year. It has cost the federal government about $5 billion a year.

The plan's first phase also calls for tax credits to help low-income families with children buy health insurance. The percentage of the premium covered by the credit would be graduated on a sliding scale based on family income.

The second wave of changes would focus on uninsured adults. It would allow states to eliminate family status as a Medicaid eligibility requirement and calls for federal funds to cover the cost.