THE UNINSURED: Presidential Candidates’ Plans Not Enough

While Medicare and managed care reform have taken center stage in the presidential campaign, many health care advocates believe that Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) are failing to adequately address ways to help the growing number of uninsured Americans, USA Today reports. Forty-four million Americans currently lack health insurance -- a number that has risen steadily even while the country has undergone its longest economic expansion in history. Ron Pollack of consumer advocacy group Families USA said, "The people hardest-hit by this phenomenon are working families. This is not a story about -- whatever the stereotype is -- some poor slob who doesn't want to work." Despite this growing problem, Bush and Gore have focused on piecemeal approaches that fall short of proposals offered in previous elections such as the plan President George Bush offered in 1992 to spend $100 billion over five years to reduce the number of uninsured Americans. USA Today lists several reasons for the candidates' reluctance to promote a "big fix:"

The failure of President Bill Clinton's ill-fated attempt at health care reform in 1994 fueled the perception that Americans do not want an "intrusive, big-government solution;"
The strong labor market has eased workers' fears about losing their jobs and employer-based health insurance, creating "less resonance" for the issue of universal coverage;
Most employees are not affected by soaring insurance premiums because their employers, under pressure to retain workers, absorb most of the increases;

Robert Helms, director of health policy for the American Enterprise Institute, said "polls may show that most Americans support the idea of universal coverage, but in reality, people don't want to pay more in taxes or insurance premiums to make sure everyone has coverage." Gore supports a tax credit, equal to 25% of a household's health insurance costs, for people without employer-based insurance, while Bush favors an annual tax credit of up to $1,000 per person or $2,000 per family to cover up to 90% of private insurance for the working uninsured. Still, Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefit Research Institute said he "doesn't believe either plan would enable many more people to afford health insurance." Karen Ignagni, president of the American Association of Health Plans, said, "Politicians have talked about the uninsured in campaign after campaign," but because the poor and uninsured don't have political clout, "the issue drops off the radar screen" after the election (Hall, 9/22). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.