New Report Details Universal Care for Missouri
Plan reveals that the state can save $1 billion and still cover all Missourians
St. Louis, Nov 25 -Missouri policymakers will grapple with health care costs and budget shortfalls again in January, but with the help of a new study by the Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH), legislators will have new information on this issue - details on a universal health care plan that could cover all Missourians.
The study "A Universal Health Care Plan for Missouri" highlights a coverage plan that could be delivered in the state for less than the nearly $30 billion currently spent on health care this year.
The study, commissioned by the Foundation and carried out by Kenneth E. Thorpe, Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University in Atlanta, examined the impact of a single payer tax-based system on current health expenditures in Missouri.
The study reviewed three possible benefit levels- similar, better and worse than the current average private health insurance policy in the state. Even the more generous plan under the system proposed by Thorpe would save more than a billion dollars from the current Missouri health expenditures.
MFH is not endorsing the single payer approach used in this study. Said James Kimmey, MD, President and CEO of MFH, "There are many different options for achieving universal coverage of which single payer is just one example. This study shows what is possible and provides a benchmark against which other approaches can be measured."
The proposed plan would be funded by a payroll tax similar to the way the Federal Medicare program is funded. Businesses that currently provide health insurance, and their employees, would pay less in taxes than they do now in premiums. Employers who do not provide health insurance now would pay more as would the uninsured who would obtain coverage under the plan.
The savings that would allow expansion to cover all residents of the state would be largely derived from lower administrative costs associated with a single payer. Uniform claims forms and procedures would reduce paperwork for individuals and health providers.
Other states, such as Maine, have designed universal plans that retain many features of the current system while lowering financial barriers to access.
"A Universal Health Care Plan for Missouri" was prepared by MFH in support of its mission to undertake policy studies on topics of significance to the Foundation service area and beyond. This document is one of a series of publications MFH is creating to convey information about current health related issues of interest to policymakers and the general public.
MFH is the largest health care foundation in the state and the second largest health conversion foundation in the country. It is in its second year of grantmaking throughout its service area - 84 Missouri counties and the city of St. Louis. The MFH mission is to improve the health of the people in the communities it serves. Current assets are approximately $1 billion.
To download a copy of "A Universal Health Care Plan for Missouri", go to http://www.mffh.org/ShowMe3.pdf.