For those of us writing letters, e-mail, faxes, tweets and whatever to recalcitrant members of Congress on the subject of health care reform, the Department of Health and Human Services has provided a valuable resource, and one which could be used in tandem with the many individual stories of hardship created by the current dysfunctional system. A number of newspapers, including papers in Michigan and Iowa, have picked up on the HHS' new release of data, noting its significance to the residents of those states.
Here's a link to the HHS web site in question, more discussion about it below:
http://www.healthreform.gov/...
The link above takes you to a map of the US, from which you can navigate to a set of data for any state, providing "the case for change" with respect to that particular state. For example, if one were trying to convince, say, a Senator from the state of Arkansas to vote for the bill introduced in the Senate, the data provided for Arkansas provides the specific number of citizens of that state, and small businesses located in that state, who would be helped by reform:
Under reform in Arkansas:
481,000 residents who do not currently have insurance and 128,000 residents who have nongroup insurance could get affordable coverage through the health insurance exchange.
323,000 residents could qualify for premium tax credits to help them purchase health coverage.
506,000 seniors would receive free preventive services.
89,800 seniors would have their brand-name drug costs in the Medicare Part D "doughnut hole" halved.
36,200 small businesses could be helped by a small business tax credit to make premiums more affordable.
Given that Arkansas has a total of 2.9 million residents, these numbers graphically illustrate the hug impact HCR would produce there.
Furthermore, the site has other data that makes it clear that many benefits of HCR would benefit ALL of the residents of the state and that the effects of reform would be, in large measure, felt immediately. This type of data is broken down to show the ways in which HCR would benefit
- Families;
- Seniors;
- Small Businesses; and
- the State itself, by reducing pressures on state budgets caused by uncompensated care (using Arkansas as an example, providers in Arkansas lose $656 million in uncompensated care each year).
The site next provides a summary of the various ways in which HCR will provide greater stability, security and choice to state residents. Individuals would obtain relief from the "hidden tax" caused by the cost of uncompensated care absorbed by the state, and by by the fact that 323,000 Arkansans would be eligible to receive tax credits to assist in paying health care premiums. Health insurance exchanges will promote portability and greater choice, and help ensure that people have coverage if they change or lose a job. Finally, reform will promote the availability of home- and community-based long-term care, a matter of increasing concern to older Arkansans, including those not yet in retirement. For example, in Arkansas, this means that 240,000 older residents of Arkansas who are aged 55 to 64 today will need home health services after they turn 65, a need that is often unmet today by Medicare, Medicaid, or private health insurance.
Finally, the site lists the ways in which reform will improve the quality of health care and the health care delivery system. These include:
- programs to reduce preventable hospital readmissions;
- lessening of expensive and annoying insurance-related paperwork; and
- incentives to increase the number and quality of primary caregivers, especially in rural or other underserved areas. In Arkansas, for example, approximately 10% of the population, 279,000 people, cannot access a primary care provider due to shortages in their own communities.
What's more, all of the facts cited are meticulously supported by authoritative citations to the sources of the data.
For those of us dealing with particular Senators or Representatives, this site can be a source of useful ammunition to show the impact in that Congress(wo)man's own state, and will allow selection of the points most important to the person making the case to his/her legislators. The benefits cited will either be felt immediately or will be the result of improvements that will begin immediately, with the effects building over time. The site does not rely to any extent on a public option in making its case for each state, although the inclusion of a public option would clearly buttress several of the points made, e.g., greater choice and (over time) lower costs.