With Congress home for Thanksgiving, the Obama administration on Monday provided House and Senate members with something it hopes will make changes in health care more palatable for their constituencies: estimates on how many millions of people it says will be helped.
In Michigan, that translates to 1.3 million people the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says are without insurance, and 459,000 state residents with individual policies who stand to get guaranteed coverage for less on a national insurance exchange.
The agency released state-by-state estimates based on data provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute. Said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius: "The reports give us a clearer picture of the kind of change health reform will bring."
The administration push comes at a key time. When senators return from Thanksgiving break next week, they are to begin debate on the mammoth legislation with an eye toward passing it this year.
To do so, majority Democrats will have to beat back Republican critics' attempts to derail a bill they say will increase health care costs for many and be too expensive, at $848 billion over 10 years.
At the same time, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., must answer the concerns of moderate Democrats anxious about spending, reductions to Medicare and a so-called public option government plan that has drawn conservative fire.
Two weeks ago, the chief actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated that national health care spending would rise by $289 billion in the next 10 years under the House-passed plan, as currently uninsured people access -- and use -- their new coverage. The CMS did not take into account whether tax proposals could result in businesses or individuals opting for less-expensive coverage than they have.
Monday's release from President Barack Obama's administration not only makes a case for health care reform, it suggests that despite compromises made so far in the Senate, that chamber's bill still carries a huge potential effect by cutting the number of uninsured people, partially closing the benefit gap in prescription drug services for seniors and ensuring that no one is turned away from affordable coverage because of a pre-existing condition.
According to the administration:
--Some 797,000 Michigan residents could qualify for federal subsidies to help with coverage.
--The state's 1.6 million seniors on Medicare will receive free preventive coverage.
--A reinsurance plan to cover catastrophic claims could help 192,000 early retirees with business- or union-insurance plans for a few years.
--About 279,000 Medicare beneficiaries who fall in the prescription drug benefit gap will pay about half as much for brand-name drugs.
Without health reform, the report said, Michigan's uninsured population would increase to 1.6 million by 2019. To see more of the Detroit Free Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.freep.com Copyright (c) 2009, Detroit Free Press Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, Detroit Free Press