America's Health Insurance Plans has released what it is calling a "comprehensive set" of "targeted policy proposals" for helping Americans who have no health insurance.
The set of proposals call for Congress to let all consumers buy health insurance with pretax dollars, provide financial assistance for working families, encourage states to develop access proposals, and expand eligibility for public programs, including the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
AHIP recommends expanding the state CHIPs to include all uninsured children from families with incomes under 200% of the federal poverty level.
"No one piece of our initiative takes precedence over another," AHIP spokesman Mohit Ghose says.
But because Congress will be engaged in talks about renewing SCHIP, anway, "it's a logical starting point" for discussions with Congress, Ghose says.
AHIP wants "a federal-state and public-private partnership to provide health care for all children in 3 years and 95% of adults in 10 years," Ghose says.
Shortly after AHIP released its proposals, the Senate Finance Committee's health care subcommittee scheduled a hearing on the states' views of SCHIP.
In addition to pushing for expansion of SCHIP, AHIP says it wants to:
- Improve and expand Medicaid to make eligible all uninsured adults, including single adults, with incomes under 100% of the federal poverty level.
- Establish a universal health account to allow all individuals to purchase any type of health care coverage and pay for qualified medical expenses with pretax dollars.
- Establish a health tax credit of up to $500 for low-income families that secures health insurance for their children.
