Economic Impacts
The cost of health insurance premiums negatively impacts individual families, businesses, unions, and all levels of government.
From Rx for Reform
In response to a question posted on the National Journal’s Health Care Expert Blog,
NCHC Action Fund President and CEO, Ralph G. Neas, calls for an insurance policy for health care reform.
Noting that last spring, leaders of the health care industry, including representatives from PhARMA, America's Health Insurance Plans, the American Medical Association and American Hospital Association, met with President Obama and pledged to him and the American people that they would decrease the annual rate of cost increases by 1.5 percentage points to save $2 trillion or more over the next decade. Neas said the commitment that industry leaders made to the President and the American public "should be more than a photo op, press statement and promise." Citing Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus' piece about legislative cost containment efforts and needing a fail-safe mechanism to ensure that the rate of health care inflation is slowed, Neas urged that industry pledges to the President and the American people to control the growth of national health expenditures be codified and made enforceable as part of health reform.
The National Coalition on Health Care's recommendations, based upon the consensus view of 85 member organizations, to make the system less complex, reduce overly high prices, and create a truly competitive health care marketplace. The goal of the paper is to augment the NCHC Principles and Specifications with a more detailed and selective set of policy recommendations on cost containment and quality improvement.
From Facts & Research
In a fact sheet released August 6, 2010, The National Association Community Health Centers highlighted that Community Health Centers are well positioned to lead the nation in revolutionizing the primary care delivery system.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (AARA) provided more than two billion dollars to community health centers for improvement in capital, expansion of personnel and adopting a Health Information Technology (HIT) system. While it has achieved the goal of directing temporary resources into community health centers and HIT, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has helped ensure these resources maintain required support enabling them to serve at-risk communities.
To access a report by GWU School of Public Health detailing the Early Effects of ARRA Funding , Click here
The Small Business Majority has released a tax credit calculator that estimates the tax credit a small business will receive for offering health insurance under health reform. Click here to access the calculator.
Prescribers without access to free drug samples are three times more likely to write generic drug prescriptions for uninsured patients than those with access to drug samples.
National Coalition on Health Care
1120 G Street, NW Suite 810, Washington, DC 20005
Tel: 202.638.7151 Fax: 202.638.7166
