Covering the uninsured: Working from common ground

Will 2007 finally be the year that America gets serious about its uninsured problem? The pressure to do something to cover those without insurance certainly has been building.

In 2001, 41.2 million Americans lacked health insurance. In 2003, the number jumped to 45 million. In 2005, the latest statistic available, 46.6 million were uninsured.

It is too late to change the yet-to-be calculated 2006 total, a figure that likely will continue the upward trend seen this decade. But there are positive signs that 2007 could be a turning point.

Before the first month of the year concluded, a group of 16 influential, national organizations -- including the American Medical Association -- banded together and put forward a plan to help reduce the number of uninsured.

It is particularly encouraging to see groups that don't often come together set aside their separate agendas to forge a consensus on a two-phased plan to fix the problem. To name a few of the groups comprising the Health Coverage Coalition for the Uninsured: Families USA, America's Health Insurance Plan, Catholic Health Assn., Johnson & Johnson and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The first phase of the plan calls for allowing parents to enroll children more easily in public programs such as the State Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid. For example, parents could enroll children in a health insurance program at the same time they enroll for other programs, such as food stamps. Coalition leaders believe it could allow an additional 6 million uninsured children who are eligible for, but not enrolled in, public insurance programs to get coverage.

The first phase also calls for a new tax credit to help families cover some of the cost of providing private health insurance for their children. The second phase focuses on uninsured adults.

And the good news continues.

Less than a week later, President Bush brought the uninsured issue into the national spotlight when he laid out his own uninsured plan in the State of the Union address.

The AMA, for which covering the uninsured is a top priority, said it was encouraged to see President Bush use the State of the Union address to focus nationwide attention on this important health issue.

The AMA also applauded the recently introduced Health Partnership Act in the Senate and the Health Partnership through Creative Federalism Act in the House. The bills, which the AMA supports, would let states experiment with innovative approaches and evaluate their ability to decrease the number of uninsured.

In addition, January saw 10 of the nation's leading physician associations, including the AMA, come together to lay out 11 principles to reform the U.S. health care system. Health care coverage for all and a health care system that provides appropriate health care to all people within the U.S. borders without unreasonable financial barriers to care were on the list.

Change couldn't come too quickly.

Every day, physicians see what a lack of health insurance means to their patients. As the AMA has pointed out, uninsured patients live sicker and die younger. The situation reaches crisis proportions, leading to more costly and more difficult conditions to treat.

As the number of Americans without health insurance has grown, past efforts to provide coverage have failed in part because stakeholders haven't found common ground.

This year, finally, may be different.