A new coalition of the largest physician, hospital, business, insurance, pharmaceutical, and consumer organizations in the U.S., also known as “strange bedfellows,” has announced a historic agreement to work together to expand health coverage for the uninsured. These organizations, which have often clashed on health policy issues, committed to a consensus-building process whose goal is “to cover as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.”
The agreement has two phases. The first phase, which is designed for enactment in 2007, involves expanding children’s health coverage. It seeks additional money in the federal budget to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and to automatically enroll low-income children in SCHIP and Medicaid when they apply and are deemed eligible for other means-tested programs. It also creates a new tax credit for children in families with incomes above SCHIP eligibility levels. With Congress scheduled to consider SCHIP reauthorization this year, the unprecedented agreement and new coalition will bring key new voices to the fight for children’s coverage.
The second phase of the proposal focuses on uninsured adults. The agreement includes additional federal funding to the states for Medicaid so that all low-income adults can gain public coverage. It also includes a tax credit for adults with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level.
To learn more about the new coalition and the agreement, click on the documents below.
