ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 19, 1996 TAG: 9611190090
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SLOWING THE health-care inflation rate, particularly in Medicaid, has opened some options for extending health insurance to the nation's uninsured, particularly its 10 million uninsured children.
That total, from 1995, represents 14.2 percent of American children. In Virginia, 13 percent of children were uninsured in 1993, and the state remained among those in the 10 to 15 percent range in '95.
Among the ideas the Clinton administration is kicking around to remedy this shameful reality: a plan for voluntary coalitions to make it more affordable for small businesses to buy health insurance for employees; a plan to help pay premiums for up to six months for workers between jobs; and an effort to enroll all children who are eligible for Medicaid.
Nearly 3 million more youngsters qualify for Medicaid than are signed up. Developing a strategy to cover all eligible children would boost Medicaid spending, of course. But what better place to put these dollars than in preventive and early treatment of children who will grow into healthier, more self-sufficient adults?
Children would benefit, as well, if workers were able to keep health-insurance coverage when they lose or change jobs. They can, of course - in theory. Last year, Congress passed the Kennedy-Kassebaum bill, and President Clinton signed into law the measure that makes health insurance portable. The law does not necessarily make it affordable, however, and the unregulated price still puts coverage out of reach for many who need it.
Some means must be found to make good on the promise of portability, if not through subsidies, then through some risk pool that would reduce rates.
Helping children is not a theme of the current Congress. But it, too, is showing interest in inching forward with health-care reform. It already has shown its willingness to mandate coverage of medical procedures on a piecemeal basis (first, drive-by deliveries; next, outpatient mastectomies?). Such legislation may win political points, but is hardly sound groundwork for a sustainable health-care policy.
Broader efforts to extend both managed care and health insurance are necessary to improve market incentives and protect the quality of health care - without leaving out society's most vulnerable members.
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB