Health Care Reform

League of Women Voters^®
of Orange-Durham-Chatham

What You Need to Know About Health Care Reform and How to Take Action.

Why is a comprehensive change to North Carolina's Health Insurance System Needed?. Health Care Reform. Education Series.

Why is a comprehensive change to North Carolina's Health Insurance System Needed?

Un-insured. In 2007 19.3% of North Carolinians under the age of 65 lacked health insurance for at least one year. An average of 1,500,000 residents had no health insurance. Reference Premiums vs. Paychecks: A Growing Burden for NC Workers by Families USA, Sept. 2008.
A March 2009 report by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine suggests that due to the recent increases in unemployment since 2007, the number of uninsured in North Carolina is estimated to be at approximately 1.8 million.
Under-insured. Rising health care costs and slow wage growth has forced more Americans to join the ranks of the underinsured. For example: your insurer has excluded a pre-existing condition from your policy. Or maybe your deductibles and co-pays will become a financial burden that could lead to personal bankruptcy if you become seriously ill. Or, your lifetime policy benefit is too low and your share of costs will be enormously high if you have a catastrophic illness.
Lack of personal security. You should have the personal security knowing that whatever your employment status, age, income, or medical history or condition, you have health insurance. The United States is the only industrialized country that does not have a national health insurance plan that covers everyone. It is the only country where people go bankrupt trying to cover health care costs. It is the only country where people worry about how they will pay for unexpected health care costs.
Runaway premiums. In North Carolina alone, premiums grew 5.3 times faster than workers earnings between 2000 and 2007, according to Families USA's new report, Premiums vs. Paychecks see above). Annual health care premium cost increases far exceed cost-of-living increases. For family health coverage provided through the workplace in North Carolina, annual health insurance premiums in the 2000-2007 period rose from $6,649 to $11,618--an increase of $4,969, or 74.7 percent.
Between 2000 and 2007, the median earnings of North Carolina's workers increased from $23,080 to $26,316--an increase of $3,236, or 14.0 percent.
Rising deductibles and co-payments. Even as premiums rise dramatically, we are paying more and more out of pocket for the same health care services.
Employer squeeze. Employers are put in a tough position of having to balance profits and employee health care needs. They increasingly face the task of choosing among insurers and millions of policy plans. Most recently employers have found it less expensive to fly workers to foreign countries for medical procedures. North Carolina has experienced an especially large decline in the percent of residents who received health care insurance from their employers.
Emergency room closures. Today, every North Carolinian, insured or not, facing an emergency, has to cope with hours of emergency room wait. This is because emergency rooms have become the last resort for the uninsured. Increasingly emergency rooms are providing so much uncompensated care that they have had to close their doors.
Lack of choice of providers. For many North Carolinians their choice of health care providers increasingly has become severely limited by insurance companies. Often, especially in rural areas, they are unable to find a provider near where they live.
Poorer benefits. Many insurance companies have limited benefits. For example, dental, vision and many parts of mental health care are often non-existent or inadequate.
Inefficiency and confusion. We have thousands of insurance companies and tens of thousands of insurance plans. It is confusing for patients, providers, employers and it is very inefficient. Too many health care dollars + nearly 30% - are spent on tedious administrative costs, marketing, and profit instead of on direct health care services.
Poorer medical outcomes. The United States spends twice as much money for health care per capita than the most advanced industrial countries and has the worst population-based health care outcomes in the industrialized world. For example, our life expectancy is the lowest in the industrialized world. To a large extent, this is because there are no system-wide standards of care or standards for reporting and investigating errors. It is estimated that over 700,000 Americans die each year from preventable medical errors in hospitals. Clinical and administrative waste is a big problem in our health care system.
HOW HR3200 WOULD HELP NC. A recent report by Families USA.

Health Care Reform

LWVODC Health Care Reform Advocacy Committee
President Obama's Health Care Plan
President Obama's Health Reform Website
Resources: Background Readings and Websites of Interest

Health Care Community Education Series Summary

OUR COMMUNITY, OUR HEALTH CARE, OUR VOTE

Building on the success of the 2007 Health Care Forum, the LWVODC continued its exploration of issues affecting health care reform with a four-part series "Our Community, Our Health Care, Our Vote." The series was co-sponsored by the Clinical Lecture Series of the UNC School of Social Work, a program of continuing education mainly for mental health professionals and students. The average attendance at the sessions was 30.
Education Series Flier
August 28, 2008
Session I. Insurance In North Carolina
Mark Holmes, Ph.D., MPH, VP North Carolina Institute of Medicine used the newest census data to inform us about the situation of insured/uninsured in our State. We gained an understanding of the impact of these populations on health care costs in North Carolina.

Mark Holmes
September 18, 2008
Session II. Creative Health Care Solutions: The North Carolina Community Health Center
Melissa Bishop, MD, Annette DuBard, MD, MPH and Barbara Rowland, MD spoke to us about creative solutions to working with Medicaid, Medicare, and uninsured patients. We gained insights into the types of clients the community health centers serve, the access barriers and financial challenges inherent in their work.
Barbara Roland and Annette DuBard Presentation: Please contact the Webmaster for a copy of Roland's and BuBard's presentation. Both a pdf file version and a Power Point version are available. E-mail: wm@lwvodc.org
Melissa Bishop
Barbara Rowland and Bev Kawalec
Lynne Kane and Annette Dubard
September 25, 2008
Session III. Are Drugs Making Your Wallet Sick?
David Work, Executive Director, Emeritus, NC Board of Pharmacy and Mia Yang, UNC medical student and Pharm-Free Coordinator for UNC informed us about drug pricing and how physicians who accept gifts from drug companies open the door to influence.
David Work's Presentation(pdf file)
DavidWork
Mia Yang's Presentation: Please contact the Webmaster for a copy of Yang's presentation. Both a pdf file version and a Power Point version are available. E-mail: wm@lwvodc.org
Mia Yang
October 30, 2008
Session IV. How Do The Candidates Match Up?
Thomas C. Ricketts, III, Ph.D., MPH, provided the results of his analysis of the health care reform positions of all the major State and national candidates.
Thomas Ricketts Presentation

Thomas Bicketts

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: March 17, 2010 07:38 PDT.