After King v. Burwell, insurance companies consolidate and premiums go up
In the weeks since the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in King v. Burwell, insurance companies have responded to the court’s safeguarding of the ACA with what the New York Times called an “almost head-spinning” wave of corporate mergers. As former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich points out, insurance companies have already seen their profits and worth balloon since the Affordable Care Act was passed; now the increasing consolidation of power in the hands of a few companies is likely to increase insurance premiums and put care further out of the reach of people who need it. The New York Times reports that insurance companies are already seeking rate increases of 20-40% for the coming year. Quoted in an article in Common Dreams, Cait Vaughan of the Southern Maine Workers’ Center explains that the Affordable Care Act model “is still a for-profit system that is not determined by our needs.” And as Kate Kanelstein of the Vermont Workers’ Center wrote in an Op-Ed, we need to move beyond the ACA because the interests of the entire insurance industry are fundamentally in conflict with the human right to healthcare.
International research is converging on progressive taxation as a key to achieving universal healthcare
Around the world, scholars and policymakers agree that universal healthcare is necessary for protecting people’s health. In 2012, for example, the UN General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution—co-sponsored by the U.S.—calling for countries to move toward universal healthcare systems. Now a new consensus among researchers is emerging that in order for universal healthcare systems to meet human health needs, they must be funded by progressive taxation. One recent longitudinal study of 89 countries found that “increasing general taxation financing was associated with increased health service coverage and improved financial protection.” The researchers found that “progressive tax revenues from profits, capital, and income are much more effective in generating public funds for health than are consumption taxes.”
States explore ways to expand and improve healthcare under federal law:
With King v. Burwell putting to rest concerns that states might lose federal healthcare subsidies, several states are now exploring how they might be able to expand and improve their healthcare systems under federal law. California recently passed a budget that included funding to expand Medicaid to all of the state’s low-income undocumented children; some 170,000 kids who had previously been denied full inclusion in the healthcare system will now become eligible. Several other states are considering applying to the federal government for ACA waivers (known as Section 1332 waivers), that will allow states to take measures beginning in 2017 to expand and improve healthcare access. It is this waiver that would allow Vermont to proceed with implementing its universal healthcare law. Yet even with such a waiver, federal law still puts barriers in the way of states who seek to establish a fully publicly financed system that provides the same healthcare services for all. That’s why U.S. Representative Jim McDermott has introduced a bill, H.R. 3241, that would remove many of the administrative and financial hurdles states face, making it easier for states to fully implement universal, publicly financed healthcare.