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Today, nearly 46 million people in the United States are without healthcare coverage. And, simply put, lack of healthcare coverage is often a major barrier to access to healthcare -- with serious consequence for patient health.
BIO and its member companies are committed to expanding the boundaries of science by developing and delivering innovative and needed medications to patients. As a member of the healthcare community, BIO recognizes the need for sustainable solutions to help more people secure healthcare coverage and gain access to the latest innovations in medical treatment.
To that end, BIO has adopted the following principles to govern our consideration of public policies aimed at helping the uninsured:
Support market-based solutions for expanding health insurance coverage. Solutions that encourage and enable the private market will help to ensure that consumers and providers have choice and cost-effective coverage. Additional credits, delivered through the income tax system, could help individuals purchase insurance. Granting tax credits to individuals who purchase health insurance will provide an incentive to those who are not offered health insurance from an employer.
Support maximizing participation in valuable public programs, especially Medicaid and SCHIP. Providing education and information regarding the programs which many of the uninsured are currently eligible for, but are not enrolled, is an important step in ensuring that existing solutions and programs are fully utilized for those most vulnerable individuals. Eligible beneficiaries should be able to enroll or re-enroll, with as few unnecessary administrative burdens as possible, ensuring ease for all parties involved. In addition to increased education efforts, SCHIP should continue to be reauthorized.
Enhance individual and employer responsibility in accessing healthcare coverage. In some instances, eligible individuals do not participate in employer-sponsored health insurance. Incentives should be provided to ensure all eligible individuals participate in employer sponsored health plans including the consideration of subsidies for low-income individuals. At the same time, employers, particularly small businesses, should have incentives to be able to provide health insurance to their employees that are affordable and comprehensible. It is critical that all individuals be insured for the benefit of the entire healthcare system. Caring for uninsured individuals places a heavy burden on the healthcare system, with the federal government, state governments, and hospitals paying the significant costs associated with uncompensated care.
Ensure access to medically appropriate, innovative therapies. All proposals to help the uninsured should maintain beneficial access to innovative therapies. These innovative therapies provide a greater quality of life for many patients with life-threatening disease. Proposals that limit access to innovative medical technology can lead to potential delays in obtaining medical care, resulting in higher healthcare costs. Outreach efforts to educate patients, healthcare providers, and pharmacists about Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) that provide life-saving therapies to vulnerable patients at no cost should continue as more solutions to expand coverage options are considered.
Strengthen our public health system. Improvements to our public health system are needed to ensure all individuals have better and timelier access to care and therapies. Our public health system should be upgraded to acknowledge the importance of preventative health and in doing so, ensure that more extensive preventative health services are added to the community.
Embrace new technologies that enhance the patient healthcare experience. The widespread adoption of secure and interoperable health information technology (IT) has the potential to improve the quality of care while curbing the rising costs of healthcare. BIO supports the federal government's, state governments', and private-sectors' efforts in promoting the adoption of health IT, aimed to improve America's healthcare system's efficiency and effectiveness.
Recognize that one-size-does-not-fit all and support the exploration of healthcare reform efforts aimed to expand health coverage. The federal government and state governments should examine and learn from states that have proposed or implemented universal health coverage reforms to better understand the effectiveness of different approaches. Proposed methods aim to cost-effectively expand and improve health coverage utilizing a combination of workable solutions that may also work well in other states. In addition, the ongoing dialogue among all stakeholders who collectively aim to expand healthcare coverage and alleviate the nation's uninsured problem should continue.
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