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Make health insurance and health care reform a top priority

Reducing the number of uninsured in North Carolina will be my top priority as Insurance Commissioner. In attacking this problem, first we need a better understanding of the problem. North Carolina's growth is only part of the reason why the number of uninsured has increased over the past ten years. Contributing to this problem is also the rising cost of health care in our state and across the country.

As Insurance Commissioner, I will be both an ADVOCATE for health care reforms that make sense and will reduce the number of uninsured in North Carolina and a WATCHDOG over the industry and the market to ensure that there is a proper balance between the insurance companies and consumer and those who provide the essential medical services to our citizens.

As a supporter of expanded health care coverage, I support the following:

1. An expansion of Medicaid to reach to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).This first step will have a significant impact on the number of uninsured. According to the Sheps Center study on the uninsured, in 2004, there are 850,000 uninsured who fall within this range. To ensure that the costs are moderated, I favor the use of a slight premium share for Medicaid participants whose income falls within 150% and 200% of FPL.

2. Expand S-CHIP to cover 100% of uninsured kids in North Carolina.Healthy Access has done a great job reaching a large group of children throughout North Carolina. It needs the resources and the flexibility to reach more. The program should better partner with insurance carriers and self-funded plans to provide partial funding to working parents to reach the people who can't afford to add their children to their employer's plans. Along with these improvements, I favor a requirement that a child's health care coverage status be verified through the state's child support system and integrating that information with the NC Health Access.

3. Make getting on Medicaid easier. We need to streamline North Carolina's application processes for public health insurance programs like Medicaid and S-CHIP, and allow for presumptive eligibility, so that all eligible participants are enrolled and their providers are paid instead of incurring uncompensated care expenses.

4. Tax system improvements. I will advocate for a better tax system which also allows indivdiuals to deduct the money they pay for health care premiums and eliminate the 7.5% AGI minimum before an individual can deduct their health care expenses.

To make our private health insurance markets work better, I propose the following to reduce the number of uninsured:

1. High loss claims in small business are impacting their rates - let's spread that risk across multiple states and multiple carriers. This is a key area where innovation is not only possible, but can have a real impact on the number of insured. Creation of a multi-state stop loss reinsurance pool for small business health insurance (1-100 employee groups) that would pay claims above $200,000 for the purpose of reducing the cost of health insurance for the employees of small businesses, a significant portion of our uninsured population.

2. Let the high-risk pool work. As someone who supported the creation of a state high risk pool for individuals for over 10 years, I am proud that it has been formed and will be operational January 1, 2009. As a member of the Pool's Board of Directors, I will make sure that we deal with the high cost of health insurance for people who buy their health insurance for themselves and can't afford it because of their medical history.

3. Look at where costs rise and start attacking that problem. I propose the formation of a Cost Containment Commission to bring together consumers, business leaders, health care providers, pharmaceutical companies, private insurers, and patient advocates to recommend ways to reduce the trend increase in health care through efficiencies in administrative cost, ongoing attention to spending trends, technology and consistency in care.

4. Make sure that low-cost health insurance doesn't mean no benefits. One of the real concerns in the marketplace today is the sale of "new" insurance products that do not provide adequate benefits to our citizens. I will make sure that these products have full disclosure or are not sold in our state.

5. Provide a tax credit to businesses that implement wellness programs for their employees.Wellness plans have shown great promise as a means of controlling the cost of health coverage and ought to be adopted by more businesses. I support allowing businesses to take a tax credit for the costs of wellness programs, which are showing the best promise to change the focus on keeping people well and being proactive rather than reacting to every illnesses.

6. Repeal the law that keeps us from implementing smoking cessation programs in North Carolina.North Carolina law currently prohibits businesses in North Carolina from implementing smoking cessation programs with any incentives. I will fight to modify that law and let employersaddresses this issue today without the threat of a lawsuit.

If you would like an Insurance Commissioner who will work on the critical issues that face North Carolina and find solutions that will actually work, I would welcome your support for my campaign.