Kansas Health Institute | Information For Policy Makers. Health for Kansans.

Over the last year, we’ve heard sobering statistics about our health care system. In Kansas, we are feeling the pinch of unstable employment, skyrocketing insurance premiums, and high out-of-pocket health care expenses. According to a report issued this week, the situation is sure to get worse without health reform.

The report cautions that if this Congress does not pass health reform, we will face greater problems over the next decade. The percentage of people employed by small businesses who have access to employer-sponsored health insurance will be cut nearly in half. And those fortunate enough to have coverage will be required to pay more of the costs of their care. More and more middle-class Americans will find themselves unable to afford coverage.

Contrary to the misinformation being spread by opponents of health reform, the compromise bill now working its way through Congress would significantly benefit large numbers of Kansans. Not only will it provide affordable coverage to hundreds of thousands of uninsured Kansans, it will help make it more affordable to those who are struggling to maintain their coverage.

Research shows that between 2000 and 2009, insurance premiums paid by Kansas families increased 4.2 times faster than their median earnings, making health coverage less affordable. The legislation being acted on now in Congress would provide sliding-scale subsidies to middle-class Kansas families to help them purchase high-quality health insurance plans. The legislation would also place caps on out-of-pocket expenses.

The health reform bill would help small businesses in Kansas offer health care coverage to their employees. Next time you are at the grocery store or in church, look around. You are no doubt shopping or worshipping next to a small business owner who wants to do best by his employees but cannot afford to offer them health insurance. Research shows that in 2008, a little more than a third of small businesses with fewer than 10 employees and about half of small with 10 to 24 employees offered health insurance, compared to almost all (96 percent) of businesses with more than 50 employees offering coverage. The health reform legislation contains tax credits for small business owners who offer coverage to their workers.

Comprehensive health reform would also make affordable coverage available to all of our neighbors, friends, and colleagues. Many of us know people who have been denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions. These hard-working Kansans are forced into expensive high-risk pools or to go without health insurance. The reform legislation would prohibit health insurance companies from denying coverage to Kansans due to pre-existing conditions. Insurance companies would be required to sell insurance to all applicants.

The result of these and many other reforms included in the legislation is simple: more Kansans will be insured. Today, there are about 330,000 uninsured Kansans. If Congress fails to pass the bill, it’s estimated that number will balloon over the next decade to 397,000. Passing the health reform bill would help an estimated 228,000 Kansans obtain health care coverage by 2019.

The comprehensive reform bill before Congress is not perfect, but it would go a long way toward helping Kansans gain access to affordable coverage and to ease the growing health care crisis in our state. Truth be told, Kansans cannot wait any longer.

Corrie L. Edwards, MPA is the Executive Director for the Kansas Health Consumer Coalition, a statewide nonprofit organization whose mission is to advocate for affordable, accessible and quality health care in Kansas.