Claims DENIED: McCain’s Proposal Would Cost More and Cover Less

Citizens Stand under Shredded Umbrellas to Spotlight the Gaping Holes in McCain’s Health Care Coverage

As Spring comes to Denver, most will realize they will be left out in the rain with no coverage under Senator McCain’s health care proposal. Standing under shredded hole-filled umbrellas, citizens gathered Thursday, prior to John McCain's townhall meeting, to explain why McCain’s plan would hurt, not help them and most Coloradoans.

In Colorado, about 800,000 people lack health insurance, and McCain’s proposal doesn’t guarantee that a single one of them will get coverage. In fact, the ranks of the uninsured will swell.

Under the McCain proposal, those with existing insurance coverage will be forced out of their employer-based plans and left to deal with insurance companies on their own. As a result, millions would lose their benefits completely, according to an analysis by the Center for America Progress.

Fifty-six Americans with chronic diseases are particularly at risk of losing their health insurance, in part because they will be denied coverage by insurance companies.

The press conference was held in advance of John McCain’s town hall meeting on health care scheduled for Friday.

Not only would McCain’s plan leave Coloradoans to fend for their own against insurance companies, he will deregulate insurance companies and give them a $1.9 billion tax break to support fat cat insurance CEOs and growing billion dollar corporate profits.

“Colorado rate payers already pay more than 43 other states in premiums, despite being one of the healthiest states in the nation,” said Kjersten Forseth of Colorado for Health Care.

"Senator McCain has chosen a disingenuous plan for Americans that would charge higher rates to more vulnerable people. When people don't have health insurance, we all pay the price. Uninsured people put off care until they have to go to the emergency room, but if they can't pay the cost, it gets passed along to those of us who do have insurance. Senator McCain: your healthcare plan is a bad prescription for Colorado!" stated Francoise Mbabazi, member of Colorado Progressive Action.

“It all sounds very lovely--unless you know something about health care policy, in which case it sounds absolutely preposterous .” [ The New Republic , 4/29/08]

“The plan isn't expected to make a major dent in the number of uninsured Americans, and questions remain about how the plan would help older, sicker people who can't find insurance on the open market.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/30/08]

“Mr. McCain’s speech here implicitly acknowledged some of the shortcomings of his free-market approach.” [New York Times, 4/30/08]

“…it also leaves McCain open to criticism that he is not doing enough for the poor and sick, who could face steep premiums and limited choices as they search for an insurance company willing to cover them.” [Washington Post, 4/30/08]

Medicaid Funding Cuts Would Impair Colorado Hospitals

From the Denver Post March 4, 2008

Colorado will lose $787 million in health care funds for low-income people during the next five years if proposed Bush administration cuts to Medicaid take effect, according to a new congressional report.

The cuts would reduce payments to Denver Health, the city's safety-net hospital, and cut funds for medical education, reducing low-income patients' access to teaching hospital clinics.

The Bush administration said the trim in Medicaid expenditures would cost states $15 billion. The House oversight committee says it will cost more than three times that, nearly $50 billion.

"The regulations put the financial stability of the entire safety-net provider community in Colorado at risk," Gov. Bill Ritter and Joan Henneberry, executive director of the state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, told the House committee in a Feb. 15 letter.

"We are, like every state, very concerned," Henneberry said Monday.

The White House's plan would define safety-net hospitals more narrowly, cutting Medicaid funding to hospitals including Denver Health, University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, and Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, the committee analysis says.

Those hospitals get more-generous reimbursement than others through Medicaid because they treat so many poor and uninsured patients.

Contact Senators Salazar, Allard and your Representative today.