We need balance in our health care system

Missouri is facing the reality of high health care costs and the requirement to pass a balanced budget. However, demand for a balanced budget must not be allowed to exacerbate unmet health care needs of hundreds of thousands of Missourians. The 2006 fiscal year budget was balanced by cutting many low-income, disabled, and elderly citizens from Medicaid and increasing premiums for the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP). While they may have balanced the budget, lawmakers imbalanced the lives of many families and damaged the economic health of our state by increasing health care costs for all Missourians.

Cuts to Medicaid indeed helped Missouri balance the budget, but the costs of health care do not simply disappear – the rest of us pick up the tab. The 702,000 Missourians without health insurance often end up in emergency rooms for treatment. The cost of emergency fees and the reality of a sicker population mean that the lack of affordable preventive medicine raises private insurance rates. These higher rates are then passed on to employers and individuals. Families USA, a Washington-based health care advocacy group, has released statistics that show Missouri health insurance premiums increased to $110 for an individual plan and $291 per family in 2005 because of health care costs of uninsured Missourians.

An estimated 100,000 people were added to the list of the uninsured because of the budget cuts and legislation approved by Missouri lawmakers. The imbalanced health insurance structure that the Missouri General Assembly created will ensure that all of our health insurance premiums increase annually.

Missouri is also missing out on federal funds because of Medicaid cuts. According to reports from the Missouri Foundation of Health, for every $1 Missouri spends on Medicaid, it receives approximately $1.57 in federal funds. Every $1 Missouri spends on CHIP, the federal government matches with $2.68. The economic benefits from these two government insurance programs are significant. According to the report, the state stands to lose $379 million in federal matching funds, [which] will result in a loss of $737.4 million in economic activity, and a potential loss of 10,130 jobs," with the approval of Missouri’s 2006 budget.

Yet, the impact isn’t just on the budget. It is in the everyday lives of Missouri’s citizens. Here is a real world example of what the cuts have meant. Diana, a single mother of two, benefitted 10 years ago from federal welfare reform, which afforded her the opportunity to further her education and gain marketable skills. She was able to end her reliance on government welfare. Until recently, Diana had Medicaid for her health insurance and her children were on CHIP. Because of the 2006 budget cuts, Diana lost her Medicaid and she cannot afford the premiums for CHIP as set by Gov. Bond.

Everyone who loses Medicaid for themselves or health care for their children has a ripple effect on the economy of Missouri. All the Dianas still have to somehow provide health care for themselves and their children. Employers lose work production when parents stay home to care for sick children themselves. If Diana’s children are seen by a physician, she has to figure out how to pay for prescriptions. When the Dianas of Missouri finally seek out medical services for themselves, they will be sicker because they have not received preventive care. In the end, it will cost all Missourians much more to have the 68,000 working parents like Diana eliminated from Medicaid than it would to keep them enrolled.

Missouri needs to gather health insurance provides, government officials, corporate human resources, experts on Medicaid and CHIP, economists and labor unions, researchers from Missouri’s universities, and people of all incomes to develop a multi-level plan to provide health insurance to all Missourians, rather than simply focusing on the Medicaid problem. We face a health care crisis, not just a Medicaid crisis.

We are responsible as compassionate citizens to care for human life. It is fiscally responsible to invest in a healthier Missouri, which will enable everyone to lead more productive and balanced lives.

Editor’s note: This article is provided by Missouri Forum, a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization at Jefferson City. Mr. Dougherty is a State Senator (D-District 4), phone 573-751-3599. Sister Probst and Sister Geringer are with the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help of St. Louis, 314-956-7565.