Coalition proposes using Medicaid, SCHIP funds to purchase private coverage for uninsured

Officials from the Healthcare Leadership Council, a coalition of health insurers, academics, hospitals and other health care groups, proposed using Medicaid and SCHIP funds to purchase private coverage for uninsured U.S. residents, CQ HealthBeat reports.

The plan, announced at a Chicago news conference, states that using Medicaid and SCHIP funds to purchase private coverage would allow the uninsured to purchase coverage through their employers.

The proposal was part of a larger health care reform plan that included restructuring insurance payments "to reward positive outcomes and the use of evidence-based medicine" instead of a fee-per-procedure system and overhauling the "flawed medical liability system," which encourages "defensive medicine." In addition, the plan recommended increasing the use of health care information technology to improve the quality of medical care while lowering its cost. HLC officials wrote, "It is critical that Congress and the administration invest significant funds and establish national standards to encourage the implementation of health information technology" as well as provide "financing mechanisms" to help health care providers use the technology in their medical practices.

Mary Grealy, president of HLC, said that as Congress prepares to make changes to the U.S. health care system in 2009, "We really want to work together to get the job done" (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 5/13).