Access & Affordability

A Closer Look

Several ideas are circulating in response to the nationwide clamor for access and affordability.

Consumer groups, insurers, employers, and federal and state governments are exploring many different answers to the uninsured challenge.

Our Position

We believe all Americans should have affordable, quality healthcare coverage

Our health system must change. Far too many people today are left out – and being left out means foregoing healthcare or facing crippling financial obligations. When a system changes, the change affects everyone. We believe that the burden of change must be fairly shared among all stakeholders. Government, the private sector, individuals and the groups that represent them each must share in the responsibility for finding an affordable solution.

We need a system that creates health

We face a rising tide of chronic, preventable disease that will overwhelm our health system unless we begin helping people to live healthier lives today. If we are going to be able to afford healthcare for all, we must:

• Devote resources to wellness strategies
• Treat illness when it becomes acute

This kind of system can only be achieved and sustained through full civic engagement in the production of better health – from schools to the workplace, from how we eat to how much activity we get. This will only occur through creative public-private-community partnerships.

We must reduce costs, increase efficiencies, and improve outcomes throughout the healthcare system.

Confidential, e-connected healthcare system

• Ensure that all Americans have access to a privacy-protected, electronically-connected healthcare system that provides administrative and medical information to lower costs, reduce errors, and eliminate treatment delays.

Standardized e-systems

• Develop uniform national standards for secure electronic systems that will streamline administrative and financial transactions and enable more efficient operations.

Consumer access to cost and quality information

• Ensure that all Americans have access to cost and quality information about the care provided in their communities, with comparison of the effectiveness of all aspects of our healthcare system, including medical technologies, treatments, delivery models, and health plans. The government should publish these comparisons.
• Reform medical liability laws to reduce the cost to the system while ensuring the public is protected.

We can take the first steps to cover all Americans

• Begin by insuring all children – by reauthorizing the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP) and expanding eligibility for low-income families.
• Identify – through a federal/state partnership – the best way to help people obtain coverage and provide assistance to those who need extra help, whether through an employer plan, a private insurance market with income-related tax incentives, or a government program.

Any solution must not create special rules or exemptions for certain health plan arrangements, and should include sufficient funding mechanisms. Any solution must be adequately funded now and in the future.

Tax-deductible premiums

• Everyone should be able to deduct health insurance premiums regardless of the coverage source – whether purchased as individuals or through an employer, through an association, a church, or through an extended family member who pays the premium.

Remove regulatory barriers

• We must remove regulatory barriers that prevent insurers from offering consumers affordable health insurance choices.

As a company, Humana cares deeply about making sure that all Americans have affordable healthcare. Our 26,000 employees stand ready to work to create affordable, quality healthcare for all Americans.