Peter Harbage: All Publications, Events and Press

Peter Harbage in San Jose Mercury News | 'Committee Kills Health Plan'

Communications — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:28:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Senate committee kills health care reform plan (San Jose Mercury News)

"California had a major opportunity," said Peter Harbage, an independent health care consultant affiliated with the New America Foundation think tank. "This would have been one of the biggest reform efforts in the nation in a very long time, really since the Clinton effort" in the mid-1990s.

Why the Budget Gap Shouldn't Derail Health Care Reform

adminn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:06:00 -0500

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has released his budget threatened by $14 billion of red ink, many are asking whether California can afford the ambitious health care reforms that passed the state Assembly in December. Given the social and economic costs of leaving as many as 6.5 million Californians uninsured, the better question may be: Can we afford not to? Those worried by the possible impact of the budget gap on health reform include Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, whose chamber must vote for the health reform bill for it to move forward. Perata's concerns must be taken… more

Why the State's Budget Gap Shouldn't Derail Health Care Reform

Health Policy — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:47:00 -0500

On January 15, 2008, the San Francisco Chronicle featured an opinion piece authored by Leif Wellington Haase and Peter Harbage of the New America Foundation. The article, titled “Why the state’s the budget gap shouldn’t derail health reform,” presented several statistics on the importance of health reform. This background and analysis document offers the underlying support for the statistics used in their argument.

New America Welcomes Historic Vote on California Health Reform

Jerry Irvine — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:42:00 -0500

Len Nichols, Director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, made the following statement today after the California Assembly voted to approve health care legislation that would cover all Californians. New America has provided policy and communications advice to Governor Schwarzenegger, his staff, and to Democratic leaders throughout the reform debate. Many of New America’s core health reform principles, including an individual mandate, are included in the proposal:

“Today is an exciting day for Californians, and for all Americans. This historic Assembly vote encourages us to believe that creating a system of coverage for all… more

Peter Harbage Interviews with KCRW's Which Way, L.A.?

Communications — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 05:33:00 -0400

New America in the News:

In January, Governor Schwarzenegger made national headlines by proposing universal health insurance in California and there was talk of creating a national model. After months of wrangling in Sacramento, he offered a legislative proposal yesterday. It would still require that every Californian buy health insurance. It would change the formulas for employer participation. The big news has to do with the state lottery. ... $37 billion could be raised by it and some of the money could be allocated to healthcare.

"... Everyone is still looking for ways to keep healthcare affordable. ....The lottery is another piece of that debate," said Peter Harbage, a Senior Program Associate of the Health Policy Program at New America Foundation.

"... The only way to achieve universal coverage is by having an individual mandate. ... The individual can't be alone in this, there needs to be shared responsiblity. ... There need to be a lot of changes to the system in order to have insurance. ..."

To listen to the show, please click on the Mp3 attachment below, or visit KCRW's website.

Peter Harbage in Sacramento Bee on Bush's Veto of SCHIP

Communications — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 08:42:00 -0400

New America in the News:

President Bush's veto of a bill that would have allowed California to achieve near-universal health care for children comes at a critical juncture in the state.

Employer-based coverage is decreasing, enrollment in the state's Healthy Families program is increasing and efforts by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats to overhaul the health care system have not yielded a solution a month into a special legislative session.

Moreover, new Bush administration rules would make it harder for California to enroll children from middle-income families in Healthy Families.

"For Schwarzenegger and (Democrats), Healthy Families is a big part of health reform," said Peter Harbage, a consultant who has prepared a study for the California Healthcare Foundation on the possible impact of reduced funding from the federal State Children's Health Insurance Program.

SCHIP provides $2 for every $1 the state spends on its Healthy Families program for children. But a $60 billion, five-year extension of SCHIP approved by Congress with bipartisan support was vetoed last week by the president...

Peter Harbage is a Senior Program Associate at New America Foundation. For a direct link to this article, please visit the Sacramento Bee website.

New America Foundation Releases a Paper on Key Health Reform Component

Communications — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:03:00 -0400

The New America Foundation today released "Coverage Without Gaps: Implementing Seamless Health Insurance Coverage," a policy report on its model of seamless health insurance that would create a health insurance system where, once coverage is affordable and accessible, Californians would be required to purchase it. Seamless coverage would make universal health coverage a reality in California.

A requirement to purchase insurance is an active part of the ongoing health care reform debate in California. It is a key feature of Governor Schwarzenegger's proposal, and it will likely be a key issue considered… more

Coverage Without Gaps

Health Policy — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 08:24:00 -0400

In America’s fragmented health care system, too many individuals and families lack continuous access to health insurance. Overwhelming evidence shows that lacking health insurance leads to decreased access to quality care and reduces health status. The widely shared social and economic losses from these problems compound the cost of thousands of lives lost every year due to lack of health insurance and consequently access to care. In this context, health reform that ensures every individual and family seamless health insurance is more a matter of stewardship than of charity.

The goal of California health reform should be seamless, universal coverage,… more

L.A. Times Reports on Hospitals' Embrace of New America's Plan

Communications — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:06:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won an important ally Thursday in his effort to overhaul the state's healthcare system, as California's private hospital industry agreed to a $1.7 billion tax on itself.

The tax, which would require voter approval, would help cover the cost of providing health insurance for all Californians, which the governor said was his goal for the year.

The tax money, along with federal funds and a $600-million tax on public hospitals, would create a $4-billion pot of money that would then be returned to hospitals based on how many poor people they treat.

Most hospitals would end up with more money than they paid in the tax, although some would end up with less.

"It's a very significant deal," said Peter Harbage, a senior program associate with the New America Foundation, a think tank with offices in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento. Schwarzenegger based his proposal on some of the ideas endorsed by the foundation...

For the complete article, please visit the Los Angeles Times web site.

Harbage in the Ventura County Star on Schwarzenegger's Health Reforms

Communications — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 05:26:00 -0400

New America in the News:

SACRAMENTO — There are 4.1 million New Yorkers who get healthcare coverage under Medicaid, the federal safety net for the poor. For each of them, Uncle Sam spends an average of $5,891 a year.

In California, there are 6.5 million low-income people who rely on the same program. For each of them, Uncle Sam spends just $3,419.

Who makes up the difference?

To a large degree, health policy experts say, it is Californians with private insurance: They pay higher premiums to backfill the losses incurred by doctors and hospitals that lose money by treating poor patients insured by the government.

The clock is ticking toward the deadline for enacting major healthcare reforms before the Legislature adjourns next month. New attention is being focused on one element of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed reforms that has been largely overlooked — tapping into a pool of up to $2 billion in federal money that could help reinvigorate what the governor calls the state's "broken healthcare system."

"The money's there, if the Legislature acts," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshé.

There is, however, a catch: In order to access the money, the state would have to match it dollar for dollar.

To do that, Schwarzenegger has proposed a prime-the-pump approach: Impose a fee on healthcare providers, drop that money in the well, and then pull out twice as much to give back to many of the same doctors and hospitals who paid the initial fee.

A similar fee was imposed on nursing homes several years ago, which allowed the state to tap into additional federal funds and substantially increase Medi-Cal — the California version of Medicaid — fees to nursing homes.

"Other states have done it — Illinois is the most recent example, and there are lots of others," said healthcare consultant Peter Harbage, whose work with the New America Foundation has helped drive the California healthcare reform debate. "It's a logical approach."

But there is also another catch: Federal regulations require provider fees be structured in such a way that not everyone who pays becomes a net winner.

"That means," Harbage said, "that for some hospitals, the fee will cost them money, and for others, they will make money..."

For the complete article, please visit the Ventura County Star web site.

Sacramento Bee Cites Peter Harbage on CA Health Care

Communications — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 09:42:00 -0400

New America in the News:

A debate winding to a close in Washington could undermine ambitious health care proposals by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats in the Legislature that would provide coverage to every uninsured child in California.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, a bipartisan compromise created a decade ago from the embers of the Clinton universal health care plan, expires on Sept. 30.

As federal lawmakers prepare to leave this week for a monthlong summer recess, the U.S. Senate and House are grappling with separate bills that would dramatically increase SCHIP funding to states -- the Senate by $35 billion over five years, the House by $50 billion -- by raising tobacco taxes...

But President Bush has threatened to veto both congressional bills and instead has proposed a $5 billion increase in funding over five years.

A recent study by a research team led by Peter Harbage of the New America Foundation found California alone would need an additional $4.2 billion during that period to cover eligible children...

For the complete article, please visit The Sacramento Bee website.

What Your Car Can Teach You About Health Reform

Health Policy — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 08:03:00 -0400

Analysts largely agree that if you want everyone to have health insurance, you’re going to have to require it. “Individual mandates” to purchase health insurance would also help insurance markets work better than they do now, since insurers would then find it far easier to attract a balance of high and low risks if all had to buy something. Therefore they would need to do far less medical underwriting (risk evaluation) and targeted marketing, and that would lower the cost of insurance to us all. And of course, if all patients had good insurance, then hospitals and doctors would… more

California Event: Ensuring Seamless Insurance Coverage For All

Communications — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 19:28:00 -0400

A New America Event
07/09/2007 - 3:30pm

The Legislature, Governor Schwarzenegger and key health care stakeholders are deep in discussions on how to reform California’s broken health care system, including how to reduce the number of uninsured Californians. At this event, New America Foundation Health Policy Program Director Len Nichols and Peter Harbage discussed how to use the principles of seamless coverage and shared responsibility to create a process to ensure all Californians have health coverage, including what we can learn from recent successful experiments in enforcing the individual requirement to purchase auto insurance.

Growing Support for Shared and Personal Responsibility in Health Care

Health Policy — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 08:54:00 -0400

Fear is a powerful force. Families fear the disappearance of affordable health insurance, employers fear international competition while financing high and rising health care costs at home, and providers fear that they will not be able to deliver needed care for lack of funding. In short, just about everyone fears that our system will fall apart. Instead of taking action, many politicians remain fearful of tackling health care reform, since it crushed the Clintons and others before them.

But hope is an equally powerful force. And the hope is that there is growing bipartisan support for a health system based… more

Hoover Insitution Confirms that Insured Californians Pay 'Hidden Tax' for the Uninsured

Communications — Mon, 21 May 2007 11:58:00 -0400

SACRAMENTO, CA (May 21, 2007) -- Insured Californians pay a "hidden tax" for the uninsured, a study released today by the Hoover Institution confirms. However, an analysis by the New America Foundation finds that the Hoover study underestimates the size of this tax. The New America analysis shows that the reasonable range of estimates of the "hidden tax" is between 6% and 11%, but the Hoover Institution's estimate falls well below this range.

In order to provide uncompensated health care for the uninsured, providers charge higher prices to insurers, who then charge higher prices to insured families - resulting… more

Estimating the 'Hidden Tax' on Insured Californians Due to the Care Needed and Received by the Uninsured

adminn — Mon, 21 May 2007 10:33:00 -0400

The report released today by the Hoover Institution confirms that insured families across California pay a "hidden tax" to provide uncompensated health care to the uninsured. The existence of this "hidden tax" is no longer in dispute; what's under debate is its magnitude, which is hard to measure precisely because it is "hidden."

This memo describes the range of estimates that various experts have made, highlights some of the reasons for differing judgments, and then lets the reader draw his or her own conclusions about the reasonable range of hidden tax estimates.

For the complete Policy… more

Peter Harbage in The California Report on Health Care Reform

Communications — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 12:54:00 -0400

New America in the News:

The debate over major health care reform in California heats up this week at the state Capitol. Later today, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez unveils a series of major amendments to his health care legislation. Tomorrow, a plan from Senate President Don Perata will be heard in committee. As the program reports, the committee hearings are the first public action after weeks of private negotiations between lawmakers, Governor Schwarzenegger, and interest groups.

To listen to the story, please visit The California Report website.

San Jose Mercury News Quotes Peter Harbage on Blue Cross

Communications — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 14:46:00 -0400

New America in the News:

SACRAMENTO - When Blue Cross sells health insurance to someone who isn't covered at work, the company typically makes a 27 percent profit. By the time salaries and other administrative costs are accounted for, only half the money the company collects in premiums from that person goes for medical care.

Those figures may help explain why Blue Cross - the insurance provider for roughly one in four people in the state who have health coverage, and with political heft in the Capitol to match - so far is the only major insurer opposing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's universal health care plan...

"The idea that you have to sell health insurance to any comer is antithetical to their business model," said Peter Harbage, a health care expert at the non-partisan New America Foundation who has advised the governor. "It's not how they make money..."

For the complete article, please visit the San Jose Mercury News website.

L.A. Times Quotes Peter Harbage on Schwarzenegger's Health Plan

Communications — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:35:00 -0400

New America in the News:

People who refuse to obtain health insurance could be tracked down by the state or a private contractor, enrolled in a plan and fined until they pay their premiums under one proposal Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is considering as part of his vision for covering all Californians...

Schwarzenegger wants to offer public subsidies to the least affluent Californians. But many Democratic legislators, unions and consumer advocates have objected that others will not be able to afford even the bare-bones, high-deductible plans that Schwarzenegger would require as a minimum, which cost $1,200 a person a year...

Peter Harbage, a senior program associate with the nonpartisan think tank the New America Foundation, said relatively few people would have to be forced to buy insurance. Schwarzenegger has cited the foundation's research in helping to frame his plan.

"Most people are going to have insurance if the program is well designed and well constructed," he said in an interview Tuesday. "And then you're going to have some people who are bad actors, and that's where you need some sort of tracking system..."

For the complete article, please visit the Los Angeles Times website.

Peter Harbage on the Hidden Tax in California Progress Report

Communications — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 16:56:00 -0500

New America in the News:

On a parallel track from the health debate raging in the legislature, the Little Hoover Commission continued its examination of state’s health landscape on Thursday, calling academics and advocates to talk about health proposals on the table. Since last year, the Little Hoover Commission, which is charged with examining ways to make state government more efficient, began looking at different aspects of the health care system late last year...

The three-hour conversation on Thursday was slightly different than the other commision hearings in that it reviewed health reform through a wide lens – not just limied to public programs, even though its focus is state government. Panelists on Thursday included:
• Peter Harbage, senior program associate for the Health Policy Program for the New America Foundation.
• Gerald F. Kominski, Associate Director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
• Glenn Melnick, Professor and Blue Cross of California Chair in Health Care Finance; School of Policy Planning and Development at the University of Southern California
• Anthony Wright, Executive Director of Health Access California, yours truly

After each presenter provided an overall statement, there was a wide ranging question and answer session with the Commissioners. There were many topics of discussion and interest. Below is just a smattering of the conversation:

On the "hidden tax":

One of the elements discussed was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pitch about the $1,186 "hidden tax." The New America Foundation’s recent report by Peter Harbage, “A Premium Price,” is widely cited by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration, when arguing that a “hidden tax’’ of $1,186 is paid by insured Californians to make up for uncompensated care.

When questioned about the savings, Harbage reiterated his case that the report put forward a "conservative" estimate...

For the complete article, please visit the California Progress Report website.