Cristy Gallagher: All Publications, Events and Press

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

Cristy Gallagher on Pennsylvania's Health Plan in The Patriot News

Communications — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 20:41:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Gov. Ed Rendell aims to make health insurance affordable for all Pennsylvanians. The Democratic governor's "Prescription for Pennsylvania" remains one of the largest proposals of any state, according to health policy advocates. Here is how it compares with similar proposals in California and Massachusetts.

MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts already has a law, pushed by former Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, that requires every resident to obtain health insurance. Coverage is mandatory, and those without policies face a fine equal to half the cost of the average insurance policy.

Rendell's plan doesn't have that requirement...

CALIFORNIA

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan would be the largest and most ambitious by attempting to mandate health insurance and covering 61/2 times as many people without insurance as Rendell's proposal.

"All plans look piddly next to Arnold's," said Christy Gallagher, a health policy expert at the New America Foundation, which helped craft the proposal for Schwarzenegger, a Republican...

For the complete article, please visit The Patriot News website.

The Economist Quotes Cristy Gallagher on Universal Health Care

Communications — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:17:00 -0500

New America in the News:

With his leg injured in a recent skiing accident, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California's governor, this week announced a plan that could change the terms of America's health-care debate. The Republican in charge of the country's most populous state, where 6.5m people, almost one resident in five, lack medical insurance, said he wants to introduce universal health-care coverage.

His recipe is a combination of insurance-market reform, government subsidies and—most important—compulsion...

Although the details are still sketchy, Mr Schwarzenegger's plan is very like another pioneering health-care reform that was successfully championed by another Republican governor in a strongly Democratic state. In April 2006 Mitt Romney, then the governor of Massachusetts and now a leading Republican presidential candidate, agreed on a plan for universal health-care coverage with the state's Democratic legislature. It too made health insurance mandatory, and it also included insurance reform and subsidies.

Massachusetts, and now California, have the boldest plans...Could the states jump-start American health-care reform?..

A lot depends on whether the states' reforms actually appear to work. All eyes are on Massachusetts, since it is the first state actually to enact (rather than merely propose) comprehensive reform, particularly the mandatory purchase of insurance. From July 2007 every resident must have health insurance, or face a $1,000 fine...

Forcing everyone to buy insurance is probably the only way to avoid the “adverse selection” problem that plagues health-insurance markets. Younger workers in good health avoid buying coverage, leaving higher-risk people in the insurance pool, thus driving up premiums. And if the uninsured workers fall really ill, they become free-riders on the others, since hospitals are required to treat them at public expense: had they been treated earlier, they might have been cured more cheaply...

Maine and Vermont are both trying to insure all their citizens. Both have rejigged their insurance market for individuals and small businesses. Both are offering subsidies to poorer people. But neither compels anyone to buy insurance. Vermont's plan was introduced less than a year ago. But Maine's plan has been up and running since January 2005, and its results have been disappointing. According to Cristy Gallagher of the New America Foundation, a Washington, DC, think-tank, only 15,000 people have enrolled so far. The state is a long way from covering its 130,000 uninsured citizens, while the subsidies are proving costlier than expected...

For the complete article, please visit The Economist website.

From New England to the Golden Gate Bridge

Health Policy — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 20:53:00 -0500

Frustrated by the lack of action or even attention at the federal level, states and local governments are looking for creative ways to expand programs to reach the 47 million Americans without health insurance. There have already been a number of creative initiatives by states and localities over the last five years to cover more of the uninsured, which deserve our review.

Massachusetts recently passed major health care reform, which has widely been reported as an innovative way to provide for universal health coverage. The Massachusetts reform has grabbed the nation’s attention and spurred a great deal of discussion about what… more

Growing Support for Shared Responsibility in Health Care

Health Policy — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 21:09:00 -0400

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