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| February 10, 2000 | |||
Paying Off Trial Lawyers vs. Covering Families
Dingell-Norwood Would Cancel
Coverage for 1.2 Million Americans
-- Cost Estimates Nationwide and for Selected States--A House-Senate conference committee will meet in the coming weeks to hammer out the differences between the Senate-passed "Patients' Bill of Rights -- Plus" (S. 1344) and the House-passed "Dingell-Norwood" bill (H.R. 2990). The conferees have a clear choice. They can either protect patients and expand coverage, or cancel coverage for over a million Americans by turning the bill into a lawyers' bonanza.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates Dingell-Norwood would increase private health insurance premiums an average of 4.1 percent above inflation. Data from the Barents Group, an economic consulting firm, reveal such an increase would impose hundreds of dollars in hidden taxes on families, eliminate jobs, and cancel the health coverage of nearly 1.3 million.
What Would Dingell-Norwood Mean for Your State?
Lost wages per household Jobs lost Additional uninsured Nationwide $139 130,421 1,291,630 -- Selected States -- Arizona $112 n/a 22,983 California $156 15,047 182,771 Colorado $136 2,009 21,766 Delaware $159 n/a 3,329 Florida $120 10,004 71,682 Georgia $142 4,305 33,373 Illinois $139 5,371 59,919 Iowa $102 n/a 11,790 Kentucky $128 n/a 20,228 Maryland $153 n/a 30,270 Massachusetts $175 n/a 29,379 Michigan $134 n/a 39,556 Minnesota $122 n/a 24,408 Missouri $133 3,280 30,682 Nevada $102 n/a 10,416 New Hampshire $129 n/a 4,192 New Jersey $166 3,280 40,897 New Mexico $111 n/a 6,881 New York $181 7,380 79,373 North Carolina $117 3,690 28,836 Ohio $143 6,355 55,672 Oklahoma $101 1,558 15,420 Oregon $107 n/a 19,213 Pennsylvania $157 5,043 49,527 Rhode Island $130 n/a 5,317 South Carolina $140 n/a 16,526 Tennessee $72 n/a 14,029 Texas $134 9,061 83,151 Vermont $91 n/a 1,300 Virginia $131 n/a 29,615 Washington $120 3,403 33,948 Wisconsin $129 n/a 28,629 Source: Barents Group, CBO
Research from the Lewin Group, another economic consulting firm, confirms that Dingell-Norwood would cancel coverage for 1.2 million Americans. The Lewin Group estimates that for every one-percent increase in the cost of private health care premiums due to government mandates, 300,000 Americans lose their private health coverage.
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