Foundation for Patients Rights

The Truth About Reform

While the insurance industry spends your premiums on misleading attacks, the Foundation for Patients’ Rights has the facts:

Individual and family premiums would fall under the Senate Finance Committee plan:

Sizeable premium savings for young. An individual aged 25 at $19,000 in income (175% of poverty) would benefit from tax credits and would save, on average, $685. A higher income young person could always buy a “bronze” plan without tax credits for a savings of $230. Moreover, they could qualify for a catastrophic policy – also known as a “young invincible” policy. This policy would cost on average only $1190, saving them $585 at all income levels. [Jonathan Gruber, MIT, 10/12/2009]
Even larger premium savings for older individuals. A person age 60 with income at $19,000 (175% of poverty) would save, on average, $7890. A person at age 60 with income at $40,600 (375% of poverty) would continue to benefit from tax credits and would save, on average, $4100. Even at a high enough income level to not benefit from tax credits, older persons purchasing a bronze plan would save about $2800. [Jonathan Gruber, MIT, 10/12/2009]
Also large premium savings for a family. A family with income at $38,000 (175% of poverty) would save, on average, $8550. That same family with higher income could buy a “bronze” plan without tax credits at a savings of $2430 over current non-group prices. [Jonathan Gruber, MIT, 10/12/2009]

Insurance Industry Touts Incomplete Analysis:

Industry Reports Cherry Pick Parts of Reform Insurance Companies Don’t Like. America’s Health Insurance Plans, the main insurance industry lobby paid PricewaterhouseCoopers to take a look at certain aspects of the Senate Finance Committee health care bill – certain aspects AHIP doesn’t really like. [FactCheck.org, 10/13/2009]
Report Authors Admit: Our Analysis Isn’t Taking Entire Package Into Account On Oct. 12, 2009,PricewaterhouseCoopers released a statement indicating that its study may be incorrect because it failed to take into account any cost saving measures in the Senate Finance bill. The release stated: “The reform packages under consideration have other provisions that we have not included in this analysis. We have not estimated the impact of the new subsidies on the net insurance cost to households. Also, if other provisions in health care reform are successful in lowering costs over the long term, those improvements would offset some of the impacts we have estimated.” [FactCheck.org, 10/13/2009]