An Ohio organization that works to reform health care is pushing a ballot initiative that, if law, would provide all Ohioans universal health care coverage.
The Single-Payer Action Network Ohio promotes the Health Care for All Ohioans Act, which would create the Ohio Health Care Fund that would pay for all Ohio residents' health care coverage regardless of employment or income.
For example, a visit to a personal physician, pharmacist or the hospital would have no co-payments, no deductibles and no exclusions. The costs would be passed on to the state fund. The plan also states each Ohio resident could choose his or her own doctor.
The proposed law would establish the Ohio Health Care Plan to provide Ohioans with hospital care, prescription coverage, eye and dental care, mental health care, and long-term care, according to the group's Web site, spanohio.org. The fund would not cover cosmetic procedures.
The plan would be run by the Ohio Health Care Board, which would receive funding from several sources, including a 3.85 percent payroll tax increase paid by all employers, according to spanohio.org. The government, including schools, would pay only the payroll tax, while businesses would pay a 3 percent gross receipt tax in addition to the payroll tax, said Warren Haydon, a Single-Payer Action Network chapter representative for Southeast Ohio.
Some individuals would pay additional taxes. Individuals with an income of more than $90,000 would pay 6.2 percent in income tax. Individuals with an income of more than $200,000 would pay an 11.2 percent income tax, Haydon said. Individuals making less than $90,000 would not pay more income taxes, according to the plan.
Additional funding could come from other government resources and possible administrative restructuring that would be needed if a single-payer plan were put into effect, according to the Web site.
However, there is some concern about the effects of the Health Care for All Ohioans Act on small businesses. Greg Smith, Nelsonville City Council vice president, said the 3.85 percent payroll tax plus the 3 percent gross receipt tax could drive employers to states where there is still a co-payment for health care.
Although businesses' opinions about the issue will vary, the plan could affect businesses' decisions to come to Ohio, said Jennifer Simon, CEO of the Athens Chamber of Commerce.
Employers might pass this tax on through the prices of their products and services, Smith said.
A hard thing to understand is that there isn't any free lunch
he said. If you don't have to pay your own way others have to pay your way.
Anita Mondo, a Nelsonville City Councilwoman, said the tax on businesses might be less than what they are paying for health insurance now. However, Mondo said, There is a lot of evaluation you have to do to determine if it's a good idea or a bad idea.
The Single-Payer Action Network Ohio anticipates opposition from health care companies and pharmaceutical companies, which currently generate large profits, Haydon said.
Health care should not be for profit he said. We need to be conservative with our health care money.
Mark Snider of Snider, Fuller, Porter & Associates, a private insurance company in Athens, said this kind of plan would put insurance companies' focus on other benefits, like retirement plans and individual investments. He estimated that three of his 11 employees would no longer be needed with the elimination of privatized health insurance.
In response to the possibility of people in the insurance industry losing employment, the Ohio Health Care Plan intends to provide people who have lost employment with two years of assistance in the form of salary supplements and job-training costs, at the state expense, Haydon said.
However, it is likely that private insurance companies still would be needed for processing, as private insurance companies process Medicare and Medicaid, both funded by the government. Only the marketing aspect of insurance companies would be eliminated because everyone would have the same plan, Snider said.
The Single-Payer Action Network Ohio is working on collecting the necessary 140,000 valid signatures on the initiative petition by Dec. 15, 2005, Haydon said.
The group must collect signatures from 3 percent of registered voters that participated in the last gubernatorial election. Forty-four counties must be represented with signatures from 1.5 percent of voters from each of the counties.
The initiative petition
when presented to the state legislature
will offer them the opportunity to address the health care crisis
where many Ohioans do not have access to health care and many businesses are having difficulties planning their expenditures. We're hoping the legislature will do the right thing and offer universal health care
Haydon said.
If 140,000 valid signatures are collected by Dec. 15, 2005, the Ohio General Assembly will have 120 days to make a decision whether or not to pass the Health Care for All Ohioans Act, placing the issue on the ballot.
If the legislature does not initially pass the act, the Single-Payer Action Network will have 90 days to collect 140,000 different signatures. If those new 140,000 signatures are collected, the initiative will be placed on the ballot in November 2006.
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