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- Study
Shows Economic Impact of Health Care for All Plan
- Business
Leaders Endorse Plan, Stress Need for Fairness
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- BALTIMORE- Maryland's proposed
Health Care For All Plan can guarantee health care security for
Marylanders without causing businesses to leave the State or
causing a net loss of jobs in the State, according to an independent
economic study released today by the Maryland Citizens' Health
Initiative.
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- The study, conducted by the
highly respected Lewin Group, estimated that between 4,400 and
10,300 minimum wage jobs could disappear, but that between 7,000
and 11,000 new jobs could be brought to Maryland by increased
federal revenues generated by the Plan. In addition, the Lewin
Group concluded that it was "unlikely" that small
businesses would leave the state after the Plan was enacted but
that some new large firms might be attracted to Maryland because
they would no longer have to cover the cost of uninsured people
using hospitals. Many Maryland companies who provide full health
coverage for their employees are now paying extra to cover hospital
costs of the uninsured - a cost that would be eliminated under
the Plan.
- "The Health Care For All
Plan is good for Maryland business," said Carl W. "Bill"
Struever, CEO of Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse Inc., one
of several business leaders supporting the Health Care for All
plan. "By simply requiring all firms to pay their fair
share of health care costs, the Plan would guarantee Maryland
workers health care security and help create a fair and level
playing field for all business. This will make our workforce
more productive and make Maryland more attractive to new businesses."
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- Joseph Hopkins, a Baltimore
small businessman who does not now offer health insurance to
his employees, also strongly supports the Plan. Mr. Hopkins said,
"I cannot provide health care now because my competitors
don't and I would be under bid. My company will be much better
off when all companies, including mine and my competitors', are
required to pay their fair share and I can offer health care
to my workers. The Health Care For All Plan is pro-worker and
pro-business."
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- Lisa Jackson, the President
of the Baltimore Minority Contractors Group, added that her organization
was an early endorser of the Health Care For All Plan. Ms. Jackson
said, "By creating a level playing field for all small businesses,
the Health Care
For All Plan benefits both companies and their workers. The
Baltimore Area Minority Contractors Group will work hard to make
the Health Care For All Plan a reality."
The Health Care for All Plan would require all Maryland private
employers to pay a 4.5% payroll contribution to help care for
the uninsured (8% of the business employs more than 10,000 workers).
Businesses would receive a tax credit for all they spend on
health care (up to 4.5% of payroll or 8% of payroll). Further,
the payroll contribution would only apply to earnings of up to
$87,000 per employee.
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- Many firms would see a savings
due to reduced uncompensated care costs, which is the amount
added to each health insurance policy in the state to pay for
care to people without insurance. These companies would see
an average drop of $132 per employee per year in health care
costs. Firms who currently spend less that 4.5% (or 8% if over
10,000) of their payroll on health care costs would pay the difference
between what they spend and the 4.5% (or 8%) assessment to the
State. The average amount paid by these firms would range from
$780 per worker per year to $924 per worker per year, depending
upon the size of the payroll and the amount of benefits the firm
currently provides.
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- "Health care for all is
good for everyone and this study dispels the myth that health
care is bad for business," said Dr. Peter Beilenson, Baltimore
City Health Commissioner and Chairman of Health Care for All.
"Health is one of Maryland's leading economic engines.
By expanding health care to all we help expand that engine and
will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of our citizens."
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- The Maryland Citizens Health
Initiative established the Maryland Health Care for All! Coalition
in 1998. It is a grassroots coalition of hundreds of diverse
organizations, including religious, health, community, labor,
and business groups from across Maryland, www.healthcareforall.com.
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- The Lewin Group is a premier
national health care and human services consulting firm with
more than 30 years of experience finding answers and solving
problems for leading organizations in the public, non-profit,
and private sectors, including community groups like ours and
business groups like the US Chamber of Commerce.
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- Last modified:
October 28, 2003
http://www.healthcareforall.com/lewinrel.htm
- copyright 2003,
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