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Missouri legislators must decide impact of Kennedy-Kassabaum Act on Missourians

March 20, 1997
By: Denise Jackson
State Capital Bureau

Health care reform has been a hot issue.

The federal government took steps towards reforming the health care system with the passage of the Kennedy-Kassabaum Act in August.

Now, Missouri legislators must decide whether or not the federal health insurance mandate will have a significant impact on the citizens of Missouri. Denise Jackson has the story from the state capitol.

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Columbia nurse Ruth Eichelberger testified before a House committee in support of one of several bills that could help implement the Federal Kennedy-Kassebaum Act.

A nervous Eichelberger talked about her mother . . . who has diabetes and suffers from seizures.. .inability to pay for her insurance.

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Contents: Her net monthly income is a $1000 month. Recently, her insurance went up 45 percent to a premium of $470. That is unacceptable when somebody is making a $1000 take home pay and half of it is going to insurance premiums.

Eichelberger told lawmakers to enforce the federal health insurance mandate because so many citizens will be afffected by their decision.

The health insurance mandate would help people like Eichelberger's mother, who have a condition such as diabetes, obtain insurance.

Also, certain workers who lose their jobs won't be dropped from their insurance policy.

St. Louis County representative Laurie Donovan says she wants legislators to act quickly on this matter.

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Contents: If we truly want to implement the Kennedy-Kassabaum bill, I think we ought to do it in the most effecient, quick manner possible so that people can receive coverage for years they have been denied and here's our opportunity.

Donovan supports a bill sponsored by Republican representative Mark Elliott.

Elliott said his bill was the most reasonable, least cost-effective and it met the minimum requirements of the federal mandate.

But Elliott predicted Missouri lawmakers will not pass any bill on this issue.

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Contents: I think the potential for us doing nothing at all is a lot greater. I don't feel like the bill that I've introduced will probably achieve passage even though we have a majority of people to support it here in this chamber we're not going to get an opportunity to support it.

In Elliott's bill, insurance companies would need to pick up the cost of insuring unhealthy people.

Columbia representative Chuck Graham said he didn't think insurance companies would do this.

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Contents: Representative Elliott's bill would be fine if the insurance companies want to pay for the cost of the high-risk pool instead of shifting that to state government. They want to shift

23 million dollar cost over to the state. That's because insurance companies want to insure healthy people not sick people. I don't think that they should just skim off the top and take the healthiest consumers and then tell the state government you have to pick up the folks who are going to drive up cost.

Graham said each bill needed work before any bill would leave the house committee and he said he didn't see himself supporting any of the bills in their current state.

In the meantime there's less than two months left in the 1997 legislative session.

From the State Capitol, I'm Denise Jackson