Core Principles
Health Care is a Right, Not a Market Commodity
New Jersey, like our country, faces a growing health care crisis, with more than 1.3 million residents uninsured and tens of thousands of others with inadequate coverage. The skyrocketing cost of coverage creates enormous pressure for families, businesses and our entire economy. New Jersey must address this crisis by taking bold action and setting an example for the nation.
Many current health care reform proposals are inadequate solutions to the health care crisis because they view health care as any other commodity subject to the laws of supply and demand. True health care reform will occur only when access to quality health care — like access to fire protection, police protection, and elementary and secondary education — is a right of all Americans, not a product that is available only to those who can afford it. Government's role is to guarantee quality affordable health care for everyone and must play a central role in regulating, financing, and providing health coverage.
The New Jersey Health Care Reform Campaign supports the creation of a state-wide universal health care system that incorporates the following principles.
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Guaranteed Access to Affordable, Comprehensive Health Care for All New Jerseyans
Access to quality health care must be available to all, regardless of ability to pay, immigration status, or health condition. To the extent that health care is paid for by insurance premiums, subsidies should be available to those least able to afford premiums and scaled progressively based upon income. No one can be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions and the practice of price discrimination because of age, gender, health status, or geography must be banned.
- Improves the Quality of Care for All New Jerseyans
The United States spends more than any other country per capita on health care, yet ranks 37th among industrial nations in health care outcomes. Health care reform must be comprehensive and cannot dilute coverage in the effort to make it more affordable. Reimbursement rates to health care providers must be reasonable and should not vary depending on whether an individual has Medicare, Medicaid, or different types of private insurance.
- Shared Responsibility
The health care crisis affects everyone — individuals, employers, insurers, government and health care providers — and everyone has a responsibility to play a meaningful role in its resolution. Individual mandate proposals — which force individuals to buy health insurance under penalty of law — are based upon the inaccurate premise that the uninsured lack insurance by choice. Such proposals wrongly put the burden on individuals for not having access to affordable and quality health care or employee-sponsored health insurance. Meaningful health care reform will only occur when all parties who have a stake in reforming our health care system, including employers, health care providers and the insurance industry, share the responsibility to make it accessible and affordable for all.
- Reduce and Contain Costs to Assure Affordable Coverage
25–30% of all health care spending is spent on administration. Health care reform will only be successful if it effectively curbs costs. Cost containment can be achieved by consolidating administrative overhead, bulk purchasing prescription drugs and durable medical equipment, regulating all treatment and diagnostic centers and implementing insurance reforms that require that increases in premiums are limited to increases in costs.
- Preventive Care
Minor health conditions that go untreated can become larger and require catastrophic care, which is much more expensive than preventive care. Studies show that when people forgo treatment due to its unaffordable cost, society/taxpayers often wind up spending more in the end. Instead of treating illnesses and conditions as a last resort, greater emphasis and education on preventive care is necessary to both keep costs down and to help foster a healthy society. Financial incentives should be implemented to pay providers more for improving their patients' health, rather than for denying care or ordering more procedures.
You are welcome to download a complete printable copy of these Core Principles.
