CivicDictionary.com - Defining a better world

health care system - the provision of medical services to individuals and families who pay for them through a combination of:

Direct payments for services ("out-of-pocket" expenses) to doctors, hospitals, and other providers
Insurance which consumers purchase from private companies who pay for a portion of services (consumers share the costs)
Insurance which is a benefit of employment (employers pay all or a portion of insurance premiums)
Insurance provided by a government-funded plan such as Medicaid, Medicare (people 65 and over), Veterans Administration, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP covers 6 million children according to stateline.org).

health care reform - why we need change:

47 million Americans (14,000 more every day) do not have health care; the cost of their medical care is shouldered by those who have insurance coverage and pay rising premiums.
Many Americans are underinsured, ineligible for insurance coverage (often due to disqualifying pre-existing medical conditions), or have been forced into bankruptcy because of health care costs
Many employers who previously provided medical benefits for their employees can no longer afford to do so
For approximately 16 million people covered under individual policies (not tied to employment or groups), their insurance company may their insurance coverage; and they lack access to group coverage (which overlooks pre-existing conditions).
Young people are often excluded from their family's insurance coverage once they reach 21 or graduate college and do not have access to affordable coverage.
The rising cost of health care is crippling the American economy and America's global economic competitiveness.

universal health care - the goal of providing affordable, quality health care to all Americans, whether they are covered through their employment, a plan they purchase, or a public option.

Exchange - a proposed marketplace where people without insurance and small businesses may purchase health care coverage at competitive prices.

public option - an insurance plan that would be created by the federal government to compete with private insurance companies, especially to offer affordable coverage to (A) individuals who are not covered through employment, and, (B) small businesses which often pay higher premiums than large corporations.

single payer - a government-run insurance plan that replaces all private plans. Advocates of single payer plans often point to Medicare as the model that could be expanded to cover all Americans.

nonprofit health care cooperative ("co-op") - a membership organization that offers medical benefits to its members (an alternative to a government-run public option).

Medicaid - the publicly funded health care program for families living in poverty covers 59-60 million [stateline.org]

Medicare - the publicly funded health care program for people 65 and over that covers 45 million Americans. Funds are collected through a payroll tax on all earnings (2.9 percent split between employer and employee).

CHIP or S-CHIP - State Children's Health Insurance Program - health care coverage enacted by Congress in 1997 -- and reauthorized in 2009 through 2013 -- for children whose family's income falls below three times the poverty level (the working poor). Costs are paid by federal and state funds.

pre-existing condition - an individual's current or previous medical condition, used by private insurance companies as the basis to deny coverage.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - oversees medical programs including Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP.

PhRMA (pronounced "farm'-a"), sometimes "Big PhRMA" - acronym for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the lobby for the pharmaceutical industry

>> POVERTY LEVEL, SOCIAL JUSTICE

WORDS IN ACTION

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

"Health care is as much an economic issue as a social issue. Fixing the economy requires fixing health care, as well. In 2008, the United States spent more than $2 trillion on health care—nearly 17 percent of our entire economy. Meanwhile, at least 15 percent of Americans—46 million people—are uninsured. According to the Institute of Medicine, nearly three people die every hour because they were uninsured and couldn’t get care.

Coverage is the gateway to reform, but covering the uninsured alone won’t solve what’s ailing the health care system. Meaningful reform will require a comprehensive approach that also includes attention to the quality and value of health care, to preventive and public health services, and to health care spending and cost."

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