{"id":4749,"date":"2009-09-01T19:28:45","date_gmt":"2009-09-01T23:28:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncdata.wpengine.com\/?p=4749"},"modified":"2021-04-01T20:21:18","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T00:21:18","slug":"the-best-health-reform-may-be-to-kill-cap-and-trade-by-david-a-ridenour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/01\/the-best-health-reform-may-be-to-kill-cap-and-trade-by-david-a-ridenour\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Health Reform May Be to Kill Cap-and-Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you worry about what Congress could do in its health care legislation, you should be terrified by the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, which could cost millions of Americans their health insurance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly 15 million Americans are now looking for work, bringing the official unemployment rate to 9.7% \u2013 the highest in 26 years.1<\/em><\/sup>\u00a0 If the Senate passes Waxman-Markey, that rate will go much higher.<\/span><\/p>\n

And employment and access to health insurance are inextricably linked.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no debating a cap-and-trade system would harm the economy.\u00a0 The only question is how costly it would be.<\/span><\/p>\n

The CBO low-balled the costs of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill passed by the House in June, saying it would cost just $175 per household per year2<\/em><\/sup>.\u00a0 This is the \u201cless than the price of a postage stamp per day\u201d figure we keep hearing.3<\/em><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

But to arrive at this number, the CBO had to ignore employment and income losses from cap-and-trade \u2013 costs estimated to be thousands of dollars per household per year.4<\/em><\/sup>\u00a0 After figuring that in, yes, cap-and-trade would cost less than a postage stamp per day, but only if you\u2019re buying a $17.50 Express Mail stamp.5<\/em><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

The Heritage Foundation provides a more comprehensive estimate, projecting a family of four would pay an additional $4,609 per year by 2035.6<\/em><\/sup>\u00a0 Annual job losses would average 1.15 million between 2012 and 20307<\/em><\/sup>, with job losses rising to nearly 2.5 million in 2035.8<\/em><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

Higher unemployment rates mean more uninsured.\u00a0 In 2007, employers provided health insurance for 63 percent of Americans under age 65 and paid for nearly 90 percent of all private health insurance policies.9<\/em><\/sup>\u00a0 Although the newly unemployed may extend their health benefits through COBRA, many can\u2019t afford to.\u00a0 According to Families USA, family health insurance premiums under COBRA equal, on average, 84 percent of unemployment benefits received.10<\/em><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured estimates that for every percentage point increase of unemployment (in present terms, the loss of about 1.54 million jobs), the number of Americans without health insurance rises by 1.1 million.11<\/em><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

For illustrative purposes, using Heritage\u2019s job loss projections and the Kaiser figures, this could mean over 820,000 people losing their health insurance annually, on average, between 2012 and 2030, with about 1.8 million losing coverage in 2035 alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not the half of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The stress and loss of self-esteem that accompanies job loss can lead to unhealthy lifestyles, including substance abuse and poor eating habits.\u00a0 The unemployed are more likely to be diagnosed for hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and stroke, and because discretionary income drops with the loss of a job, so too do routine screenings that might prevent late-stage diseases.<\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers at the University of California, University of Oxford and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found a 28 percent increase in alcohol-related deaths with a 3 percent increase in unemployment.12<\/em><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

Associate Professor Kate Strully of the State University of New York, in a survey of 8,000 unemployed factory workers, found unemployed workers were 83 percent more likely to develop a new health problem than were workers who kept their jobs.13<\/em><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

Ralph Catalano, director of the Robert Woods Johnson Health and Society Program at UC Berkeley, found a strong correlation between unemployment and low birth weight babies.\u00a0 Low birth weight accounts for more than 64 percent of all infant fatalities.14<\/em><\/sup>\u00a0 Catalano has also found higher incidence of advanced-stage breast tumors among women dealing with unemployment.15<\/em><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

The diagnosis is clear: If we want to move the American health care system from the intensive care unit to the recovery room, we must first send cap-and-trade to the morgue.<\/span><\/p>\n

David A. Ridenour<\/a> is vice president of\u00a0 the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for Public Policy Research.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\nFootnotes:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1<\/sup><\/em><\/span> \u201cUS Econ: August Payrolls Fall 216,000; Unemployment at 9.7%,\u201d Reuters, September 4, 2009, available September 10, 2009 at http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/feeds\/afx\/2009\/09\/04\/afx6849104.html<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

2<\/sup><\/em><\/span> Letter to U.S. Representative Dave Camp from Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director, Congressional Budget Office, June 12, 2009, available September 10 at http:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/ftpdocs\/103xx\/doc10327\/06-19-CapAndTradeCosts.pdf<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

3<\/sup><\/em><\/span> David Kreutzer,\u201cHeritage Analysis of Waxman-Markey Hits Where Others Miss,\u201d Heritage Foundation WebMemo #2580, August 6, 2009, available September 10, 2009 at http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/Research\/EnergyandEnvironment\/wm2580.cfm<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

4<\/sup><\/em><\/span> Ibid.<\/span><\/p>\n

5<\/sup><\/em><\/span> \u201cOld Faithful,\u201d United States Postal Service available on September 10, 2009 at https:\/\/shop.usps.com\/webapp\/wcs\/stores\/servlet\/OrderItemAdd<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

6<\/sup><\/em><\/span> David Kreutzer,\u201cHeritage Analysis of Waxman-Markey Hits Where Others Miss,\u201d Heritage Foundation WebMemo #2580, August 6, 2009, available September 10, 2009 at http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/Research\/EnergyandEnvironment\/wm2580.cfm<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

7<\/sup><\/em><\/span> Ben Lieberman, \u201cThe Waxman-Markey Global Warming Bill: Is the Economic Pain Justified By the Environmental Gain?\u201d Testimony before The Heartland Institute Third International Conference on Climate Change, Washington, DC, June 23, 2009 available on September 10 at http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/Research\/EnergyandEnvironment\/tst062309a.cfm<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

8<\/sup><\/em><\/span> David Kreutzer,\u201cHeritage Analysis of Waxman-Markey Hits Where Others Miss,\u201d Heritage Foundation WebMemo #2580, August 6, 2009, available September 10, 2009 at http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/Research\/EnergyandEnvironment\/wm2580.cfm<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

9<\/sup><\/em><\/span> \u201cCurrent Population Survey: Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement,\u201d Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau, 2008, available on September 10, 2009 at http:\/\/pubdb3.census.gov\/macro\/032008\/health\/h05_000.htm<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

10<\/sup><\/em><\/span> \u201cSqueezed: Caught Between Unemployment and Health Care Costs,\u201d Families USA, January 2009, available September 10 at http:\/\/www.familiesusa.org\/assets\/pdfs\/cobra-2009.pdf<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

11<\/sup><\/em><\/span> Stan Dorn, Bowen Garret et. al, \u201cMedicaid, SCHIP and Economic Downturn: Policy Challenges and Policy Responses,\u201d Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, April 2008, available on September 10 at http:\/\/www.kff.org\/medicaid\/upload\/7770.pdf<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

12<\/sup><\/em><\/span> \u201cStudy Finds Job Programs Protect Public Health During Periods of Recession,\u201d University of California at San Francisco press release, July 7, 2009, available on September 10, 2009 at http:\/\/news.ucsf.edu\/releases\/study-finds-job-programs-protect-public-health-during-periods-of-recession<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

13<\/sup><\/em><\/span> Theresa Tamkins, \u201cStudy: Job Loss Associated With Health Problems,\u201d CNN, May 8, 2009, available September 10, 2009 at http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2009\/HEALTH\/05\/08\/job.loss.hypertension\/index.html<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

14<\/sup><\/em><\/span> Ralph Catalano, \u201cMale Unemployment Levels Affect Birthweight,\u201d Center for the Advancement of Health press release, December 9, 1999, available September 10, 2009 at http:\/\/news.bio-medicine.org\/medicine-news-2\/Male-unemployment-levels-affect-birthweight-10005-1<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

15<\/sup><\/em><\/span> Dennis Peck, \u201cDoes Our Health Actually Get Better in Some Ways During a\u00a0Down Economy,\u201d The Oregonian<\/em>, April 22, 2009, available September 10, 2009 at http:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/health\/index.ssf\/2009\/04\/does_our_health_actually_get_b.html<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you worry about what Congress could do in its health care legislation, you should be terrified by the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, which could cost millions of Americans their health insurance. Nearly 15 million Americans are now looking for work, bringing the official unemployment rate…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,69,24,651],"tags":[333],"yoast_head":"\nThe Best Health Reform May Be to Kill Cap-and-Trade - The National Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/01\/the-best-health-reform-may-be-to-kill-cap-and-trade-by-david-a-ridenour\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Ridenour\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/01\/the-best-health-reform-may-be-to-kill-cap-and-trade-by-david-a-ridenour\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/01\/the-best-health-reform-may-be-to-kill-cap-and-trade-by-david-a-ridenour\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Ridenour\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c89efb74544bedf18f820090ec92c477\"},\"headline\":\"The Best Health Reform May Be to Kill Cap-and-Trade\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-09-01T23:28:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-02T00:21:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/01\/the-best-health-reform-may-be-to-kill-cap-and-trade-by-david-a-ridenour\/\"},\"wordCount\":987,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"National Policy Analysis #577\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Environment and Enterprise Institute\",\"Global Warming\",\"Health\",\"National Policy Analysis\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/01\/the-best-health-reform-may-be-to-kill-cap-and-trade-by-david-a-ridenour\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/01\/the-best-health-reform-may-be-to-kill-cap-and-trade-by-david-a-ridenour\/\",\"name\":\"The Best Health Reform May Be to Kill Cap-and-Trade - 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