Highlighting the urgent need for health care reform, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research to release a new report, "The State of Health Insurance in California: Findings from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey," regarding uninsured Californians. The key finding of the report is that job-based insurance is disappearing, leaving millions of Californians vulnerable to illness and bankruptcy.

"This research underscores everything we have been talking about. Coverage is eroding because costs are out of control for businesses and workers, making it harder for them to compete," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "All this points out once again that we need comprehensive health care reform that insures everyone and guarantees all Californians have access to affordable and reliable care."

Other findings of the report are:

• Despite a strong economy, fewer and fewer Californians are covered through their jobs. According to the survey, "Employment-based insurance, especially family coverage is in frail health and this condition may be irreversible. Adults' and children's coverage through employment-sponsored insurance fell between 2001-2005, despite a robust economy."
• This trend affected 678,000 Californians in 2005 alone. According to the survey, "If job-based insurance rates had not fallen from 2001 levels, an additional 678,000 Californians would have had employment-based coverage in 2005." 
• Lack of coverage shifts costs to taxpayers and the insured. According to the survey, "...the lack of coverage has real consequences for access to important health care services and for the health of Californians, as well as shifting additional costs to taxpayers and those who pay for private health insurance." 
• 80 percent of uninsured, employed Californians don't have access to affordable, job-based insurance. According to the survey, "...a majority of uninsured employees (55.1%) worked for an employer that did not offer [Employer-Based Insurance] and another 20% were not eligible for their employer's health benefits." 
• Working Californians and their families make up a full 84 percent of the uninsured. According to the survey, of California's 6.5 million uninsured people: 4.2 million-two-thirds of the unemployed-are full-time employees and their families.

The Governor's comprehensive health care reforms address many of the problems identified by the report, including his call for "guarantee issue" and a state purchasing pool to help Californians purchase health insurance.

The Governor's reforms call for "guarantee issue," which requires insurers to guarantee coverage on the individual market, with limits on how much they can charge based on age or health status. This ensures that everyone has access to affordable products. Another part of the Governor's plan, known as the individual mandate, requires that all Californians obtain health insurance. But the individual mandate does not work unless everyone who's required to have insurance can buy it. "Guarantee issue" ensures access to coverage.

"Guarantee issue," paired with the individual mandate and Medi-Cal rate increases, will reduce the "hidden tax." The New America Foundation estimates the "hidden tax" costs $455 in individual premiums, or $1,186 per family annually. The hidden tax is equal to about 17 percent of all health care expenditures.

In addition, under his plan, Californians who can't afford coverage or who don't receive it through their employers will be able to buy it through a special purchasing pool.

About half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States are due to medical bills. Several studies--including two published by Harvard Medical School and the Health Affairs journal--put the number of bankruptcies due to medical causes at approximately 50 percent. The typical person filing for bankruptcy due to medical costs is about 40 years old, with some college education, middle-class or working-class, and a homeowner.

Photo: Governor Schwarzenegger joined the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research to release a new report regarding uninsured Californians. This data will underscore the pressing need for health care reform.