Communicating for America
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Plan StatusOngoing advocacy.Number of People CoveredAll Americans, within five years.
Estimated CostNot addressed.
Payment Scheme Relies on various initiatives including federal funding, the private market, and consumer-driven health care. |
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Plan in Brief
- This nonprofit advocates and provides benefits for the self-employed.
- Supports universal access and says this goal can be achieved within five years.
- Provides advocacy, education, and health care packages and support for members.
- Supports expansion of high-risk pools, with more funding and guaranteed access.
- Formerly known as Communicating for Agriculture and the Self-Employed.
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Impact on Federal Government
- Increased federal funds to allow states to develop or expand high-risk pools.
- Supports tax credits and deductions for individuals purchasing their own coverage.
Impact on States
- Each state should have a high-risk pool for residents otherwise unable to get insurance.
Impact on Insurers
- Supports the private market and particularly advocates Health Savings Accounts, high-deductible plans, and consumer-driven health care.
Impact on Providers
- Promotes transparency of quality and prices for the services that hospitals and providers offer.
Impact on Employers
- The self-employed should not be taxed on health care premium costs.
- Small businesses should have access to affordable health care.
Impact on Individuals
- Supports consumer-driven health care.
- Promotes (and offers to members) Health Savings Accounts (Freedom HSA).
- Supports 100% tax deductions for those purchasing their own health care coverage.
- Supports tax credits to make health care more affordable to more people.
- Provides discount offerings, education, and advocacy to members.
Proponents/Opponents
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Those who support consumer-driven health care and the high-deductible plans and HSAs that go along with it say that these measures allow individuals to obtain the care that they need. Also, they say, those individuals will become better-informed health care consumers and will spend more appropriately.
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Critics of high-deductible plans believe that consumers will pass up certain types of care in an effort to manage their deductible.
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For Further Information
About Communicating for America
About Freedom HAS
About High-Risk Pools
About Consumer-Driven Health Care
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Key Targets for Investment Health Savings Accounts.
High-deductible health plans.
Notable Feature
- Provides coverage options to members.
- Coaches and Advocates program provides answers and guidance on health care questions to Communicating for America members.
Experts' Comments“Congress back in session"
“The House reconvened last week and the Senate is back in full swing today. If you haven’t had your TV on for a while this is a presidential election year, which means any legislation getting through Congress after the middle of March will be very limited."
“There is some good news--- the HHS appropriation bill that we talked about several weeks ago went through many changes but in the end it still contained $49 million for federal help in funding high risk pools in the states. It is remarkable that this bill was vetoed not once but twice by the president and finally passed again with hundreds of millions of dollars taken out but thanks to CA and many other groups being extra persistent the original $50 million was only reduced by a few hundred thousand dollars. We had a meeting with the Undersecretary of HHS in Washington last week and he confirmed that the money would by [sic] allocated to the different states in a similar manner and amounts as in 2006."
-- Wayne Nelson
President, Communicating for America, January 22, 2008
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Interest Groups 
