Tenets
1) Healthcare is a right of all Americans.
2) Healthcare should be debt/deficit neutral.
3) Our economy and workforce are strong enough to provide healthcare coverage to all
Americans.
4) All Doctors & Hospitals that wish to practice medicine and/or do business in United
States must accept SPHI benefits.
Acknowledgements
1) Estimation of total cost for Health Insurance costs & needed fund includes:
a. Anticipated savings from elimination of overhead.
b. Anticipated savings from elimination of fraud & waste.
c. Anticipated savings from elimination of need for profit.
d. Anticipated savings from SPHI’s ability to negotiate for bulk savings with
pharmaceutical companies.
e. Anticipated savings from reduction in government reimbursement to Emergency
Rooms for care of uninsured individuals.
2) Funding relies on a combination of:
a. New taxes
b. Budget savings
c. Revenue allocated from current Government Programs
d. Revenue allocated from current Government Assistance Programs
e. Revenue from current Medicare Trust Fund
Estimated Cost: 1,700,000,000,000 ($1.7 trillion dollars)
Revenue Sources
1) $2000 yr tax paid by each of America’s 150 million Workers.
a. This is offset by elimination of expenses for individual premiums of Private Health
Insurance, and should result in an annual savings of roughly $2400.
b. At 150 million Workers, this generates in ex $300 billion annually.
2) $2000 yr tax per Worker paid by Employers, calculated at $1/hr per Worker per year.
a. This is offset by the elimination of Employer Contribution to Private Health Insurance
Premiums, and should result in an annual savings of roughly $12,000 per Worker for
Employers.
b. At 150 million Workers, this generates $300 billion annually.
c. This figure may be exceeded, as many people both full and part time jobs, or multiple
part time jobs and would thus have multiple employers paying into the fund on their
behalf.
d. Additionally, though not ideal, this also would include revenue from Employers who
accidentally hire Undocumented Workers using fake social security numbers.
3) $300 Billion allocated from Defense Department Budget to SPHI fund.
a. US Defense Department budget is well beyond need defense needs of the country.
With lack of a Cold War-like Superpower enemy, with the end of the Iraq &
Afghanistan Wars, and with Anti-Terrorism work largely an Intelligence matter, we are
able to redirect these funds to better serve the needs of our country.
b. A healthy population benefits the DoD, and significantly reduces training costs.
c. All military personnel and their families would be covered under SPHI, thus eliminating
these lines in the DoD budget.
4) $300 Billion moved from Medicaid budget into SPHI fund
a. Federal Government would contribute $200 Billion of this, representing a savings of
$35.9 Billion.
b. State would contribute $100 Billion of this, representing a savings of $77.9 Billion, or
roughly $1.55 Billion per State.
5) $500 Billion from Medicare revenue streams.
a. $225 Billion would continue to be generated into the SPHI fund through traditional
Medicare HI (Hospital Insurance) revenue streams. This represents an $18 Billion
savings as compared to traditional Medicare
b. $275 Billion would continue to be generated into the SPHI fund through tradition
Medicare SMI (Supplemental Medical Insurance) revenue stream. This represents a $19 Billion savings as compared to traditional Medicare.
Total Revenue: 1,700,000,000,000 ($1.7 trillion dollars)
Additional Revenue
While the Revenue Sources listed above meet the goal of $1.7 trillion for the SPHI fund, it is necessary to provision for overages in cost. The reserve cash currently in the Medicare Trust is $287.6 Billion, which generates roughly $13 Billion per year in interest. These funds could be accessed may be accessed should costs exceed projection.
Additionally, SHPI may borrow funds from the reserve should interest revenues be insufficient. Doing so, however, will require a matching increase in the Worker & Employee tax rates so that these borrowed funds will be paid back within a year.
*All figures related to cost and revenues taken from SSA.gov and the Kaiser Family Foundation websites
