NC Justice Center Proposes Health Plan

Members of the NC Justice Center's Health Access Coalition have created a plan to guarntee quality health coverage for every North Carolinian while reducting costs for those already insured. The plan is the one of the most progressive steps in reducing the number of uninsured in NC. Click on the title link to read the full proposal in PDF format.

The Greensboro News & Record article states the following:

The plan calls for the state to raise its cigarette tax by about 65 cents per pack to help pay for the program - traditionally an unpopular proposal in this tobacco-growing and cigarette-manufacturing state.

The state also would consolidate small-business and individual health insurance markets to spread risk across a larger population and make insurance cheaper. And it would require private insurers to insure people with pre-existing medical conditions at the same rates as those without. The industry likely would oppose both measures.

Individuals or families who could afford health insurance would have to buy it or pay a penalty on their state income taxes once a full range of affordable options for health insurance is in place. Whether such a range is achievable is one question; whether forcing people to buy insurance would be politically popular is another.