Study - State-run health care would save Missouri $3 billion

ST. LOUIS -- A government-run health plan would provide better care for less cost than the existing system of private health insurance companies, according a study commissioned by the Missouri Foundation for Health.

According to the study, health care in Missouri costs $29.4 billion annually, of which $10.4 billion is paid as health insurance premiums by companies and workers. Federal and state aid covers another $14 billion, and out-of-pocket expenses account for most of the rest.

The study said switching to a government-run insurance program for all would save $3 billion in administrative costs. Even when adding the cost of insuring people currently without coverage, the study said, a universal state plan would save about $1.7 billion.

If the state offered better benefits than 75 percent of Missourians now get through private health insurance, the state could save an additional $1.3 billion, the study said.

The study proposes to replace standard health insurance premiums paid by companies and workers with a payroll tax on both groups, at a savings of 10 percent or more.

The Missouri Foundation for Health, established in January 2000 by the for-profit conversion of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Missouri, sponsors research and finances some health care efforts. The study was prepared by Kenneth E. Thorpe, chairman of health policy and management at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health.

Dr. James R. Kimmey, the foundation's president, said his group is looking for ways to provide affordable care to everyone, including its estimate of 575,000 Missourians who had no health insurance for some or all of last year. Kimmey is a former director of Saint Louis University Hospital.

Calvin Call, executive director of the Missouri Insurance Coalition, said the study's projection of cost savings "a pipe dream." The coalition represents insurance companies.

Scott Lakin, director of the Missouri Department of Insurance, said the foundation's studies would help spur debate in Missouri about health care and insurance.

"This is an indication of the overall dissatisfaction that people have for our current system," Lakin said.

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On the Net:

Missouri Foundation for Health: http://www.mffh.org