Pepper Commission Report: Joint Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Competitiveness and the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, One Hundred First Congress, Second Session, April 26, 1990

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Page 75 - GENERALLY SPEAKING, DO YOU USUALLY THINK OF YOURSELF AS A REPUBLICAN, A DEMOCRAT, AN INDEPENDENT, OR WHAT.
Page 126 - Expenses of occasional public service efforts may be met, in part, by nonrestrictive, noncommercial contributions, grants and fees. In addition to reports on Consumers Union's own product testing, Consumer Reports.
Page 19 - Methods of provider reimbursement should promote cost containment, encourage efficient service delivery, and compensate providers fairly. Health care providers should receive basically the same reimbursement for the same services within a given area, regardless of the payment source. The government should play a major role in establishing more uniform reimbursement practices and rates for health care providers. Health care providers share in the responsibility to be fiscally prudent.
Page 146 - Medicare nor private insurance provides adequate protection against the costs of long-term care. Many families exhaust their emotional and financial resources providing and purchasing long-term care. A million Americans a year go bankrupt trying to meet the cost of long-term care left uncovered by insurance. Only the most wealthy of Americans are insulated from the potential financial devastation. The rest can have their lifetime savings wiped out in a matter of months paying for longterm care.
Page 19 - Burdensome cost-sharing requirements (eg, burdensome deductibles and coinsurance) should be avoided because they disproportionately affect the sick and the poor. The public, through the federal and state governments, should subsidize the cost of health care coverage for individuals with lower incomes and should fully finance health care coverage for the poor. Any financing method should preserve the dignity of the individual, regardless of his or her income level.
Page 19 - All individuals should have a reasonable choice of health care providers. Cost containment efforts should not unreasonably limit choice of providers. Consumers should be provided with sufficient information about health care providers and treatment options to make informed health care decisions.
Page 129 - Policyholders who drop their policy, perhaps to buy a better policy, are typically out of luck. We believe that policyholders who drop their policy after a certain amount of years of paying premiums should be eligible for some sort of compensation (eg . a cash refund or a reduced benefit) , since early year premiums are used to subsidize later year risks. The private market is not well suited to insuring the longterm care needs of people under age 65.
Page 147 - It reinforces and supplements the care provided by family members and friends and maintains the recipient's dignity and independence, qualities that are all too often lost in even the best institutions.
Page 193 - STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID DREIER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Mr.
Page 18 - The public, through the federal and state governments, has the ultimate responsibility to develop a system which ensures universal access to health care coverage for all individuals, including individuals with disabilities or health problems. The health care system should be designed to ensure that all individuals are covered by a public or private health coverage plan. The government should establish a minimum benefit package to which all individuals are entitled. 3. All individuals have a right...

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