John Cranley Announces CincyCare

Quality healthcare is an essential element of a basic quality of life. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of working Cincinnatians have no access to health insurance, cannot afford the health insurance that their employers offer, or have too little insurance to receive quality care.

At a time when the American Dream is that anybody who is willing to work for a living should earn a living, it is unacceptable that any working Cincinnatian lacks access to quality, affordable healthcare.

That is why today I announced CincyCare, a voluntary healthcare plan available to anyone who lives or works in the city. The plan provides full, unlimited primary and preventive care and a prescription drug benefit. It also provides $25,000 worth of additional coverage for hospitalization and specialist care, which according to statistics will cover 98% of all claims. The $25,000 coverage will be part of an extensive provider network that will be easily accessible in Cincinnati.

In order to make the plan affordable for workers, the cost of CincyCare will follow the example of progressive healthcare initiatives around the country by splitting the costs 1/3 by the city, 1/3 by the employer, and 1/3 by the employee. Based on preliminary discussions with insurance carriers, the total premium for CincyCare should be around $1500.

The city’s contribution to the plan will consist of 1) making the city’s health centers available to subscribers at a roughly 80% discount over the market rate; and 2) providing a $500 tax credit per subscription to subscribing employers as long as those credits are used exclusively to contribute to the annual premium.

The city’s contribution to the plan will consist of 1) making the city’s health centers available to subscribers at a roughly 80% discount over the market rate; and 2) providing a $500 tax credit per subscription to subscribing employers as long as those credits are used exclusively to contribute to the annual premium.

Subtracting the $500 tax credit from the annual premium leaves roughly $1000 to be split between employer and employee. Assuming a 50-50 split means that CincyCare is available to employers and employees at roughly $40 per month. There is no plan in Greater Cincinnati that offers the benefits of CincyCare at anywhere near this price.

In addition to improving the health of working Cincinnatians, CincyCare will benefit local businesses. Research shows that the poor health associated with being uninsured contributes to lower productivity and missed time at work. By providing workers with quality, affordable healthcare, we will help businesses operate more efficiently.

Additionally, CincyCare should significantly incentivize the location of jobs in the city for at least two reasons. First, the $500 tax credit per subscription is available only to businesses that owe income taxes to the city; therefore, only businesses that locate a substantial number of employees in the city will be able to take advantage of this benefit.

Second, CincyCare will incentivize job location in the city because employees are not likely to choose CincyCare if their work or their home are not close to one of the city’s six healthcare centers.

CincyCare is a win-win for both our citizens and businesses. CincyCare offers Cincinnati’s existing extensive health center network at an enormous discount over the market rate cost for primary care in order to incentivize businesses to locate in Cincinnati and provide quality healthcare to their workers. With Cincycare, having a job in Cincinnati is healthy.

You can download the CincyCare plan at www.johncranley.com