CAPITOL HILL REPORT

Steps Underway To Reinstate Fed Program Helping Fishermen Gain Health Insurance

By Congressman Bill Delahunt
This issue, I would like to address something that commercial fishermen all across Cape Cod and the Islands have been facing–the lack of adequate health care coverage. As many of you know fishing is a risky industry, where the dangers of the job combined with its seasonal, unpredictable income and increased regulations sometimes makes it very difficult to make ends meet.

It is common knowledge that when people are insured, they are much more likely to see a doctor and receive medical care early as well as avoid some illnesses before their conditions reach a critical point that would otherwise require expensive emergency care. A mid-1990s study, however, shows that fishing families are three to four times more likely to be unemployed than the average household, causing them to be uninsured or underinsured and incapable of sufficiently handling their medical care.

For 180 years, the federal government responded to this dilemma by assisting fishermen and those employed by shore-side support businesses to cover the costs of healthcare in some form. However, this history of federal aid ended in 1981, leaving fishermen’s organizations to struggle to make their own group plans with very little success.

It is a tragedy when hard-working Americans are unable to receive the medical care they require. That is why I was a proud cosponsor of H.R. 5404, the Commercial Fishing Industry Health Care Coverage Act of 2008. This landmark proposal, sponsored in the House by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), would reestablish healthcare provisions for the fishing industry. It would provide grants to help commercial fishing states or fishing organizations design and implement healthcare plans that are individually suited to their constituents, in addition to strengthening programs that already do so. The program would work to reduce the cost of premiums on a sliding scale so that everyone involved in commercial fishing can afford insurance.

When designing this legislation, my colleague, Mr. Frank followed the example of the State of Massachusetts, which has once again shown itself as a leader in healthcare. He used as a model the Fishing Partnership Health Plan (FPHP) of Massachusetts, which, over the past 10 years, has a saved taxpayers and the U.S. economy $4.15 for every dollar of federal funding invested. This proves that the $50 million that is proposed to support this plan is well worth the cost. This legislation has support from both sides of the aisle. A companion bill also has been filed in the Senate by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA).

As of this writing, both bills were still being worked on in committee. However, in the coming months, I am hopeful that this legislation will be signed into law so that more American citizens can receive proper healthcare and prevent costly medical emergencies from ruining their health and their finances.