Posted By: Madame Fleur
Nov. 18. 2008
Last week, U.S. Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus unveiled an ambitious blueprint to guarantee health insurance for all Americans. Yesterday, President-elect Obama picked former Baucus aide Jim Messina to serve as Obama’s Deputy Chief of Staff. It looks like the Obama-Montana love affair isn’t over just because Election Day has passed!
Baucus’ plan is groundbreaking with its timing – just eight days after the election of a new President. Even so, its general timeliness is undeniable: as the failing economy sits firmly at center stage, Baucus is focusing on a recently ignored angle of the economy: health care. “Health reform is an essential part of restoring America’s economy and maintaining our competitiveness” Baucus said last week. Obama made promises to expand health care coverage early on in his campaign, but recent economic troubles have robbed his attention.
Will he still consider this crucial issue a priority in January?
Baucus is not the only lawmaker to recognize the urgency of our woefully inadequate health care system. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts along with U.S. House Representatives John Dingell of Michigan and Pete Stark of California have drafted proposals to slow the growth of health care costs and expand coverage. These plans, with Baucus’, are highly compatible with the health care priorities detailed by Obama during his campaign. Their swift call to action is intended to ensure Obama keeps his campaign promises.
Baucus’ 35,000-word plan would require that all Americans have health insurance coverage via his newly created “health care exchange.”
Insurers would become obligated to participate in a transparent nationwide marketplace where customers could compare and purchase insurance plans. Insurers would have participatory restrictions on their policies, such as non-discrimination on the basis of prior illnesses and limits on higher premiums for people who are older or have a history of illness.
Americans would be obligated to have health coverage be it through an employer, private coverage or a public plan when affordable options are available. Those who could not afford to purchase one of the available plans would be required to enroll in public options like the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan and Medicaid. Employers would be encouraged to offer health insurance policies to their employees through small business tax credits.
Expansions of Medicare and Medicaid would be necessary to make Baucus’ plan work. People aged 55 to 64 would be able to purchase Medicare coverage if they do not have access to alternative health coverage. This change would cover an additional four million people.
Medicaid would cover all people below the poverty level, providing coverage for an additional seven million more Americans. Lastly, Baucus would undo the restrictions placed on children’s health insurance by Bush. Raising the income limit in half of the states, SCHIP would be expanded to cover uninsured children in families with incomes at or below 250% of the poverty level ($44,000 for a family of three).
To fund the plan, Senator Baucus argues that the health care industry must eliminate waste and fraud, focus on prevention, and use more sophisticated data to identify the most cost-effective therapies. He seeks to eliminate “overpayments” to insurance companies that sell managed care plans to Medicare recipients.
Baucus’ plan would also seek funding through taxing the value of insurance plans offered by employers, which is similar to McCain’s health care plan. This element of the plan is highly controversial, but Baucus points out that some middle ground is needed given that the tax benefit of employer-provided health care comes to $245 billion per year.
Democrats watched Clinton’s much-anticipated health care reforms derail in 1994 as the country focused its attention on NAFTA and gays in the Military. By offering Obama these early proposals, Baucus, Kennedy and other lawmakers are hoping to avoid the same tragic fate.
Baucus’ plan is a great jumping off point. It gives the public and experts alike much to hope for. The Executive Director of Families USA, a consumer group that works closely with Congress and Obama’s staff, recently said, “the prospects for meaningful health care reform have never looked better.”
Recent Comments