Senator Clinton proposes a plan for health care reform that will provide coverage to all Americans. Her proposal builds upon the existing health coverage infrastructure and promises that this expanded coverage can be funded through savings and cuts in other areas of governmental spending.
Coverage Options
Clinton's plan offers Americans the following coverage options:
- If you like your plan, you can keep it.
- If you don't like your plan, you have two options:
- Choose a new private plan from the menu of federal employee plans available to members of Congress; or
- Choose an affordable public plan similar to Medicare.
Individual Mandate and Consumer Protections
This reform proposal requires all Americans to obtain health coverage. Clinton would enact the following consumer protections to help Americans comply with this mandate:
- Insurance companies would be required to offer affordable coverage to all Americans, regardless of their health status. This means that individuals with preexisting health conditions would be able to obtain coverage in the private market if they so choose.
- Furthermore, Clinton would require that insurers devote a certain percentage of each premium dollar collected specifically towards the payment of claims, rather than towards excessive profits or marketing.
- Clinton's plan also proposes to keep premium rates low by promoting quality and efficiency of care.
Affordability of Coverage
Many Americans are concerned about rising health costs. Although Clinton's plan requires most Americans to contribute to the cost of their health care, she vows to keep costs down for the consumer by enacting the following protections:
- Clinton would offer families a refundable tax credit as financial assistance with the cost of individual health insurance. Because it is a tax credit (as opposed to a deduction) families would receive these funds regardless of whether they owe any income taxes.
- Health insurance premium payments would be limited to a percentage of a family's income.
- Large employers would be required to contribute to the cost of their employees' health coverage.
- Small employers would received refundable tax credits to encourage them to provide their employees with health coverage.
- Safety net programs, like Medicaid and SCHIP, would receive more funding to ensure that all vulnerable populations are reached, including poor adults without children.
Funding
Clinton believes that it will take approximately $110 billion to enact her plan. She hopes to generate this funding through the following means:
- Improving health care quality and efficiency
- Clinton would require all providers to adopt privacy-protected Health IT. This could improve efficiency by ensuring that all providers can access a single, comprehensive medical record for each individual patient.
- Preventive care would be a priority under this proposal. Diseases which are prevented or delayed will not tax the health care system with excess costs.
- People with chronic diseases account for a majority of health care spending in the United States. Improvements in chronic care would help contain health care spending.
- Research on the comparative effectiveness of various drugs, medical devices, and therapies would be supported and funded. Supporters of comparative effectiveness research believe that it can reduce health care costs and improve efficiency by identifying the most effective treatment for a particular disease or condition. It is likely that payments for "less effective" treatments would be reduced or eliminated.
- Eliminating government-authorized overpayments to Medicare private plans
- Redirecting funding formerly dedicated towards uncompensated care
- Negotiating lower prescription drug costs
- Reforming the tax code:
- Clinton would discontinue tax breaks available to families with over $250,000 per year in income.
- The current system which allows employees to deduct the cost of their health coverage before income tax is applied would be limited. Any amount spent in excess of the premium charged under a standard health plan must be subject to income tax.
Source:
Hilary Clinton For President. "The American Health Choices Plan: Ensuring Quality, Affordable Health Care for All Americans." Sep. 2007.
