Obamas Universal Health Care Plan

Barack Obama's Plan
Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All
* Obama's Plan to Cover Uninsured Americans:
Obama will make available a new national health plan to all
Americans, including the self-employed and small businesses, to buy
affordable health coverage that is similar to the plan available to
members of Congress. The Obama plan will have the following features:
1. Guaranteed eligibility. No American will be turned away from any
insurance plan because of illness or pre-existing conditions.
2. Comprehensive benefits. The benefit package will be similar to
that offered through Federal Employees Health Benefits Program
(FEHBP), the plan members of Congress have. The plan will cover all
essential medical services, including preventive, maternity and
mental health care.
3. Affordable premiums, co-pays and deductibles
4. Subsidies. Individuals and families who do not qualify for
Medicaid or SCHIP but still need financial assistance will receive an
income-related federal subsidy to buy into the new public plan or
purchase a private health care plan.
5. Simplified paperwork and reined in health costs.
6. Easy enrollment. The new public plan will be simple to enroll in
and provide ready access to coverage.
7. Portability and choice. Participants in the new public plan and
the National Health Insurance Exchange (see below) will be able to
move from job to job without changing or jeopardizing their health
care coverage.
8. Quality and efficiency. Participating insurance companies in the
new public program will be required to report data to ensure that
standards for quality, health information technology and
administration are being met.
* National Health Insurance Exchange:
The Obama plan will create a National Health Insurance Exchange to
help individuals who wish to purchase a private insurance plan. The
Exchange will act as a watchdog group and help reform the private
insurance market by creating rules and standards for participating
insurance plans to ensure fairness and to make individual coverage
more affordable and accessible. Insurers would have to issue every
applicant a policy, and charge fair and stable premiums that will not
depend upon health status. The Exchange will require that all the
plans offered are at least as generous as the new public plan and
have the same standards for quality and efficiency. The Exchange
would evaluate plans and make the differences among the plans,
including cost of services, public.
* Employer Contribution:
Employers that do not offer or make a meaningful contribution to the
cost of quality health coverage for their employees will be required
to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the
national plan. Small employers that meet certain revenue thresholds
will be exempt.
* Mandatory Coverage of Children:
Obama will require that all children have health care coverage. Obama
will expand the number of options for young adults to get coverage,
including allowing young people up to age 25 to continue coverage
through their parents' plans.
* Expansion Of Medicaid and SCHIP:
Obama will expand eligibility for the Medicaid and SCHIP programs and
ensure that these programs continue to serve their critical safety
net function.
* Flexibility for State Plans:
Due to federal inaction, some states have taken the lead in health
care reform. The Obama plan builds on these efforts and does not
replace what states are doing. States can continue to experiment,
provided they meet the minimum standards of the national plan.
Lower Costs by Modernizing The U.S. Health Care System
* Reducing Costs of Catastrophic Illnesses for Employers and Their
Employees:
Catastrophic health expenditures account for a high percentage of
medical expenses for private insurers. The Obama plan would reimburse
employer health plans for a portion of the catastrophic costs they
incur above a threshold if they guarantee such savings are used to
reduce the cost of workers' premiums
* Helping Patients:
1. Support disease management programs. Seventy five percent of total
health care dollars are spent on patients with one or more chronic
conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.
Obama will require that providers that participate in the new public
plan, Medicare or the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program
(FEHBP) utilize proven disease management programs. This will improve
quality of care, give doctors better information and lower costs.
2. Coordinate and integrate care. Over 133 million Americans have at
least one chronic disease and these chronic conditions cost a
staggering $1.7 trillion yearly. Obama will support implementation of
programs and encourage team care that will improve coordination and
integration of care of those with chronic conditions.
3. Require full transparency about quality and costs. Obama will
require hospitals and providers to collect and publicly report
measures of health care costs and quality, including data on
preventable medical errors, nurse staffing ratios, hospital-acquired
infections, and disparities in care. Health plans will also be
required to disclose the percentage of premiums that go to patient
care as opposed to administrative costs.
* Ensuring Providers Deliver Quality Care:
1. Promote patient safety. Obama will require providers to report
preventable medical errors and support hospital and physician
practice improvement to prevent future occurrences.
2. Align incentives for excellence. Both public and private insurers
tend to pay providers based on the volume of services provided,
rather than the quality or effectiveness of care. Providers who see
patients enrolled in the new public plan, the National Health
Insurance Exchange, Medicare and FEHBP will be rewarded for achieving
performance thresholds on outcome measures.
3. Comparative effectiveness research. Obama will establish an
independent institute to guide reviews and research on comparative
effectiveness, so that Americans and their doctors will have the
accurate and objective information they need to make the best
decisions for their health and well-being.
4. Tackle disparities in health care. Obama will tackle the root
causes of health disparities by addressing differences in access to
health coverage and promoting prevention and public health, both of
which play a major role in addressing disparities. He will also
challenge the medical system to eliminate inequities in health care
through quality measurement and reporting, implementation of
effective interventions such as patient navigation programs, and
diversification of the health workforce.
5. Reform medical malpractice. Obama will strengthen antitrust laws
to prevent insurers from overcharging physicians for their
malpractice insurance and will promote new models for addressing
errors that improve patient safety, strengthen the doctor-patient
relationship and reduce the need for malpractice suits.
* Lowering Costs Through Investment in Electronic Health Information
Technology Systems:
Most medical records are still stored on paper, which makes it hard
to coordinate care, measure quality or reduce medical errors and
which costs twice as much as electronic claims. Obama will invest $10
billion a year over the next five years to move the U.S. health care
system to broad adoption of standards-based electronic health
information systems, including electronic health records, and will
phase in requirements for full implementation of health IT. Obama
will ensure that patients' privacy is protected.
* Lowering Costs by Increasing Competition in the Insurance and Drug