Shockingly, I've seen some people state "Obama doesn't have a health care Plan"

[Political Tiger]

I'd like to clear that up:

BARACK OBAMA's HEALTH CARE 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:

Guaranteed eligibility. No American will be turned away from any insurance plan because of illness or pre-existing conditions.

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.

Affordable premiums, co-pays and deductibles.

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.

Simplified paperwork and reined in health costs.

Easy enrollment. The new public plan will be simple to enroll in and provide ready access to coverage.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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:

Promote patient safety. Obama will require providers to report preventable medical errors and support hospital and physician practice improvement to prevent future occurrences.

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.

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.

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.

Insurance reform. 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 Markets: The insurance business today is dominated by a small group of large companies that has been gobbling up their rivals. There have been over 400 health care mergers in the last 10 years, and just two companies dominate a full third of the national market. These changes were supposed to make the industry more efficient, but instead premiums have skyrocketed by over 87 percent.

Barack Obama will prevent companies from abusing their monopoly power through unjustified price increases. His plan will force insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care instead of keeping exorbitant amounts for profits and administration. His new National Health Exchange will help increase competition by insurers.

Lower prescription drug costs. The second-fastest growing type of health expenses is prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies are selling the exact same drugs in Europe and Canada but charging Americans more than double the price. Obama will allow Americans to buy their medicines from other developed countries if the drugs are safe and prices are lower outside the U.S. Obama will also repeal the ban that prevents the government from negotiating with drug companies, which could result in savings as high as $30 billion. Finally, Obama will work to increase the use of generic drugs in Medicare, Medicaid, and FEHBP and prohibit big name drug companies from keeping generics out of markets.

Fight for New Initiatives

Advance the Biomedical Research Field: As a result of biomedical research the prevention, early detection and treatment of diseases such as cancer and heart disease is better today than any other time in history. Barack Obama has consistently supported funding for the national institutes of health and the national science foundation. Obama strongly supports investments in biomedical research, as well as medical education and training in health-related fields, because it provides the foundation for new therapies and diagnostics. Obama has been a champion of research in cancer, mental health, health disparities, global health, women and children's health, and veterans' health. As president, Obama will strengthen funding for biomedical research, and better improve the efficiency of that research by improving coordination both within government and across government/private/non-profit partnerships. An Obama administration will ensure that we translate scientific progress into improved approaches to disease prevention, early detection and therapy that is available for all Americans.

Fight AIDS Worldwide. There are 40 million people across the planet infected with HIV/AIDS. As president, Obama will continue to be a global leader in the fight against AIDS. Obama believes in working across party lines to combat this epidemic and recently joined Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) at a large California evangelical church to promote greater investment in the global AIDS battle.

Support Americans with Disabilities: As a former civil rights lawyer, Barack Obama knows firsthand the importance of strong protections for minority communities in our society. Obama is committed to strengthening and better enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) so that future generations of Americans with disabilities have equal rights and opportunities. Obama believes we must restore the original legislative intent of the ADA in the wake of court decisions that have restricted the interpretation of this landmark legislation.

Barack Obama is also committed to ensuring that disabled Americans receive Medicaid and Medicare benefits in a low-cost, effective and timely manner. Recognizing that many individuals with disabilities rely on Medicare, Obama worked with Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) to urge the department of health and human services to provide clear and reliable information on the Medicare prescription drug benefit and to ensure that the Medicare recipients were protected from fraudulent claims by marketers and drug plan agents.

Improve Mental Health Care. Mental illness affects approximately one in five American families. The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that untreated mental illnesses cost the U.S. more than $100 billion per year. As president, Obama will support mental health parity so that coverage for serious mental illnesses are provided on the same terms and conditions as other illnesses and diseases.

Protect Our Children from Lead Poisoning. More than 430,000 American children have dangerously high levels of lead in their blood. Lead can cause irreversible brain damage, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma and death. As president, Obama will protect children from lead poisoning by requiring that child care facilities be lead-safe within five years.

Reduce Risks of Mercury Pollution. More than five million women of childbearing age have high levels of toxic mercury in their blood, and approximately 630,000 newborns are born at risk every year. Barack Obama has a plan to significantly reduce the amount of mercury that is deposited in oceans, lakes, and rivers, which in turn would reduce the amount of mercury in fish.

Support Americans with Autism. More than one million Americans have autism, a complex neurobiological condition that has a range of impacts on thinking, feeling, language, and the ability to relate to others. As diagnostic criteria broaden and awareness increases, more cases of autism have been recognized across the country. Barack Obama believes that we can do more to help autistic Americans and their families understand and live with autism. He has been a strong supporter of more than $1 billion in federal funding for autism research on the root causes and treatments, and he believes that we should increase funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to truly ensure that no child is left behind.

More than anything, autism remains a profound mystery with a broad spectrum of effects on autistic individuals, their families, loved ones, the community, and education and health care systems. Obama believes that the government and our communities should work together to provide a helping hand to autistic individuals and their families.

Barack Obama's Record

Health Insurance: In 2003, Barack Obama sponsored and passed legislation that expanded health care coverage to 70,000 kids and 84,000 adults. In the U.S. Senate, Obama cosponsored the Healthy Kids Act of 2007 and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007 to ensure that more American children have affordable health care coverage.

Women's Health: Obama worked to pass a number of laws in Illinois and Washington to improve the health of women. His accomplishments include creating a task force on cervical cancer, providing greater access to breast and cervical cancer screenings, and helping improve prenatal and premature birth services.


READ THE PLAN

Read the Frequently-Asked Q and A

Read the HIV/AIDS Agenda

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/healthcare/Fact_Sheet_Cancer_FINAL.pdf">Read the Cancer Agenda

MORE INFO

[ellacott]

1. Many here will say since it's not single payer that it's wothless

I don't want single payer right now because this country isn't ready for it yet.

[phleshdef]

8. Single payer would probably never get through the legislative process...

...whereas Obama's plan stands a good chance of making it.

On top of that, I don't think we can realistically AFFORD that type of plan right now with the mess the economy is in. Maybe once thats fixed and we have a cleaner slate we can look into that.

Regardless, I'd rather have something that improves access to healthcare AND can actually gain approval by the house and Senate than something that will likely fail if put into a bill.

[John Q. Citizen]

26. how do you figure the gov paying private insurence companies is affordable?

The whole point of a single payer system is that it is much less expensive so there is more money for health care. That means there is more health care. Because it is more affordable.

I don't think you understand the cost issues involved.

[ellacott]

34. I agree with you

Many people think you can just switch to Single Payer. It's not that simple.

[John Q. Citizen]

36. "No we can't" is the newest cry. Why, because the American people can't change for the better.

So why try?

[ellacott]

38. What are you talking about?

Who said it should never be done? It's not going to be done tomorrow. You can't grasp that concept.

[John Q. Citizen]

39. America will never elect a black man POTUS.. Will maybe one day, but not now!

I didn't believe that either.

But people said it.

[ellacott]

40. That was a true statement at one time

It has nothing to do with having faith that all of a sudden all patients will have single payer health coverage and all insurance companies will cease to exist tomorrow.

I know most of you believe that and most of you don't work in health care and actually don't know all that's involved.

[John Q. Citizen]

43. Everyone over the age of 65 has had single payer insurance since 1965. We

also have single payer retirement insurance, since 1935 (was it 35?)We call it Social Security.

Denial isn't a river in Egypt. Single payer is already here. We just need to ignore the nay-sayers and continue to push for what makes the most sense for the most people.

If the insurance companies want to hold Americans hostage to their profits, we need to say, No Dice Snake Eyes!

We need to convey that thought to our elected officials instead of encouraging defeatism.

Yes we can!

[ellacott]

44. Obviously you don't work in health care

It has nothing to do with denial.

What might happen is that we will have people that demand this is done by next year and the whole thing will blow up because we have entrusted this massive project into the hands of people who don't know what they are talking about.

Did you know that Medicare is mangaged by insurance companies all over the country?

It has nothing to de with encouraging defeatism but rather taking the head out of the ass and looking at this realistically.

Catching slogans and cliches are not going to solve this problem.

[John Q. Citizen]

46. I've worked on health care reform since 1990. i have personal friends who are physicians

who fully favor a single payer fee for service system.

I canvassed Dr. Kitzhoper back in 1990 when he was president of the Oregon State Senate.


"Did you know that Medicare is managed by insurance companies all over the country?"

Yes, i knew that. Did you know that the overhead for Medicare has risen since they started farming it out? It was cheaper when it was done in house. A single payer system can be run through a private entity, sure. In fact the Blues have long been mentioned as possible government contractors for a single payer system.

Realistically though, private insurance is equivalent to organized crime. Yes it exists. And yes, it is wrong. So, we either take the mind set that we will always have organized crime praying on people, or we do something about it.

Private insurance has a legal responsibility to it's share holders to take in as much money as possible and pay out as little as possible.

That is a stupid way to run a health care system.

I can guarantee you that private insurance companies have done nothing at all to solve this problem. They are parasites. They do not work in health care, they don't deliver health care, they don't do anything productive at all. They take money out of the system that could otherwise be put to health care.

What is your job in health care?

[Vincardog]

47. John Q. Citizen you got it exactly right "They take money out of the system that could otherwise be

put to health care." Private insurance companies are the problem.

[ellacott]

48. I agree with you about health insurers

I do reimbursement, auditing and coding for a major hospital. I work closely with the insurers. The reason they get away with so much is because the hospitals and doctors let them. I have a good friend that has an upper management position with a big insurance company. We don't talk about our professions because we are frequently at odds. She feels that the doctors and hospitals have rip off insurance companies for years and that her justification for why they've come down with an iron fist.

I do agree that there's been abuse by some in the medical profession but the insurance companies have been too dictatorial. They would deny a claims for no reason. When you appeal they'll say it's a clerical error. Most of the time people choose not to appeal these cases and they don't get the reimbursement. I don't have many good things to say about insurance companies.

I hope the Blues don't become govt. contractors for single payer.

Medicare is very efficient and it would be a good system but it's going to take time to transition the entire population into the Medicare system.

I'm not being a defeatist but I feel that logistically it can't be done fast. I don't want it done fast either. I want it done right.

[demodonkey]

52. Yes, yes, YES! Single-payer with no for-profit contractors is the only thing the will...

...get the job done in the long run, at the lowest cost.

They can try all this other for-profit crap, but will only hand precious dollars to paper-pushers and CEOs instead of spending them on actual CARE.

Why not get it right the first time? SINGLE-PAYER now, no for-profit "administrators".

[slipslidingaway]

55. This program aired last night...

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june09/doctors_01-06.html

"A recent survey published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that only 2 percent of medical students plan to go into primary care. And since 1997, the number of medical school graduates going into the field has dropped 50 percent...


DR. KATE ATKINSON: I spend more time doing paperwork and less time talking to patients. And every time there's a problem, the solution is to generate another form or another hurdle that the doctors need to go through.

If you come to me and you have stomach pains, what medicine I can put you on depends upon your insurance company. I wasn't trained to say, "What's your insurance company before making a treatment decision?" And now I have to..."


posted it in GD
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4786025&mesg_id=4786025

[ellacott]

59. Thank you very much for this link

I will watch some of the reports when I get home. Primary care doctors have always been the low man on the totem pole because specialists generate more money. As was stated in the link you provided, primary care doctors are very important for preventive care and that does keep total costs down.

Another area that needs to be addressed is the high amount of malpractice insurance(again, insurance companies). I have a friend that's an OB/GYN and his malpractice insurance was 40k a year and was going up.

When you factor in the student loans that are the size of mortgages, insurance and reimbursement issues and malpractice costs you have a system that is definately broken.

[slipslidingaway]

61. Great points that need to be addressed....

and you are very welcome.

:)

[bvar22]

41. It IS that simple.

Simply expand MediCare to cover ALL Americans.

Simple.

YES WE CAN!

[ellacott]

42. You don't work in healthcare

It's not that simple, I wish it were. You can't shut down insurance companies just like that. They won't let you. Some of their contracts extend over multiple years. The federal govt. currently doesn't have the capacity to handle that administrative side for the entire country in a couple of months. We are just a couple of years of changing over to a new coding system and we are not prepared for that. We've known for over 20yrs. that this new system was coming but people did little to prepare for it.

It is not that simple.

[bvar22]

53. It IS that simple.

Start expanding MediCare. Drop the eligible age by 10 years every year.
Phase OUT the Insurance Companies, and at the same time begin absorbing the clerical staffs to process the greater demand on MediCare and set up a more efficient processing department.

Every other developed country in The WORLD has mamaged to adopt a single payer system.
Are you trying to say that it would just be "too hard" for the USA?
or
Maybe the Democratic Party is just too corrupt with bribe money from BIG INSURANCE?
We'll just have to settle for much less than the rest of The WORLD?

Obama wasn't very honest during the debates when he stated that it would be too hard to "build a single payer system from scratch."

We already have two single payer systems that work well (MediCare & VA).
Simply expand what we ALREADY have.
It already WORKS.
The infrastructure is already in place.

Single Payer is NOT too hard for America.
(That is Corporate propaganda)

1. 65 percent (of ALL Americans, Democrats AND Republicans) say the government should guarantee health insurance for everyone -- even if it means raising taxes.


http://alternet.org/story/29788/

YES WE CAN!

BTW: I worked for years (chronic pain management/Chemical Dependency)) in an advanced spinal injury Rehab Hospital in New Orleans...F Edward Herbert.
I quit when I had to start updating and pre-certifying insurance on a daily basis.
After that, I went to work for several community based agencies that didn't have to deal with the Health Insurance Industry. FUCK THEM!

And FUCK ANY "HealthCare" Plan that channels taxpayer money (Billions) into the pockets of the same people that ruined HealthCare in America!

Mandatory For Profit Health Insurance is a step in the WRONG direction.

[eridani]

62. Deciding that the best choice is undoable means that you get the worst choice

This is seriously stupid strategy. The Repukes get a great deal of what they want by demanding all of it, all the time. They keep pushing for Social Security privatization despite the fact that Bush himself couldn't get his audiences of blue-haired culture warriors to go along with it.

Why in bloody hell won't the Dems do the same thing with issues that are clearly popular, like single payer health care? Why start out with your wussiest compromise and then bargain further down from there?

[JeanGrey]

70. I can't believe anyone really believed we'd get single

payer. I said we wouldn't and we won't. No one is going to put all the insurance companies out of business and anyone who thought otherwise is fooling themselves.

[uponit7771]

2. Next they'll say Obama doesn't have shoes.

[FrenchieCat]

3. That's debatable!

[Occam Bandage]

5. He's just recycling Adlai Stevenson's shoe policy! That's not change I can believe in!

[T Wolf]

4. No, he has one. To continue the insurance rip-off and care-denying priorities of those

insurance companies. It is all smoke-and-mirros to make people think that health care is a priority.

Protecting the insurance companies and big pharma is the priority.

[Occam Bandage]

6. Protecting them from what, exactly?

From the single-payer plan that has only a small minority of support in Congress?

[John Q. Citizen]

11. Protecting them from collapse. As long as the Gov spend tax dollars on private insurance they will

be fine.

[NorthCarolina]

15. Therein lies the problem. We repeatedly elect the wrong legislators to represent us

Fact: A majority of US citizens (as high as 96%), desire Universal Single Payer
Fact: A majority of Congressional Representatives are against Universal Single Payer

Apparently the job description for US Rep. has vastly changed since it was written. Was a time when it was their duty to represent the wishes of their constituents.

Public polling data on Health Care: http://www.citizen.org/publications/release.cfm?ID=7446
"An overwhelming majority (96.8 percent) of the persons attending the community meetings felt that the health care system is in crisis or constitutes a major problem; Over 94 percent thought that affordable health care should be part of national public policy; and When faced with different priorities competing for public spending, respondents ranked “Guaranteeing that all Americans have health coverage/insurance” as the highest."

[Occam Bandage]

17. Um...no. "The health care system is in crisis" is not "I want single-payer."

[John Q. Citizen]

27. Of course it also isn't "I want a complex patchwork of public and private multipayers" either.

[Occam Bandage]

32. Of course not. nt

[John Q. Citizen]

35. my suggestion is that we put up an equivant single payer plan against any multi-payer plan proposed

so people can really what they are going to get for their money.

If we did that, it would be quite obvious that a comprehensive single payer solution is much cheaper, and hence, better able to cover everyone at affordable cost.

At that point people would be saying, "i want single payer." With the exception of the private insurers, big pharma, and the biggest rip-offs, of course.

[rfranklin]

7. Anything that involves insurance companies will be a mess...

because they are in it to improve profits not health care.

[John Q. Citizen]

9. How will Obama's plan change private insurance so it's stockholders don't demand maximum profits?

[phleshdef]

12. Oops, my bad, my reply is post #10.

[phleshdef]

10. Simple. If people are getting screwed by the private plans they can buy the govt plan.

This will force insurers to compete with the government on offering plans that actually benefit the consumer way more than the current plans do. If they don't try to compete, then they will lose clients.

[John Q. Citizen]

18. There is no government pool. Just a pool collected by the Gov that buys private

insurance.

Insurance is a socialistic concept.

Trying to make it fit into a capitalistic framework is stupid and defeats the whole point ie spreading risk.


MA has a state plan that is quite similar to what Obama is proposing. It hasn't contained costs. It has driven up costs because the taxpayers are subsidizing private health insurance companies. So people are getting less health care for more money. At some point that will mean severely rationed health care for those without resources.

If it doesn't work now in MA, why do you fantasize it will work for the country as a whole?

[phleshdef]

21. The problem in MA is that they highly underestimated the underinsured when they allocated the budget

...for the plan.

Aside from that, where in the policy posted by the OP does it talk about the government buying private insurance? I'm missing that.

[John Q. Citizen]

24. The plan calls for subsidies on a sliding scale. If you have a family of four and

are making minimum wage, then you pay some and gov picks up the rest.

Even the public pool would just collect money and then purchase private insurance.

The problem with these hybrid reform plans is they are overly complicated, redundant, and they assume that private insurance companies aren't going to attempt to take in as much money as possible and pay out as little as possible. That is a very stupid assumption because of course that is what private insurance does. They have to do that, they have a fiscal responsibility to stock holders to do just that.

That drives up the cost which limits the health care available to people.

[Critters2]

22. There's no government plan. It's all private.

It's probably the word "universal" that confused you.

[yardwork]

13. Shocking!

Say it isn't true.

[Thrill]

14. Max Baucus will never allow single payer plan to pass

Thats why Obama isn't even going to waste time trying.

[John Q. Citizen]

19. Have you ever met Max Baucus?

i have, a few times.

He is basing his plan on erroneous assumptions. i can guarantee you that if enough Montanans keep in his face long and hard enough that he will support a single payer bill.

He even supported single payer retirement insurance (aka social security) over the bush plan, which was a multi-payer plan where by private companies got hold of public tax dollars.

Sound familiar?

The problem is that passing a patchwork of redundant public and private funding entities, many of which lead back to public tax dollars is bound to fail eventually.

At that point Americans will become quite convinced that what Baucus and Obama erroneously refer to as "universal" health care doesn't work, because subsidizing private insurance companies with public funds actually drives costs up.


Look at MA if you want to see what will happen with these patchwork "reform" plans.

[Critters2]

23. Max Baucus is UCC. Not relevant, I suppose (though the national church has endorsed single payer).

Just an interesting fact.

[John Q. Citizen]

25. That's good to know. I'll ask him why they would want that?

[DevonRex]

16. When I say he doesn't have a plan yet, I mean that who knows how

all this will get hammered out in Congress. I like what Obama has proposed. We'll see what legislation is actually written and passed.

I contend that every candidate said what they would like to see happen during the primaries. But now the primaries are over and the real work begins. I'd like to think that Congress will go along with sweeping health care reform. Hopefully they'll get down to business soon and show us something concrete.

So yes, in one sense Obama has a plan. In another sense, all bets are off once Congress gets involved. That's all.

[demodonkey]

20. Is there full coverage for Long Term Care for the disabled of all ages?? If not there is NO plan.

Anyone of any age can become disabled. Long term care for the disabled is an essential PART OF HEALTHCARE just like surgery and xrays. If Long Term Care is not covered, basically one can say THERE IS NO HEALTHCARE! Because again, anyone of any age can become disabled.

As it is now, once your crappy "insurance benefits" run out after a few weeks or months, you're basically screwed. The main choice available to you is to "spend down" (basically, lose) almost everything you ever worked for or own, and then (if you're lucky) you get Medicaid.

Which then takes anything that's left from your heirs when you die even though that saves the states and federal government little to nothing in the end. But picking over the bones of the dead, that's The American Way, now isn't it?

Obama just has to do better than this.

[Political Tiger]

28. It's part of the plan

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:

Guaranteed eligibility. No American will be turned away from any insurance plan because of illness or pre-existing conditions.
.....
Support Americans with Disabilities: As a former civil rights lawyer, Barack Obama knows firsthand the importance of strong protections for minority communities in our society. Obama is committed to strengthening and better enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) so that future generations of Americans with disabilities have equal rights and opportunities. Obama believes we must restore the original legislative intent of the ADA in the wake of court decisions that have restricted the interpretation of this landmark legislation.

Barack Obama is also committed to ensuring that disabled Americans receive Medicaid and Medicare benefits in a low-cost, effective and timely manner. Recognizing that many individuals with disabilities rely on Medicare, Obama worked with Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) to urge the department of health and human services to provide clear and reliable information on the Medicare prescription drug benefit and to ensure that the Medicare recipients were protected from fraudulent claims by marketers and drug plan agents.


Plan to Empower Americans with Disabilities

Barack Obama and Joe Biden's comprehensive agenda to empower individuals with disabilities fits in with the campaign's overarching message of equalizing opportunities for all Americans.

In addition to reclaiming America's global leadership on this issue by becoming a signatory to -- and having the Senate ratify -- the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the plan has four parts, designed to provide lifelong supports and resources to Americans with disabilities. They are as follows:

First, provide Americans with disabilities with the educational opportunities they need to succeed.

Second, end discrimination and promote equal opportunity.

Third, increase the employment rate of workers with disabilities.

And fourth, support independent, community-based living for Americans with disabilities.

[demodonkey]

50. I don't see it -- where does it say they will get Long Term Care?

Will he get it added to Medicare and make it full, ongoing coverage for all recipients who are disabled? (which should have been done when Medicare began back in the 60's) If not, what about those people who become disabled and are middle class so do not qualify for Medicaid but are too poor to hire the 24/7 care they need? Should they get their friends to have a few more bake sales to raise the funds? (HA!) Or just kill themselves?

HR 676 SPECIFICALLY SAYS IT COVERS LONG TERM CARE. Obama needs to pay attention to this and not just give lip service to the Disabled and their need for Long Term Care.

[Solon]

29. OK, how about he doesn't have a WORKABLE health care plan, there, is that better?

Oh, and just an FYI, but his mercury solution plan is in direct conflict with his clean coal stance, how the hell do you think they clean the coal, they literally wash it, and all those impurities, including mercury, end up in the water table.

[Political Tiger]

30. So what do you propose? n/t

What's your health care plan?

[Solon]

33. You haven't looked at my Journal, have you?

I don't feel like reposting the numerous posts I made on the subject, however, supporting HR 676 would be a good start, also look at my journal, specifically for OPs about how to cut costs without sacrificing care and how to get additional funding for a single payer system as well. By my own estimation, we can double Medicare spending and cover everyone in the country, from birth to death. This is workable within the current federal budget, if we cut funding to some unnecessary programs, and only raise FICA taxes by about 2-3%, if that.

[Naturyl]

31. Let's see excatly what "subsidies" entail.

If they aren't sufficient to get the poor covered at NO COST, then he doesn't have a real health care plan, IMO.

[gravity]

37. That is campaign rhetoric

You can't judge anyone's plans on how they were sold in a campaign. They were just trying to appease the voters.

The real plan is going to be crafted by experts and Congress. Although Obama could provide the starting point for the discussion, the final product is going to be substantially different than what was said during the campaign.

[Phred42]

45. The Choice of the Corporatist Big Pharma Stooge Gupta would seem to negate much of that

[Boomerang Diddle]

49. Obama's plan is all that much different

than Hillary's was. Both had good plans.

[Luminous Animal]

51. That is not a health care plan...

That is a health insurance plan.

[bertman]

54. Not the plan I want ultimately, but a GIANT STEP in the right direction. All Americans

being covered should be the first goal. Then start reworking the structure.

[eridani]

56. Not at all. At best, it's a consolation prize for failure to get real universal health CARE n/t

[bertman]

64. Take your pick: health care insurance that covers ALL WHO NEED IT, or health care

insurance that covers SOME WHO NEED IT. Because in reality that's what is going to happen. We will not get universal health care as the first step. The political class will not allow it to happen. Reality.

[eridani]

65. Here's some reality for you

We happen to be in some serious deep shit economically. Single payer is the ONLY option that does not require spending more money than we are already spending as a society on health care. Avoiding more unnecessary national debt is something that is inevitably going to appeal to more and more politicians.

[bertman]

66. Eridani, I agree with everything you have said about WHY we should have single-payer.

I WANT single payer. But my opinion is that it is going to happen incrementally, not in one Swell Foop as you are suggesting it should. Our Congress is owned by the Health Insurance and Pharmaceutical industries. It's going to take more than this much of a recession to change their thinking on single-payer.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't keep working for it and reminding our Senators and Reps what WE WANT.

[eridani]

69. What is this "recession" you speak of? For the bottom half it's a depression already

All the more reason to demand single payer. Rethugs will be against anything Obama proposes, so why not go for broke? Even some of them might figure out that a fix which requires no more money than we are now spending on health care might gbe something to consider in the event of total exonomic and social meltdown.

[eridani]

57. Why the FAWK would anyone want more competition among insurance companies?

That is exactly what is killing 18,000 a year. They compete to take money from healthy people and waste it. They compete to avoid covering sick people and to deny claims as often as possible. To hell with that! Get rid of them!

[GeorgeGist]

58. Health I-N-S-U-R-A-N-C-E plan ...

for the profit grubbing middle man.

[eridani]

63. Fuck insurance! We want CARE!

[Boomerang Diddle]

67. It's hard to get health care

without health insurance.

[eridani]

68. If the government does the insurance part and everybody has it--

--that problem goes away.

[fadedrose]

60. I'd be happy to see just some of this implemented right away..

like lowering drug costs like in Canada and Mexico..

I wonder if we will ever have a national health care plan. I don't argue with the position that being nice to Republicans to win their support is a good idea - my worry is the choice of Democrats selected to work on the plan are not the progressives we had hoped for.