Hillary Clinton unveiled the third part of her plan to ensure that all
Americans have affordable, quality health insurance. Building on her
proposals to rein in costs and to insist on value and quality, her
American Health Choices Plan will secure, simplify and ensure choice in
health coverage for all Americans. This Plan covers every American -
finally addressing the needs of the 47 million uninsured and the tens of
millions of workers with coverage who fear they could be one pink slip
away from losing their health coverage - with no overall increase in
health spending or taxes. For those with health insurance, the plan builds
on the current system to give businesses and their employees greater
choice of health plans - including keeping the one they have - while
lowering cost and improving quality. Specifically, the American Health
Choices Plan will:
1. Offer New Coverage Choices For The Insured
And Uninsured
The American
Health Choices Plan gives Americans the choice to preserve their existing
coverage, while offering new choices to those with insurance, to the 47
million people in the United States without insurance, and the tens of
millions more at risk of losing coverage.
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The Same Choice of Health Plan Options that Members of Congress
Receive: Americans can keep their existing coverage or access the
same menu of quality private insurance options that their Members of
Congress receive through a new Health Choices Menu, established without
any new bureaucracy as part of the Federal Employee Health Benefit
Program (FEHBP). In addition to the broad array of private options that
Americans can choose from, they will be offered the choice of a public
plan option similar to Medicare.
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A Guarantee of Quality Coverage: The new array of choices offered
in the Menu will provide benefits at least as good as the typical plan
offered to Members of Congress, which includes mental health parity and
usually dental coverage.
2. Lower Premiums And Increase Security
Americans who
are satisfied with the coverage they have today can keep it, while
benefiting from lower premiums and higher quality.
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Reducing Costs: By removing hidden taxes, stressing prevention
and a focus on efficiency and modernization, the plan will improve
quality and lower costs.
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Strengthening Security: The plan ensures that job loss or family
illnesses will never lead to a loss of coverage or exorbitant costs.
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End to Unfair Health Insurance Discrimination: By creating a
level-playing field of insurance rules across states and markets, the
plan ensures that no American is denied coverage, refused renewal,
unfairly priced out of the market, or forced to pay excessive insurance
company premiums.
3. Promote Shared Responsibility
Relying on
consumers or the government alone to fix the system has unintended
consequences, like scaled-back coverage or limited choices. This plan
ensures that all who benefit from the system share in the responsibility
to fix its shortcomings.
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Insurance and Drug Companies: insurance companies will end
discrimination based on pre-existing conditions or expectations of
illness and ensure high value for every premium dollar; while drug
companies will offer fair prices and accurate information.
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Individuals: will be required to get and keep insurance in a
system where insurance is affordable and accessible.
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Providers: will work collaboratively with patients and businesses
to deliver high-quality, affordable care.
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Employers: will help financing the system; large employers will
be expected to provide health insurance or contribute to the cost of
coverage: small businesses will receive a tax credit to continue or
begin to offer coverage.
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Government: will ensure that health insurance is always
affordable and never a crushing burden on any family and will implement
reforms to improve quality and lower cost.
4. Ensure Affordable Health Coverage For
All
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Provide Tax Relief to Ensure Affordability: Working families will
receive a refundable tax credit to help them afford high-quality health
coverage.
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Limit Premium Payments to a Percentage of Income: The refundable
tax credit will be designed to prevent premiums from exceeding a
percentage of family income, while maintaining consumer price
consciousness in choosing health plans.
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Create a New Small Business Tax Credit: To make it easier-not
harder-for small businesses to create new jobs with health coverage, a
new health care tax credit for small businesses will provide an
incentive for job-based coverage.
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Strengthen Medicaid and CHIP: The Plan will fix the holes in the
safety net to ensure that the most vulnerable populations receive
affordable, quality care.
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Launch a Retiree Health Legacy Initiative: A new tax credit for
qualifying private and public retiree health plans will offset a
significant portion of catastrophic expenditures, so long as savings are
dedicated to workers and competitiveness.
5. A Fiscally Responsible Plan That Honors
Our Priorities.
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Most Savings Come Through Lowering Spending Due to Quality and
Modernization: Over half the savings come from the public savings
generated from Senator Clinton’s broader agenda to modernize the heath
systems and reduce wasteful health spending.
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A Net Tax Cut for American Taxpayers: The plan offers tens of
millions of Americans a new tax credit to make premiums affordable-which
more than offsets the increased revenues from the Plan’s provisions to
limit the employer tax exclusion for health care and discontinue
portions of the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000. Thus, the
plan provides a net tax cut for American taxpayers.
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Making the Employer Tax Exclusion for Health Care Fairer: The
plan protects the current exclusion from taxes of employer-provided
health premiums, but limits the exclusion for the high-end portion of
very generous plans for those making over $250,000.
Information from the
Hillary Clinton website, used by permission... Please visit
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/
for a more detailed healthcare plan.
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