Healthline Analysis: Election 2008 - Clinton's Health Plan
Friday, January 11, 2008
JC Jones MA RN
As First Lady in the 1990's, Hillary Clinton introduced an ambitious plan for universal health care coverage as the head of then President Clinton's Task Force On National Health Care Reform. The plan failed for any number of reasons, and Clinton has introduced her America Health Choices Plan. Features are:
- universal coverage
- mandatory coverage
- same benefits package that members of Congress receive
- no exclusions due to pre-existing conditions
- tax credits, tax cuts and tax exclusions
- Provides a choice of insurance plans
- keep present insurance plans
- choose from an array of private plans
- choose a public plan (not funded by Medicare)
- Quality Improvements to increase efficiencies and decrease costs
- estimates of savings for adopting healthcare IT (HIT) are $100 billion
- promote preventive health services
- promote chronic care management programs including "medical homes"
- medical homes are not housing but a conceptual model of comprehensive, coordinated care delivery for persons with catastrophic illness
- Fiscal Responsibility
- phase out over-payments to HMO's
- reduce prescription drug costs
- long-term care plan
- tax credit for family care-givers
- improve quality of SNF's
- Incentivize quality through increased federal payments
Thank you seiu international for use of photo of Clinton w/nurses in Iowa.
Labels: Clinton, universal health care
