Obama unveils health plan

[Guest guest]

Obama unveils health plan

Proposal lowers Cadillac tax, boosts regulation.

President Obama has laid out his plan on health care ahead of Thursday's

bipartisan summit.

The proposal, posted to the White House _Web site_

(http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/proposal) Monday morning,

closely follows the

Senate version of the bill (_HR 3590_

(http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bill.xc?billnum=H.R.3590 & congress=111) )

with some changes to appease House

Democrats.

It is designed to serve as a compromise between the House and Senate

versions of the bill.

Here are some highlights:

Cadillac tax change. Under the Obama plan, the tax on expensive health

insurance plans won't kick in until 2018 and would affect fewer people.

Payroll tax expansion. To make up for the lost revenue from the Cadillac

tax, the President has proposed increasing the payroll tax employers pay for

Medicare.

Higher cost. The plan would cost $950 billion over 10 years, slightly more

than the $900 billion limit President Obama had proposed. White House

officials said it would reduce the federal budget deficit by $100 billion over

that time.

Expanded coverage. The officials added that 31 million more Americans will

be insured under the plan, which expands federal subsidies for low-income

Americans.

State subsidies. The plan offers full federal support for four years to

expand Medicaid in all 50 states, not just Nebraska as proposed in the Senate

plan.

Denials and mandate. Insurance companies would no longer be able to deny

coverage based on pre-existing conditions. To balance the cost of this, the

President's plan penalizes people without insurance to encourage them to

buy a plan.

Premium hike controls. Federal regulators would have more power to stop

insurance companies from increasing health insurance premiums, traditionally

the realm of state governments.

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I'm not too sure about this. There is no public option, so no competition

for insurers. The industry still has a monopoly to control what the

doctors must do when they treat illness and injury. And now...if one does not

buy into the system, they are penalized. Can the government really force a

US citizen to buy a product from a private company just because they are a

US citizen? I can't think of any other institution that works this way,

can you?

Sharon