Clinton unveils new health care plan

Published

des moines, iowa (cnn) -- democratic presidential candidate sen. hillary clinton will roll out a health care reform plan on monday that would cost the federal government around $110 billion and require all americans to have health insurance, clinton campaign sources said.

under the plan, federal subsidies would be provided for those who are not able to afford insurance, and large businesses would be required to provide or help pay for their employees' insurance.

[color=#004276]clinton's package would also require insurers to provide coverage for anyone who applies for it and would also bar insurance companies from charging people with greater health care costs more for their premiums.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/politics/09/17/health.care/index.html

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070917/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_health_care

des moines, iowa - democratic presidential candidate hillary rodham clinton is unveiling a sweeping health care proposal monday that would require everyone to carry health insurance and offer federal subsidies to help reduce the cost of coverage.

it is long past time that americans and the richest of all countries realize that health care is a right and not a privilege," clinton said at a labor forum in chicago. "

the centerpiece of clinton's plan is the so-called "individual mandate," requiring everyone to have health insurance...

if hilary truly views healthcare insurance as a right, then why does she fail to acknowledge an individual's right to refuse?

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I just dont get the specifics. Ok it is mandatory like car insurance. If I get caught driving without insurance I get fined. So if I get caught without medical insurance will I be fined or will I not receive care? I worry that many working poor wont be able to afford this, unless it would be taken as an immediate deduction from federal payroll tax.

Dont get me wrong, I am all for universal care but I am afraid some people will not be able to afford this or even worse they will be forced to choose some basic package (which will be essentially worthless) while the insurance company will make a nice profit.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I am not at all impressed with this plan.

Any "reform" that leaves the insurance industry in charge of health care in this country is, IMO, putting a Bandaid on cancer. You've got to root out the cause of the "sickness"---in this case, the overcompensated CEOs, the stacks of paperwork, the thousands upon thousands of different policies, the 'cherry-picking', the administrative overhead costs, and so on. Until that's done, there can be no true health care reform. End of story.

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i have just read a little bit on another board so i havn't decided which way to jump

i am concerned about her 'let them eat cake attitute..she has no idea of the way people live who have to make a budget where the least extra thing can throw everything askew

will try and read some of hers and some of the others

keep everybody knowledgeable if you hear anything

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.

The profit motive should be statutorily removed from health care. A fiduciary responsibility to shareholders is diametrically opposed to patient-care decisions.

I believe that medical insurance companies should be abolished and that we should have a single-payer system.

Hospitals should, likewise, be required to be non-profit entities.

The return-on-equity of the pharmaceutical companies should be capped and the public entities which drive much of pharmaceutical research should maintain their intellectual property rights and license all manufacturers at the same price.

I believe that health care is a basic right and I believe this even more strongly since most health care professionals, their techniques and equipment, and many pharmaceuticals have been subsidized by the public.

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Refusing medical treatment is an entirely different issue from inability to afford or have access to health insurance. A payroll tax based prevention oriented basic health care plan will deliver better results at a lower cost.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I have always been in favor of single-payer health care. The sticking point for me is how to go about it..........I DON'T want the federal government to control health care, I don't trust them to make competent decisions about peoples' lives any more than I do the insurance company CEOs who never set foot in a school of medicine (or nursing for that matter!). So for me, centralized control of health care is out.

I would much rather see insurers taken out of the equation entirely, and all the funds that are currently going to insurance premiums and tax monies earmarked for Medicare/Medicaid would instead go into a pool that pays for a basic health care package for all residents of each state. (I think states would do a much better job than the feds, mainly because they know the needs of their residents better.) Anyone who wants and can afford more or better medical services would be welcome to do so, but EVERYONE would be covered for essentials such as preventive care, vision, basic dental services, medications, and any needed surgeries (no, facelifts don't count).

And these health programs would be administered by a panel of citizens, made up of medical and legal professionals, financial experts, and laypersons........NOT politicians. I honestly believe this is the only way to achieve anything near universal health care in America; our collective distrust of government will never permit a Canadian or European-style health system, but I think at heart most U.S. citizens believe basic health services should be a right, not a privilege only for families who can afford $1000 and up every month for insurance.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.
Refusing medical treatment is an entirely different issue from inability to afford or have access to health insurance. A payroll tax based prevention oriented basic health care plan will deliver better results at a lower cost.

I'm not talking about refusal of medical care. I am talking about the conscious and voluntary decision made by many healthy young people to opt out of health insurance. It's not a choice I would make, but I do believe it ought to be an individual's personal choice how to spend their money.

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Specializes in He who hesitates is probably right....

C-A-N-A-D-A. Nuff said.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I read her plan, or rather, the transcript of her speech describing it.

Some observations:

1. It is EXACTLY like the failed 1993 plan she devised with the exception that she at least has learned not to call her pooled plans a regional healthcare alliance (bureaucracy). She goes out of her way to point out that isn't the case. In fact, it is.

2. Just like in 1993, she has not devised a way to pay for her plan except for non-specific things like kill drug research and increase the debt by repealing the tax cuts that grew the treasury. In fact, what she says she will do is hand out tax credits to everybody like crazy to pay for the program. How to pay for the tax credits? Who knows? She doesn't. She does vaguely hint that she'll tax business to the breaking point. It hails back reminders to '93, when a small businessman complained about the cost of her plan, and Hillary responded, "It's not my responsibility to ensure the survival of every underfunded small business." Here's your cake.

3. Insurance is required but not mandatory. So, when a percentage of the population refuses? She either has to pay for them outright, punish them, or wail to the public that she needs far more changes to make coverage universal. My guess is that she'll bait and switch at THIS point, and say the current system (her newly implemented plan) isn't working and we need a more universal model. In fact, this is JUST what she has said she learned from the '93 plan: to attack the problem one bite at a time. THIS plan is only the first bite.

4. At the same time she says we need a consensus to change healthcare (duh!), she snipes at Republicans, at every turn. Consensus is NOT, "The idiots will come to see things my way when I wear the pants."

Hillarycare redux. It was defeated 15 yrs ago. It will be defeated 2 yrs from now. No matter how much the left might think so, there is NOT a consensus of Americans that will truly trust the gov't with their healthcare. HEALTHY distrust of the gov't is as American as apple pie.

~faith,

Timothy.

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I'm not talking about refusal of medical care. I am talking about the conscious and voluntary decision made by many healthy young people to opt out of health insurance. It's not a choice I would make, but I do believe it ought to be an individual's personal choice how to spend their money.

Except that in the case of catastrophic illness/injury as a society we still end up paying for their care. This kind of individual choice is horribly destructive to the common good. As a society we place limitations on behavior all the time because it damages the public interest. (Speed limits, drunken driving laws etc.)

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