Obamacare proposal

Published Jun 6, 2007

4,700 Posts

Obama's proposal is best understood as a new framework to provide automatic coverage for everyone who works (or lives in the family of a worker). In the Obama plan, if you work (or someone in your family works), you are entitled to good insurance, either from your employer or through a new public plan.
Notice what I said: a new public plan. Obama believes that a new Medicare-style public plan for those younger than 65 will deliver big savings and better coverage, and that this plan should be the default source of coverage for anyone whose employer doesn't provide good insurance. Indeed, he takes a major step beyond Edwards by envisioning a national Medicare-like plan (Edwards would make a plan similar to Medicare available on a regional basis) and by clearly stating that this plan will have generous, guaranteed benefits.
No less important, Obama, like Edwards, is insisting on shared responsibility. Employers have to either provide benefits at least as good as the new public plan or make a payroll-based contribution to the public plan, in which their workers will be automatically enrolled. This is a massive change. Today, employers have no obligation to sponsor or help fund their employees' health coverage. If Obama's plan is implemented, paying at least a minimal amount for coverage will become a basic requirement of operating a business in the United States.
The Obama plan also calls for a "National Insurance Exchange" that allows those automatically enrolled in the public plan to obtain private insurance instead. Some progressive activists have called this a sell-out to the private insurance industry, but they should take note of two features of Obama's plan.
First, the Obama camp is committed to making the public plan a highly affordable option and ensuring it has generous benefits. They will do this by leveraging the huge economies of scale and bargaining power of a national plan, as well as capitalizing on its capacity for quality improvement and for the provision of preventive and primary care that will keep people healthier.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/06/04/obamacare_clearing_away_the_fog.php