Josh Marshall flagged a
post by a TPM reader
BR worth serious consideration. I highly recommend the post. It goes to show how much foresight and leadership Senator Kennedy exercised on this issue for years.
Senator Kennedy had previously introduced a bill to open Medicare coverage to all persons. The beauty of this form of "public option" is its simplicity and its progressive potential. Previous public options would create a new insurance plan with costs somewhere between Medicare and private insurance. This approach would be more progressive and would reduce administrative and bureaucratic costs.
To further simplify the process, I would suggest having Congress pass a resolution which spells out broad principles of health care reform rapidly. Then follow up with the 1,000 page bill markup at their leisure. Haste in cementing points of agreement is critical. That is precisely why opponents of any reform see delay as their best tactic.
Here is a modest proposal of points on principle on which Congressional Democrats may be able to get agreement quickly enough to pass a resolution:
I propose a short bill of no more than 2 pages with simple
declarative sentences, such as:
1) No health
insurance plan may decide to drop coverage on a person because the value of
their life is not deemed worth coverage.
2) When a person
leaves one insurance plan, their previous insurer must maintain coverage for
six months or until they get their new coverage in place.
3) No health
insurance plan may kick people out for failure to disclose a condition.
4) Health insurers
can no longer deny coverage on basis of pre-existing conditions.
5) All citizens will
be required to have some form of health insurance coverage.
6) No person will be forced by the government or their employer to drop their existing health insurance plan.
7) All citizens whose
employers do not provide health insurance must purchase their own health
insurance.
8) The Federal
Government will allow citizens who are currently ineligible for Medicare
benefits, the option of enrolling in Medicaire by paying premiums. This optional Medicare coverage will help
bring down the cost of health insurance for the uninsured who work.
9) The optional
Medicare coverage will work just as Medicare does: reimbursing private doctors
for covered services.
10) The optional
Medicare coverage must be self-sustaining financially, not draining any
benefits away from enrolled Medicare recipients.
11) Those citizens
who cannot afford private health insurance or optional Medicare coverage will
get a tax credit to cover the extra cost of the optional Medicare
premiums.
12) The tax credits will
be paid for by the extra revenue generated by the cap on health insurance tax exemptions
for those making more than $250,000 per year.
No one making less than $250,000 per year will have their exemption for
employer paid health insurance capped.
Those making $250,000 per year or more will have their health insurance
tax exemption capped and their tax deduction for health care costs capped. If this cap is insufficient to create revenues to offset coverage, adjustment of the marginal tax rate for those earning more than $250,000 per year may be made yearly.
