Word: plan
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...nation already deeply in debt afford health-care reform too? This question has not gotten nearly the amount of discussion that the public option has, but it's likely to be far more difficult to resolve. That's because under the budget rules, any plan that Congress passes will have to pay for itself within 11 years without adding to the deficit. Passing muster with government bean counters is not the same thing as writing sound health-care policy. While many health-care-reform moves promise big savings in the future for the larger economy, they will require huge...
...paid for health care the way the Medicare program does, a public plan could charge premiums 30% lower than those of comparable private plans. And if it were open to all, about 131 million people - including two-thirds of those who now have private insurance - would take that deal, according to estimates by the Lewin Group, a nonpartisan research firm...
...public plan of this magnitude could be a powerful force to contain costs. But it could also destroy the private insurance industry, while doctors and hospitals say its lower fees would drive them out of business. Their combined opposition to this single issue could sink the chances of any health-reform bill's passing. What's more, many conservatives point out that the government can't afford the Medicare program it already has, so why create...
...will win this battle? For now, it appears that lawmakers will ultimately go for a watered-down version of a public plan - one, for instance, that would have to operate like a private insurance company, sustaining itself with the premiums it brings in and paying doctors and hospitals higher reimbursements than Medicare does. Or a public plan might be created only as a fallback if insurance companies fail to make coverage affordable and accessible...
...really cover everyone? No issue did more to sink the Clinton health-care plan than its imposition of an employer mandate - a requirement that companies provide health insurance to their workers. And there's little evidence it will be any easier to include one this time around. "It will be a job killer, because employers who cannot afford it will reduce payroll and not hire new workers," warns Bruce Josten of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. What business would prefer to see - and what Obama rejected during his presidential campaign - is an individual mandate requiring everyone who doesn...