Posted by Tina
The following is a summary of the proposed plan.
EMPOWERING PATIENTS FIRST ACT - A Solution from the Republican Study Committee for Access to Affordable, Quality Health Care for All Americans
Pillar #1: Access to Coverage for All Americans
Makes the purchase of health care financially feasible for all - Extends the income tax deduction (above the line) on health care premiums to those who purchase coverage in the non-group / individual market. And, there is an advanceable, refundable tax credit (on a sliding scale) for low-income individuals to purchase coverage in the non-group / individual market.
Covers pre-existing conditions - Grants states incentives to establish high-risk / reinsurance pools. Federal block grants for qualified pools are expanded.
Protects employer-sponsored insurance - Individuals can be automatically enrolled in an employer-sponsored plan. Small businesses are given tax incentives for adoption of auto-enrollment.
Shines sunlight on health plans - Establishes health plan and provider portals in each state, and these portals act to supply greater information rather than acting as a purchasing mechanism.
Pillar #2: Coverage is Truly Owned by the Patient
Grants greater choice and portability - Gives patients the power to own and control their own health care coverage by allowing for a defined contribution in employer-sponsored plans. This also gives employers more flexibility in the benefits offered.
Expands the individual market - Creates pooling mechanisms such as association health plans and individual membership accounts. Individuals are also allowed to shop for health insurance across state lines.
Reforms the safety net - Medicaid and SCHIP beneficiaries are given the option of a voucher to purchase private insurance. And states must cover 90% of those below 200% of the federal poverty level before they can expand eligibility levels under Medicaid and SCHIP.
Pillar #3: Improve the Health Care Delivery Structure
Institutes doctor-led quality measures - Nothing suggested by the Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research can be finalized unless done in consultation with and approved by medical specialty societies. It also establishes performance-based quality measures endorsed by the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement (PCPI) and physician specialty organizations.
Reimburses physicians to ensure continuity of care - Rebases the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) and establishes two separate conversion factors (baskets) for primary care and all other services.
Promotes healthier lifestyles - Allows for employers to offer discounts for healthy habits through wellness and prevention programs.
Pillar #4: Rein in Out-of-Control Costs
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Reforms the medical liability system - Establishes administrative health care tribunals, also known as health courts, in each state, and adds affirmative defense through provider established best practice measures. It also encourages the speedy resolution of claims and caps non-economic damages.
Pays for the plan - The cost of the plan is completely offset through decreasing defensive medicine, savings from health care efficiencies (reduce DSH payments), ferreting out waste, fraud and abuse, plus an annual one-percent non-defense discretionary spending step down.
Where did you get this, Tina? It sounds like either a satire or a political concession to the Democrats. The first clue is the use of the word "pillar." No one in American politics ever used that word until Obama made his apology speeches to the Muslims. It is an echo of the Five Pillars of Islam, the basis of that fanatic religion. Let OneVike elucidate you on that aspect. The individual parts of the plan are garbage. Note in Pillar #1, the reference to "all Americans." There is nothing specifically naming American citizens. The stealth bomb of the Obama plan is to give health insurance coverage to illegal aliens, and to make you pay for it. When Obama says there are 30 million people in this country without health care insurance, he deliberately does not say that 20 million of those are illegal aliens. I also do not see anything about abolishing medical class action suits brought by greedy lawyers, the Democrats major source of campaign donations, only a vague reference to reforming the medical liability system. Of course, any time you hear promises that the cost of the plan will be completely offset by decreasing defensive medicine or any way other than by huge tax increases, you should know you are being conned.
Snpes (with an "O"?)
I appreciate your sensitivity to the word “pillar”. How unfortunate that we must now be so suspicious over this wonderful word that has for generations stood for strength and firm reliable support. The words have been used about ordinary Americans, political figures and various organization:
Ted Kennedy – “He is a pillar of strength and loyalty to two families…”
Boston Undergraduate series – “…its function as a pillar of strength for African-Americans…”
Religion – “Religion has served as a pillar of strength to some and binding chains to others…”
USA – “the United States used to be a pillar of strength, unity and…”
John Chafee – “"…proved that politics can be an honorable profession, ... "He was a pillar of strength defending environmental protections against the erosion being…”
Michelle Obama – “…is a pillar of strength and the old saying goes behind every great man is an even…”
Charleton Heston – “Rifle Association president and Academy Award-winning actor was a ‘pillar of strength’...”
Nancy Reagan – “…has been the pillar of strength holding this family together.”
Abraham Lincoln – “…towers above the others who have held the office of president—the icon of greatness, the pillar of strength whose words bound up the nation’s wounds.”
Clearly, Islam does not own this good word nor is the word strange to the American experience.
I also appreciate this concern: "The stealth bomb of the Obama plan is to give health insurance coverage to illegal aliens, and to make you pay for it. When Obama says there are 30 million people in this country without health care insurance, he deliberately does not say that 20 million of those are illegal aliens."
The complete title of the study includes the word "American". I don't know about Obama and the Democrats but I don't think there are many Republicans, if any, that think of foreign people living within our borders as "Americans". This is a subject, however, that must be kept in mind when considering any health care legislation.
This proposal is just an outline and as such can’t be evaluated specifically. The proposals seem to be aimed at putting Americans in charge of their insurance a move that would create a burden on insurance companies to be more competitive. I only hope they also include better regulation of insurance companies. Right now they have to deal with rediculous government mandates that have driven the cost to consumers through the roof.
I first became aware of the “study committee” when I read an a article about the basic proposal. Rep. Tom Price, MD, (R-Ga.) is the House member involved with this committee and will introduce the legislation. It apparently will address tort (liability) reform, address pre-existing conditions concerns, and offer “Americans” purchasing choices from companies across the states. It will also offer tax incentives and consumer based solutions for small businesses and the poor. The GOP also indicates they intend to consider input they receive from the citizens back home before writing the legislation.
Here’s a bit from the article:
New GOP Health Bill Promotes on Tax Incentives
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/07/29/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5195904.shtml!
Liability reform has to be one or the hallmarks of a bill," Price told CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson today on Washington Unplugged. "We make certain we pay for our bill by making this a priority." ** In order to provide coverage for Americans who have pre-existing conditions, the Republican plan proposes giving states incentives, such as federal block grants, to establish high-risk insurance pools. Comparatively, Democrats have proposed regulating insurance companies to prohibit them from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. ** The Republican plan also proposes reforming Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by giving beneficiaries the option of getting a voucher to purchase private insurance. Mr. Obama, in fact, wants to lessen encouragement for private insurer participation in government-run programs like Medicaid and Medicare -- he has proposed eliminating subsidies for private insurers to participate in Medicare Advantage. ** "If we go home over August and talk to the patients of America, we will have a better product in the fall," he said. "The American people will select solutions that will put them in charge," not the government.
Until the bill is written there isn’t much to say. It certainly is worth a look-see and dispels the ongoing leftist rhetoric about Republicans having nothing to offer. Seems the party of “no” has ignored the slur, determined to listen to the people, rolled up their sleeves, and gone to work to find a workable solution to problems that won’t shred the fantastic quality of care and R&D that we have in America.
Maybe the pachyderms will yet surprise us all and become the party of “know how” for a change.
More government interference!
Before the g'ment got involved, health care was about one thirty-third of GDP.
Now it is one-seventh of GDP.
You want the government to get MORE involved??
How much of your money--and eventually your freedoms--do you want to give to "Big Health?"
Q "More government interference! ** Before the g'ment got involved, health care was about one thirty-third of GDP. ** Now it is one-seventh of GDP"
So you think government caused the healthcare market to grow? How pray tell? Investment? NOPE. Although grants may have been rewarded for R&D that led to new technology plenty of grants were rewarded that never led anywhere...the expense side of the ledger that you acedemic types never think about. private money would have gotten the R&D done without the (and fraud) that is part of government funding. Overpayment or underpayment for services...you pick we get both with government involvement. the books on that one would be so compromised there wouldn't be any way to tell what it accomplished. So tell us, Quentin, HOW did government cause the increase in percentage of GDP...we're all ears.
"How much of your money--and eventually your freedoms--do you want to give to "Big Health?"
Big Health offers me choice...and total freedom. They don't make me buy anything and they offer services if I want or need them. they have competition so I can go elsewhere if I'm dissatisfied. They deliver the product to me personally not through a bloated bureaucracy that COSTS me extra tax dollars and TAKES my options away.
Why would I or anyone give more money than necessary to government? It isn't doing a thing for me except limiting my life, my options and my freedom to decide for myself about personal issues?