Thursday, August 28, 2008

A side by side comparison!

From the New England Journal of Medicine

Obama Health Reform Plan:
1. - “Play or pay” employer mandate requiring businesses either to offer workers insurance or to pay a tax (very small businesses would be exempt)

2. - Creation of a new national health plan (similar to Medicare) for the uninsured and small businesses

3. - Establishment of new national health insurance exchange that would offer choice of private insurance options for the uninsured and small businesses

4. - Mandate that all children must have coverage

5. - Subsidies for lower-income Americans to help them afford coverage

6. - Expanded coverage financed through the payroll tax, letting tax cuts for families making over $250,000 expire, and savings from electronic medical records, disease management, and other system reforms

7. - Regulation of all private insurance plans to end risk rating based on health status

8. - Establishment of federal reinsurance program to insure businesses against the costs of workers’ expensive medical episodes

9. - Other proposed measures to control costs and improve quality:
- Reduction in the administrative costs of private insurance
- Accelerated adoption of electronic medical records
- Promotion of disease management
- Emphasis on prevention and public health
- Payment of providers on the basis of performance and outcomes
- Reduction in excessive payments to private plans contracting with Medicare
- Allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies
- Establishment of a comparative-effectiveness research institute

McCain’s Health Reform” Plan:
1. - Elimination of current tax exclusion for employer-paid health insurance premiums

2. - Using revenues generated from eliminating tax exclusion, provision of refundable tax credits ($2,500 for individuals, $5,000 for families) for all persons obtaining private health insurance; if insurance costs less than the value of the credit, remaining funds can be deposited into health savings accounts

3. - Creation of guaranteed access plan to provide insurance pool for persons who are medically uninsurable on the individual market

4. - Promotion of individually purchased insurance and less comprehensive insurance policies

5. - Deregulation of insurance markets

6. - Reform of Medicare to make bundled payments for episodes of care and to pay on the basis of outcomes

7. - Other proposed measures to control costs and improve quality:
- Enhanced competition
- Faster introduction of generic drugs
- Emphasis on prevention and better management of chronic conditions
- Greater use of health information technology
- Medical malpractice reform

1 comment:

Bharathi said...

Actually i have one doubt when we are finishing with the policy duration is there any possibilities by getting the amount instantly at single payment? Else what they(customer) have to do for that due to some reasons? See why i am telling this in the sense when we are posting towards this type of questions people will learn more things. Anyway thank you and please keep update

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