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Reform Proposals of Presidential Candidates
Senator Barack Obama
(D-Illinois)
www.barackobama.com
The following is a summary of Senator Obama's health
care reform proposals and priorities. Reprinted with permission from
the Council
for Affordable Health Insurance.
Barack Obama plans to establish a new public insurance
program, available to Americans who do not have insurance through
their employer and also do not qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP. According
to his statements he would:
- Create a public program similar to a health plan offered to federal
employees (complete with guaranteed renewability, comprehensive benefits,
subsidies and portability).
- Create a National Health Insurance Exchange (another word for Connector,
similar to the Massachusetts insurance Connector) for consumers to
shop among private plans.
- Prohibit insurers from denying applications due to pre-existing
conditions (guarantee issue).
- Require employers to share the cost of insuring workers (i.e., an
employer mandate).
- Not implement an individual mandate (unlike many other Democratic
candidates) that requires everyone to have coverage.
- Strengthen antitrust laws. Promote new models for addressing physician
errors that improve patient safety, strengthen the doctor-patient
relationship, and reduce the need for malpractice suits.
- Require all children to have health care coverage.
- Expand SCHIP and Medicaid eligibility.
- Allow states to continue implementing health care reform initiatives.
- Reduce the cost of coverage through computerized record-keeping,
importation of prescription drugs and greater use of generic drugs,
and emphasize prevention of disease rather than cure.
- Hire more staff to process disability claims and establish electronic
health records for veterans.
- Support the expansion of federal funding for embryonic stem cell
research.
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