Clinton health plan

[Martha]

Yesterday Hillary Clinton announced in general terms her proposals for health care reform. Clinton calls for universal health care - Yahoo! News

There are a lot of similarities with Obama's and Edward's plans, but her plan is a bit more thought out and addresses some issues that the other plans do not. Despite Romney's cries of socialized medicine (odd, being he did originally support MA's plan), neither her proposal and nor anyone else's proposal is for a government run system. Like Obama's and Edward's plan, insurance companies stay in the mix. Unlike Obama's plan, her plan requires everyone to be insured but limits the amount people will have to pay for that insurance based on their income. Requiring all to be covered is important, otherwise the plans will do little to address the 47 million uninsured and issues of adverse selection will persist. One unique aspect of her plan is that she will allow people to retain insurance that they have through work or otherwise, but if you chose, you can buy into a public plan, medicare. You can do this no matter how old or young you are and no matter what your income. This would be an interesting experiment because the public plan would compete with the private plans.

Anyway, as is true of all the candidates, there isn't a lot of detail.

 

[Nords]

There are a lot of similarities with Obama's and Edward's plans, but her plan is a bit more thought out and addresses some issues that the other plans do not.

It'll be interesting to see the analysis of what she's changed since her 1990s healthcare plan... or is that Bill's job now?

 

[brewer12345]

Doesn't seem like a terrible plan, conceptually. But the devil is in the details...

 

[farmerEd]

Doesn't seem like a terrible plan, conceptually. But the devil is in the details...

It'll be interesting to watch the right-wingers attacking "Hillary-care/socialism/communism/government takeover/call it what you will etc" and at the same point supporting Romney who had a hand in passing a very similar plan in Massachusetts....

I can't stand Hillary personally, but looks like I'll be holding my nose no matter who I vote for.....unfortunately.

 

[retire@40]

Yesterday Hillary Clinton announced in general terms her proposals for health care reform...there isn't a lot of detail.

The little details like how much it will cost and how it will be paid for?

 

[pfpelican]

The instant analysis I saw/heard, either on NPR or ABC) indicated that the old Clinton plan was government run (single payer) while the new Clinton plan keeps private insurers involved.

 

[brewer12345]

It'll be interesting to watch the right-wingers attacking "Hillary-care/socialism/communism/government takeover/call it what you will etc" and at the same point supporting Romney who had a hand in passing a very similar plan in Massachusetts....

I get the feeling that this was almost a "let's get it over with" gambit on her part. You knew it was going to come up and that the various would-be contenders would attack based on party lines, but taht it won't mean squat in actual practice, so might as well put something well thought out but purposely vague out there.

On the rare occasion when I have not been holding my nose on election day, I soon find out afterwards that something is beginning to smell...

 

[Martha]

She is getting a lot more attacks than Obama and Edwards, who have plans that are very very similar.

 

[brewer12345]

She is getting a lot more attacks than Obama and Edwards, who have plans that are very very similar.

They are not the current front runners.

 

[bright eyed]

They are not the current front runners.

and she's not as cute or charasmatic as those two?

tough to be a smart woman - darned if you do, darned if you don't...she's too ugly, dressed too colorfully, husband is too important/complicated...

 

[tomz]

The little details like how much it will cost and how it will be paid for?

It will cost $110 billion. This is described on page 13 of the plan.

Most of the savings come from eliminating the Bush tax cuts for people who make over $250K and updating medical information technology.

Also, savings will come from reducing Medicare Advantage overpayments, allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for Medicare part D, and efficiencies in Medicare and Medicaid.

It will all change anyway after Congress gets a hold of it.

 

[retire@40]

It will cost $110 billion. This is described on page 13 of the plan....

So the "plan" is to have households who make more than $250K/year pay for half of the total cost of her health care proposal. How many households fall into that category and how much money needs to come from each of those households annually to support this cost?

And she is admitting there is at least $56 billion wasted each year in the current health care system. Did she make any proposals while she was in the Senate for the past 6 years to fix this problem?

 

[Martha]

And she is admitting there is at least $56 billion wasted each year in the current health care system. Did she make any proposals while she was in the Senate for the past 6 years to fix this problem?

Because we don't really have a health care system, it is tough to make proposals short of global proposals to address the huge administrative costs in the health care sector. About the best people have done are various proposals to make medical records electronic and she has worked with other senators on a bipartisan basis, including Senator Frist, on this issue. Unfortunately, because no candidate is really willing to go to a single payer system and insurance companies remain in the mix, considerable administrative waste will remain.

Here is her voting record: Hillary Clinton on the Issues

 

[farmerEd]

It'll be interesting to watch the right-wingers attacking "Hillary-care/socialism/communism/government takeover/call it what you will etc" and at the same point supporting Romney who had a hand in passing a very similar plan in Massachusetts....

Ooh, look, its happening already...and not only is it just any right winger, its Teflon-Mitt himself criticizing a plan that is very similar to his own:

Mitt Romney called it "a European-style socialized medicine plan."

Full story here

Mitt Romney's beliefs are like the New England weather...if you don't like it, just wait it will change shortly...

 

[tomz]

She and Bill Frist introduced the Health Technology to Enhance Quality Act in 2005.

The bipartisan legislation creates an interoperable health information technology (IT) system through the adoption of standards that will help reduce costs, enhance efficiency and improve overall patient care.

 

[chinaco]

Affordable Health care is a key issue. It will be interesting to see more detail on the plans that are put forward.

 

[Beststash]

I am just thankful that the healthcare situation in this country is at least being discussed. It seems that we are totally ignoring any issues domestically and just focusing on the war. At some point the needs and issues of the citizens of this country will become at least as important of those elsewhere.

I will probably vote on anyone that distances themselves from the ideology of the last six years.

I view Hilliary as a smart person and that is a big change, and also someone that is not infatuated in religious dogma.

Peace

 

[Freein05]

It seems like the Democrats are the only ones talking about health care and after Iraq it is the most important issue on voters minds. Where are the Republicans? Romney has got to be the most hypocritical of all politicians. Hilliary's plan is almost identical to the one in signed as governor of Mass. I read somewhere that United Healthcare which is the largest health insurance company in the US had gross income of 70 billion dollars in 2006. That is just one insurance company. Is the 110 billion dollars on top of all of the gross income insurance companies are currently bring in? United Healthcares net income after all expenses including paying CEO over a million dollars was 7 billion dollars.

The only why to get health care costs down is a nationalized health care system. But I also know that will not fly.

 

[Bigritchie]

With so many countries having healthcare systems that work pretty well, I do not see why (besides greed of hospitals and insurance companies..sigh) why we just cannot copy one of those countries, or take the best 5 and implement the best parts of those 5.

I am a firm believer of passing a law that if you charge 50 bucks for 1 tylenol you are executed for treason against the people too

 

[lets-retire]

I'm not going to argue about the nationalized health care or how bad the insurance companies are. I will, however, comment on the stupid and excessive charges by the hospitals. When my wife was in the hospital for one day she requested a personal hygiene pack, figuring it would be worth the price. The pack came with a hotel sized container of shampoo, soap, a small toothbrush and very small container of toothpaste. Many of the items were the same quality of the items sold to inmates in a jail. The total cost for those inmates would have been about $3.00 or $4.00. The charge on the bill was in excess of $20.00. She also had a cold coming on at the time and requested a tissue. For the travel pack of Kleenex she was charged $25.00. I know this is just pennies, really when considering the amount spent on health care, but those items could be purchase at a dollar store for better quality and quantity for maybe $5.00 or $6.00. I have spoke with several people who have reported similar overcharges.

So how do you fix it? Using insurance companies would not stop the problem. going to a nationalized healtcare run by the government would solve that problem, but I think would cause more problems than the current system. I say the hospitals are in it for the profit, so don't pay their outrageous prices. Bring your own stuff in. Many people will just buy it from the hospital because it is convenient.

 

[maddythebeagle]

I have spoke with several people who have reported similar overcharges.

So how do you fix it? Using insurance companies would not stop the problem. going to a nationalized healtcare run by the government would solve that problem, but I think would cause more problems than the current system.

I believe they do that to make up for their costs from below market reinbursements...

 

[Michael]

Hillary wants to open up Medicare to all. Medicare part A costs $410/mo. now for those who pay for it themselves. Part B is another $93.50/mo. The prescription program would add about another $25/mo. I wonder if $500/mo is about what people would be charged under Hillary's plan.

Medicare Web Site

 

[retire@40]

Hillary wants to open up Medicare to all. Medicare part A costs $410/mo. now for those who pay for it themselves. Part B is another $93.50/mo. The prescription program would add about another $25/mo. I wonder if $500/mo is about what people would be charged under Hillary's plan.

At $530 a month, there would still be a large part of the population that could not afford it. It's an answer for some (including me), but not for all.

 

[tomz]

At $530 a month, there would still be a large part of the population that could not afford it. It's an answer for some (including me), but not for all.

Part of her plan (with specifics to be worked out by Congress) is to provide a tax credit/rebate if your health insurance costs exceed a certain percentage of your income. With an individual mandate, that is the only way to insure that everyone can get insurance.

 

[FIRE'd@51]

I think $500 a month per adult sounds about right, since the current amount spent on healthcare in the US averages something like $6000 per person per year. Since Hillary is proposing guaranteed-issue and community-rated policies, one would expect that they would be charged the average rate. Of course, this would be reduced by the cost savings she would realize by "modernizing" the system and reducing some insurance company overhead. As I understand it, she would provide tax credits to help lower income folks buy insurance. Of course, having some type of deductible or copays could reduce the monthly premiums.

I'm still curious how the insurance will be tied to the individual, since it appears that much of it will still be provided by employers, and therefore, not standardized. As far as I can tell, she hasn't explained how the risk pools would work.