{"id":38306,"date":"2009-11-06T15:05:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-06T20:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"66c5546c-316b-468e-ac02-cb0b0bdbcf0b"},"modified":"2009-11-06T15:05:00","modified_gmt":"2009-11-06T20:05:00","slug":"from-now-on-were-all-in-it-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/38306","title":{"rendered":"From Now On, We&#8217;re All In It Together"},"content":{"rendered":"<link style=\"\" rel=\"File-List\" \/> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> 0 0 0 <\/xml><![endif]--><br \/>\n<style style=\"\"> &amp;lt;!-- \/* Font Definitions *\/ @font-face {font-family:\"Times New Roman\"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Arial; panose-1:0 2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:\"Courier New\"; panose-1:0 2 7 3 9 2 2 5 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; panose-1:0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:2; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 16 0 0 -2147483648 0;} \/* Style Definitions *\/ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:\"\"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:\"Times New Roman\";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} \/* List Definitions *\/ @list l0 {mso-list-id:270210119; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:-312325486 -2127819794 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-start-at:0; mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:\uf0b7; mso-level-tab-stop:.5in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Symbol; mso-font-width:0%;} ol {margin-bottom:0in;} ul {margin-bottom:0in;} --&amp;gt; <\/style>\n<p> <!--StartFragment--> <\/p>\n<p style=\"\">When I entered health policy more than 25 years ago, a mentor predicted that when things got &#8216;bad enough,&#8217; we\u2019d finally act to fix our health care system.\u00a0 Last night\u2019s vote of 220-215 signals that the human suffering and financial toll wrought by our broken system is no longer sustainable.\u00a0 Stalemate is no longer an option.\u00a0 Instead, the House of Representatives voted to move us in a better direction.<\/p>\n<p style=\"\"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><!--[endif]--> Key provisions in HR 3962 made last night\u2019s vote historic, introducing changes that are long overdue.<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\" style=\"\">\n<li style=\"\"><u style=\"\">A framework for universal coverage<\/u>. The uninsured today, overwhelmingly, have limited incomes and decent health coverage is expensive, so subsidies are a must. The House voted to require that everyone has health insurance, with attendant reforms to make that possible, including subsidies for individuals and small employers.\u00a0 And the Medicaid program will be broadened to provide a true safety net, covering all of the poorest Americans up to 150% of the federal poverty level.\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"\"><u style=\"\">Market reforms to end health insurance discrimination<\/u>.\u00a0 Today, getting and keeping health insurance is hard when you\u2019re sick.\u00a0 New rules will apply to all qualified health plans, whether employer-sponsored or individually purchased.\u00a0 Coverage must be guaranteed issue, premiums community rated, and pre-existing condition exclusions will be prohibited. Insurers will have to justify their annual rate increases, and comply with fair marketing practices and claims payment procedures.\u00a0 Transparency and accountability in health insurance will be enhanced.\u00a0 And for first time, the federal government will take an active and direct role in oversight and enforcement of private health insurance rules \u2013 working alongside states, like two cops on the beat \u2013 to ensure consumer protections are real.\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"\"><u style=\"\">Market reforms to promote competition<\/u>.\u00a0 Private health insurance markets today aren\u2019t competitive at all.\u00a0 Those few insurers that dominate most markets use their clout to enhance profits, but not to achieve cost savings for policyholders.\u00a0 With reform, the term \u201chealth insurance\u201d will mean something \u2013 all policies will provide at least a basic level of protection against medical expenses.\u00a0\u00a0 When consumers and small businesses price shop, they can be confident they are comparing like products. Insurers won\u2019t be able to offer cheap policies that stint on coverage; instead they\u2019ll have to compete based on efficiency.\u00a0 Also, new organized marketplaces, called exchanges, will certify that participating insurers meet all requirements.\u00a0 They will provide individuals and small businesses with plan comparison information and help navigating choices. And, a new public plan option will catalyze competition among insurers.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"\">These features are key to effective reform and it is amazing that a majority in the House voted for them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"\">Political consensus for something this big is elusive \u2013 there\u2019s a reason we\u2019ve been at it for a century.\u00a0 There\u2019s always something for somebody not to like.\u00a0 The reality of politics is that compromise will be necessary to pass reform and some of those deals will limit what reform accomplishes.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p style=\"\">Already, the House has compromised on the overall level of resources that will be available for subsidies.\u00a0 The 10-year, $900 billion price tag on reform is less than the cost of the Clinton health reform plan 15 years ago.\u00a0 That means subsidies for some will be watered down, and hardship waivers to the mandate will be needed. Insurance market rules in the House bill also feature troubling compromises. Age rating of 2:1 will severely raise premiums for the baby boom generation.\u00a0 Middle-income 50- and 60-somethings who have to buy coverage on their own may need those hardship waivers.\u00a0 And, a provision to allow the sale of health insurance across state lines vests in a single state responsibility for enforcing rules in multiple states, and that will put consumers at risk.<\/p>\n<p style=\"\"><strong style=\"\"><\/strong>Then there\u2019s cost containment.\u00a0 Many criticize reform for not doing enough to slow health care costs.\u00a0 Yet all year long, there were strong \u2013 and overwhelmingly bipartisan \u2013 efforts to weaken or eliminate other provisions that could have done more to bend the curve.\u00a0 The public plan was weakened.\u00a0 Rate regulation eschewed.\u00a0 Comparative effectiveness research boxed in, with assurances that findings about what works better in medicine would not be linked to what gets covered by health insurance.\u00a0 <!--[endif]--><\/p>\n<p style=\"\">In the end, cost containment is hard politically because every dime of our annual $2 trillion-plus on health care spending is somebody\u2019s income.\u00a0 We\u2019re a nation of entrepreneurs, and we don\u2019t like to limit what anybody can earn. <!--[endif]--><\/p>\n<p style=\"\">But, we are also a nation dedicated to justice and equality.\u00a0 The House vote signals that we may be ready to listen to our better angels, and include all Americans in our coverage system. Health reform can also take important steps on cost control, and as we debate future efforts, at least we\u2019ll all be in it together.<\/p>\n<p> <!--EndFragment--><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/khn\/fulltext\/~4\/TUjcJtb7LaY\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I entered health policy more than 25 years ago, a mentor predicted that when things got &#8216;bad enough,&#8217; we\u2019d finally act to fix our health care system.\u00a0 Last night\u2019s vote of 220-215 signals that the human suffering and financial toll wrought by our broken system is no longer sustainable.\u00a0 Stalemate is no longer an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38306\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}