Lady Sentinels

Health Care 2008

First Stop Health Care

In the upcoming election there are many issues that will determine which candidate voters will choose. According to the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll for the 2008 election Heath Care ranks second among key problems the voters want addressed (Iraq war being first). So what is wrong with America’s health care plan? One problem that has arisen is ever more prominent cost increases. Health Care costs have risen 6.1% in 2007. Though the increase is becoming steadier, it is still twice the rate of inflation and is quickly overpowering wages. Small businesses with 200 or less employees have begun to completely drop their health plans due to these increases; contributing to the already millions of uninsured Americans. Thus our second problem: uninsured Americans. Millions of Americans live everyday without health insurance. As a government what are we to do? That is where the candidates come in. Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, health care and cost is on your mind. Each candidate is consistently trying to get a leg up on their opponents. But who has the best plan? First what are their plans? We’ve summarized the top two candidates of each party and what they believe we should do to help our health care system.

For the Democrats:

Barack Obama-

"I...believe that every American has the right to affordable health care. I believe that the millions of Americans who can't take their children to a doctor when they get sick have that right...We now face an opportunity - and an obligation - to turn the page on the failed politics of yesterday's health care debates. It's time to bring together businesses, the medical community, and members of both parties around a comprehensive solution to this crisis, and it's time to let the drug and insurance industries know that while they'll get a seat at the table, they don't get to buy every chair."
-Barack Obama, Speech in Iowa City, IA, 5/27/07


Senator Obama plans to lower health care costs to ensure quality care for all Americans. In his plan to cover the uninsured he outlines eight points which include:
*Guaranteed eligibility.
*Comprehensive benefits.
*Affordable premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
*Subsidies.
*Simplifying paperwork and reining in health costs.
*Easy enrollment.
*Portability and choice.
*Quality and efficiency.

Obama hopes to ensure that everyone who is unable to pay for insurance will get the coverage they need. His plan calls for expanding Medicaid and the SCHIP. Any person who does not qualify for either of these programs will receive and income-related subsidy to help pay for a health care plan. The plan continues to call for employer contribution. All employers who do not offer or contribute to employee health care will be forced to pay money towards a national fund. Also mandatory health care for children will be enacted. This will offer many plans for children and even allow young adults up to 25 years of age to remain on their parents plans.


Hillary Rohdam Clinton-
Clinton’s plan called the Health Choices Plan will cover all Americans and improve health care by lowering costs and improving quality. The main points are
*Offer new coverage choices for the insured and uninsured:
*Clinton says if you like your plan keep it. If you do not like it, pick a new one. Citizens can choose from health plans that members of Congress receive.

*Lower Premiums and increase Security:
*Reduce costs by getting rid of hidden taxes and stressing efficiency and modernization. Also ensuring that job-loss or illness will never lead to loss of coverage or high cost.

*Promote Shared Responsibility:
*Responsibility will be divided among Insurance and Drug companies, Individuals, Providers, Employers, and the Government.

*Ensure Affordable Health Coverage for all:
*This will provide tax credit to families to help pay for health care. Also making sure that premiums do not exceed a certain percentage of a family’s income. Small businesses also receive a tax cut to help them provide health care for their employees.

*A fiscally responsible plan that honors our priorities:
*Savings will come from modernizing and reducing wasteful health spending.


For Republicans:

Mike Hukabee-
Hukabee calls for a plan not of universal coverage but of preventive health care. He calls on the private sector to find new ways of lowering costs. He says “We have to change a system that that happily pays $30,000 for a diabetic to have his foot amputated, but won’t pay for the shoes would save his foot.” He promotes changes such as reforming medical liability; adopting electronic record keeping; making health insurance more portable from one job to another; and giving families not just businesses tax deductions on insurance. He believes we need to put control in the hands of the people not of the government. With universal coverage the government has too much control. He claims “If we reduce our out-of-control health care costs from 17% to 11%, we’d save $700 billion a year, which is about twice our annual national deficit.” He recognizes that it is time to move our system to become consumer-based not an employer-based. By companies providing health care employees consume more because they are not directly affected with the costs they simply pay the premium. Workers continually wonder where their money is going when they think they have gotten a raise, when in all actuality health care costs are rising higher then their wages so they end up getting paid less. By making health care consumer-based and lowering costs employees will become more knowledgeable and more accountable.


Rudy Giuliani-
"America is at a crossroads when it comes to our health care. All Americans want to increase the quality, affordability and portability of health care. Most Republicans believe in free-market solutions to the challenges we face. I believe we can reduce costs and improve the quality of care by increasing competition. We can do it through tax cuts, not tax hikes. We can do it by empowering patients and their doctors, not government bureaucrats. That's the American way to reform health care." - Mayor Rudy Giuliani

Giuliani’s plan proposes to:
*Empower patients and families, not the government:
*Expand choice through tax code reform. Americans without employer-based insurance should get the same tax benefits as Americans with employer-based insurance. Proposes up to $15,000 for those without employer-based insurance to make insurance more affordable.
*Help Low-Income Individuals and Families Secure Health Insurance: Provide health Insurance Credit to low-income Americans to make coverage more affordable to the millions of uninsured.
*Drive Quality and Price Transparency: Rudy proposes creating visibility of price, provider qualifications, and risk-adjusted procedure outcomes will expand competition and open up new motivation for improving quality and reducing cost.

*Transform bureaucracies and change health care delivery:
*Reform the Medical Liability Legal System: Rudy’s commitment to end frivolous lawsuits without limiting compensation for real economic loss is key to comprehensive health care reform.
*Reward States for Innovative Solutions: Giuliani hopes to encourage states by offering block grants to reduce health costs, enroll eligible uninsured, and solve adverse selection issues.
*Required Availability of Low-Cost Insurance Options: 1,900 state mandates limit coverage options and increase costs from 20-45%. Giuliani proposes if a state’s mandates prevent affordable coverage citizens should be able to purchase coverage through interstate markets.
*Save Lives and Reduce costs by Streamlining the FDA Process: By bringing greater accountability and efficiency to the evaluation process for new drugs, new prescriptions can get on the market faster. Currently it takes new drugs 12-15 years to make it to the market which possibly could cost thousands of lives.
*Invest in Health IT to Reduce Medical Error, Improve Efficiency, and detect Health Threats: Public-private partnerships to improve and set standards for Health IT without overbearing regulations can play a major role in improving care and reducing costs.


*Reform health care coverage to promote a healthier America:
*Improve and Expand Health Savings accounts: Health saving accounts provide incentives for consumers to maximize the value of services tailored to their needs. Giuliani wants to expand access to these accounts by simplifying the rules and regulations so that insurance coverage will meet the health care goals of individuals and families.
*Infuse Incentive in Insurance Market that Promote Wellness and Better Outcomes for Chronic Diseases: Health insurance must be redefined to cover wellness as well as sickness. In conjunction with recommendations from doctors and nurses, Rudy will propose new initiatives to promote healthy lifestyles and wellness programs, and tie Medicaid payments to a state’s success in promoting preventative care and tracking obesity for children.



After review of the four plans, in my opinion Governor Huckabee’s plan is favorable for the citizens of the United States because:
*He puts control and responsibility in the hands of the people not the government.
*He hopes to reform the costly medical system. By doing so it will reduce health care cost thus saving the government and citizens billions of dollars.
*He plans to move to consumer-based medical to allow workers to understand the health care process while taking responsibility of their costs.
The other plans put too much control in the governments hands while costing our country billions of dollars.

posted by APGovproject @ 1:16 PM