WARWICK – A plan to offer affordable health care coverage to all Americans was announced this morning by U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin, a Democrat representing Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District, who was joined in Warwick today by U.S. Rep. Christopher H. Shays, a Republican from Connecticut’s Fourth District.
Their plan – the American Health Benefits Program Act or AHBP Act – is based on the existing Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which insures more than 8 million federal employees, retirees and dependents.
“My vision is that all Americans will one day have access to the same level of care as members of Congress,” Langevin said.
“The time has long passed to open a dialogue on reforming the nation’s health care system. Such constructive, bipartisan conversations will require a great deal of time, study, and work by many parties, but I am confident it can be done. This proposal introduces a viable concept and leaves room for further discussion,” the Rhode Island Democrat said.
“Cost and access to health care remains among the top concerns of residents of the [Connecticut] Fourth District,” Shays said. “In addition, the cost of providing health care to employees is a growing a matter of competitiveness to American employers, because many of their worldwide competitors have health care systems that limit costs through a national payer system.
“Our health care plan will extend the benefits federal employees receive to the rest of our constituents, while maintaining the private health plans that many Americans enjoy today,” he said.
Under their proposal, Americans not covered by Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare/Champus, Indian Health Services or U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs programs would be eligible to choose a health-care package through the American Health Benefits Program, or an equivalent employer-sponsored package.
The AHBP would be a managed-competition plan that would leverage the negotiating power of the federal government to extend a range of coverage options to every American, the congressmen said. Their proposal “recognizes that any successful health insurance program must be based on three principles” – choice, shared responsibility and affordability. “By spending health care dollars more efficiently, we can make coverage affordable for all,” they said.
The AHBP Act calls for the federal government to pay 72 percent of total premiums, using money from a payroll-tax financed trust fund, while individuals would be responsible for the remaining 28 percent. Low-income families would be subsidized, on a sliding scale.
“The total cost of the bill will be evaluated by the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office,” the congressmen said.
“AHBP is designed to be a system of portable, continuous coverage that is not tied to an individual’s employment,” they added. “Once in the system, enrollees will be better able to receive long-term, preventive care from a doctor of their choice.”
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The problems with the health care system are ones of cost, profit, and distribution of resources. Costs –for things like the latest prescription drugs– which then are shown to not work any better than older generics, for expensive tests, and for extreme health care for people at the end of their lives — will continue to rise as long as third party insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and others who are heavily invested in our current failed system, continue to profit from it.
At the same time, some of us — who carefully chose what we eat, who exercise, who often choose alternative health care (e.g., massage, acupuncture, chiropractic)– and who eschew Big Pharm products and other nonsense — will continue to be healthy OUTSIDE of the mainstream healthcare industry.
I agree w/ much of what Anita says, but another point is that while the current system IS too expensive, the way we pay for it is inequitable, which makes it unaffordable for many healthy working folks, who if included, would drive down the per capita cost for everyone. Rep. Langevin’s plan of a dedicated payroll tax in place of employers buying private insurance directly is a big improvement in that area.