| Plan |
Daschle Critical — What We Can Do About The Health Care Crisis | |
| Date |
February 2008 | |
| Overall Approach |
Universal coverage through an individual mandate to purchase either public or private health insurance. Oversight of both public and private coverage by a Federal Health Board. | |
| Universal Coverage |
Yes | |
| Guaranteed Coverage |
Yes | |
| Portability |
Yes | |
| Voluntary Employer-Based System |
Yes | |
| New Programs |
Creation of a Federal Health Board.
Establish a group purchasing pool similar to the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.
Creation of a government-run insurance program modeled after Medicare. | |
| Expansion of Existing Public Programs/Federal Law |
Expand Medicaid coverage to low-income childless adults w/o disabilities. | |
| Insurance Pool |
Yes | |
| State Responsibility |
Not addressed | |
| Individual Mandate |
All individuals required to purchase either private or public health coverage
Income-based assessment levied on those failing to obtain coverage | |
| Employer Mandate |
Required to either provide health coverage to their employees or pay a fee to finance the FEHBP pool
Employers offering coverage through FEHBP required to extend coverage to all employees | |
| Private Insurance Mandates |
FEHBP participating insurers required to meet federal rules on coverage and cost
Participating insurers prohibited from denying coverage to high-risk, high-cost individuals
Limits on marketing expenditures | |
| Individual Subsidies |
Sliding-scale subsidies based on income | |
| Individual Vouchers |
No | |
| Employer Subsidies |
No | |
| Individual Plan/Provider Choice |
Yes | |
| National Health Board |
Yes | |
| Tax Changes |
Subsidies provided as a refundable tax credit | |
| Premium/Co-Pay/Deductible |
Cap total health insurance costs to a certain percentage of income | |
| Health Quality Improvement |
Promote research that compares drugs and treatments to determine which ones deliver the highest quality at the lowest cost
Set a single standard of care and coverage among federal health care programs
Tie pay to performance
Promote collaborative care of chronic conditions | |
| Information Technology / Electronic Medical Records |
Provide tax breaks for health-care providers adopting new IT
Offer loans or loan guarantees to upgrade health care computer systems
Set national standards for clinical computing
Establish a national clearinghouse of effective computing practices | |
| Individual Responsibility for Health and Lifestyle |
Yes | |
| Preventive care |
Ensure coverage of prevention efforts
Dedicate funding and attention to public health efforts | |
| Transparency |
Public disclosure of the quality of providers | |
| Drug Reimportation |
Not addressed | |
| Medicare Rx Drug Price Negotiation |
Not addressed | |
| Medical Personnel Education |
Increase recruitment of medical personnel in rural areas | |
| Mental Health Parity |
Yes | |
| Other Provisions |
Provide long-term care coverage through Medicare or FEHBP
Promote home-based care
Provide dental coverage
Increase the number of community health centers | |
| Cost |
Not addressed | |
| Cost Containment |
Leverage government purchasing power for covered benefits and payment incentives
Tie pay to performance
Focus on prevention
Health information technology
Promote transparency | |
| Financing |
Not addressed | |
| Source |
T. Daschle, S. S. Greenberger, and J. M. Lambrew, Critical: What We Can Do About The Health-Care Crisis | |
