HEALTHCARE: OBAMA UNVEILS PLAN, CLINTON SPOTLIGHTS SAVINGS

Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) announced a proposal May 29 that would expand health insurance to almost all U.S. residents and reduce premium costs. The plan would require health insurance for children but not adults. Under the plan, employers would have to offer health insurance or pay a percentage of their payrolls into a federal fund to provide coverage. There would also be a public health plan for residents who cannot obtain health insurance through their employers or current public programs such as Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which would be expanded to cover more low-income residents. The proposal would establish a National Health Insurance Exchange, a regulated market of private health plans in which the public plan would compete. Residents who cannot afford health insurance would pay for coverage on a sliding scale based on their annual incomes, and health insurers could not deny coverage to residents with pre-existing medical conditions. The plan would also create a pool for individuals with catastrophic conditions, expand coverage of preventive services and include funds to improve technology in the healthcare industry through measures such as the implementation of an electronic health record system. Obama said that the proposal would save the average family as much as $2,500 annually on health insurance costs. The campaign estimated the plan’s cost at $50 billion to $65 billion a year. The Illinois senator’s campaign said he would pay for much of the plan by allowing tax cuts on dividends and capital gains and for individuals with annual incomes of more than $250,000 to expire in 2010.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in a speech at George Washington University on May 24 introduced a healthcare cost-cutting plan that she said could save $120 billion annually. Clinton's plan includes seven measures to reduce costs and improve care in the U.S. health system: (1) a "prevention initiative" to reduce diseases such as diabetes (2) an electronic health records system (3) an overhaul in care for the chronically ill (4) an end to insurance “discrimination" by requiring insurance plans to accept anyone regardless of health status and a prohibition on insurers’ charging higher rates to people with medical problems (5) legalization of buying lower-cost prescription drugs from other industrialized nations and a requirement that Medicare negotiate for lower drug prices (6) "common sense" changes to the medical malpractice system and (7) creation of a public/private "Best Practices Institute" to finance research comparing treatment efficacy and treatment protocols. Clinton announced, that if elected, these proposals represent the first phase of a three-part plan for correcting the nation's healthcare problems.

WATCH AFT MEMBERS WITH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

A video highlighting the experiences of the three AFT members who were selected to ask questions of the presidential candidates at the AFT executive council meeting May 15-16 is now available on the AFT's You Decide 2008 Web site. The video includes interviews and clips of the members, who each got the opportunity to pose their winning questions—selected through online voting—to candidates Joseph Biden, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

U.S. SPENDS MOST ON HEALTHCARE, HAS POOREST RESULTS

The U.S. healthcare system is the most expensive in the world, but it yields worse results than the systems in Britain, Canada, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, according to a report issued in May by the Commonwealth Fund. Researchers found that total U.S. healthcare spending by government, employers, insurance and individuals averaged $6,102 per person in 2004—more than the average spent on individuals in every other country after adjusting for the local cost of living. The report's authors said that U.S. residents with below-average incomes were more likely than their counterparts in other countries not to have received needed care because of cost. The U.S. is the only country in the study without universal healthcare.

SPENDING ON PRESCRIPTION DRUGS NEARLY TRIPLED FROM 1997 to 2004

Outpatient prescription drug spending increased from $72 billion in 1997 to $191 billion in 2004, according to a report recently released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The study, which included data on individuals who live in the community and not institutions such as nursing homes, indicated that average annual prescription drug spending for individuals ages 65 and older increased by 130 percent to $1,914 in 2004 from $819 in 1997. AHRQ, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found that average annual out-of-pocket prescription drug spending for individuals ages 65 and older more than doubled to $1,027 in 2004 from $483 in 1997. Average annual prescription drug spending for individuals younger than age 65 rose by 140 percent to $838 in 2004 from $347 in 1997.

WORKERS SHUN HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS

Only about 3 percent of insured U.S. residents, or eight million people, have a Health Savings Account, according to the Wichita Eagle. In a series of articles published last month, reporters found that many employees were confused by the complexity of health insurance and wanted no part of being stuck with all of the expenses. In a typical HSA, an employer provides a fixed contribution to an individual account, but the worker would be responsible for choosing an insurance program and would bear all costs, including premiums, deductibles and co-payments.

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QUOTE OF NOTE: Obama Healthcare Plan
“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."

U.S. Senator Barack Obama
May 29, 2007

WEB SITE OF THE WEEK: http://www.ytbtravel.com/retiredusa
The Alliance for Retired Americans is now offering a new travel Web site with costs comparable to other popular low-cost travel sites. Each time an Alliance member books a plane ticket, a hotel or cruise, the royalty is shared by both the national and state.