How much does it cost to stay alive? How much should we invest into being healthy? Here are the plans. Which one will add a couple of years to your life?

(As found on Barack Obama’s website.)

INVEST IN ELECTRONIC HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS

Most medical records are still stored on paper, which makes them difficult to use to coordinate care, measure quality, or reduce medical errors. Processing paper claims also costs twice as much as processing electronic claims. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will invest $10 billion a year over the next five years to move the U.S. health care system to broad adoption of standards-based electronic health information systems, including electronic health records.  They will also phase in requirements for full implementation of health IT and commit the necessary federal resources to make it happen.  Barack Obama and Joe Biden will ensure that these systems are developed in coordination with providers and frontline workers, including those in rural and underserved areas. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will ensure that patients’ privacy is protected.  A study by the Rand Corporation found that if most hospitals and doctors offices adopted electronic health records, up to $77 billion of savings would be realized each year through improvements such as reduced hospital stays, avoidance of duplicative and unnecessary testing, more appropriate drug utilization, and other efficiencies.

IMPROVE ACCESS TO PREVENTION AND PROVEN DISEASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
Experts agree that several steps should be taken immediately to help patients get the care they need and to help providers improve medical practice. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will expand and support these and other efforts to lower costs and improve health outcomes.

HELP PATIENTS
Support disease management programs. Over seventy-five percent of total health care dollars are spent on patients with one or more chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Many patients with chronic diseases benefit greatly from disease management programs, which help patients manage their condition and get the care they need.16 Barack Obama and Joe Biden will require that plans that participate in the new public plan, Medicare or the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) utilize proven disease management programs.  This will improve quality of care and lower costs, as well.

Coordinate and Integrate Care

Rates of chronic diseases have skyrocketed in the last 2 decades.Over 133 million Americans have at least one chronic disease. With proper care, the onset and progression of these diseases can be contained for many years.  In addition to the needless suffering and early death they cause, these chronic conditions cost a staggering $1.7 trillion yearly. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will support providers to put in place care management programs and encourage team care through implementation of medical home type models that will improve coordination and integration of care of those with chronic conditions.

Require Full Transparency Regarding Quality and Costs

Health care quality and costs can vary tremendously among hospitals and providers; however, patients have limited access to this information. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will require hospitals and providers to collect and publicly report measures of health care costs and quality, including data on preventable medical errors, nurse staffing ratios, hospital-acquired infections, and disparities in care and costs.  Health plans will be required to disclose the percentage of premiums that actually goes to paying for patient care as opposed to administrative costs.

ENSURE PROVIDERS DELIVER QUALITY CARE
Promote patient safety.  Barack Obama and Joe Biden will require providers to report preventable medical errors, and support hospital and physician practice improvement to prevent future errors.

Align Incentives For Excellence.

Both public and private insurers tend to pay providers based on the volume of services provided, rather than the quality or effectiveness of care. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will accelerate efforts to develop and disseminate best practices, and align reimbursement with provision of high quality health care. Providers who see patients enrolled in the new public plan, the National Health Insurance Exchange, Medicare and FEHB will be rewarded for achieving performance thresholds on physician-validated outcome measures.

Comparative Effectiveness Reviews and Research

One of the keys to eliminating waste and missed opportunities is to increase our investment in comparative effectiveness reviews and research. This information is developed by reviewing existing literature, analyzing electronic health care data, and conducting simple, real world studies of new technologies.  Barack Obama and Joe Biden will establish an independent institute to guide reviews and research on comparative effectiveness, so that Americans and their doctors will have accurate and objective information to make the best decisions for their health and well-being.

Tackle Disparities in Health Care

Although all Americans are affected by problems with our health care delivery system, an overwhelming body of evidence demonstrates that certain populations are significantly more likely to receive lower quality health care than others.  Barack Obama and Joe Biden will tackle the root causes of health disparities by addressing differences in access to health coverage and promoting prevention and public health, both of which play a major role in addressing disparities.

They will also challenge the medical system to eliminate inequities in health care by requiring hospitals and health plans to collect, analyze and report health care quality for disparity populations and holding them accountable for any differences found; diversifying the workforce to ensure culturally effective care; implementing and funding evidence-based interventions, such as patient navigator programs; and supporting and expanding the capacity of safety-net institutions, which provide a disproportionate amount of care for underserved populations with inadequate funding and technical resources.

Reform Medical Malpractice While Preserving Patient Rights

Increasing medical malpractice insurance rates are making it harder for doctors to practice medicine and raising the costs of health care for everyone. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will strengthen antitrust laws to prevent insurers from overcharging physicians for their malpractice insurance.  Barack Obama and Joe Biden will also promote new models for addressing physician errors that improve patient safety, strengthen the doctor- patient relationship, and reduce the need for malpractice suits.

LOWER COSTS BY TAKING ON ANTICOMPETITIVE ACTIONS IN THE DRUG AND INSURANCE COMPANIES

It is not right that Americans families are paying skyrocketing premiums while drug and insurance industries are enjoying record profits.  These companies benefit most from the status quo and in many cases are the greatest obstacles to reform.  The Obama-Biden plan will tackle needless waste and spiraling costs by increasing competition in the insurance and drug markets.

Increasing Competition In The Insurance Industry

The insurance business today is dominated by a small group of large companies that has been gobbling up their rivals.  In recent years, for-profit companies have bought up not-for-profit insurers around the country.  There have been over 400 health care mergers in the last 10 years and just two companies dominate a full third of the national market.

These changes were supposed to make the industry more efficient, but instead premiums have skyrocketed, increasing over 87 percent over the past six years. Over the same time period, insurance administrative overhead has been the fastest-growing component of health spending. The 2007 Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System reported that between 2000 and 2005, administrative overhead – including both administrative expenses and insurance industry profits – increased 12.0 percent per year, 3.4 percentage points faster than the average health expenditure growth of 8.6 percent.

And while health care costs continue to rise for families, CEOs of these insurance companies have received multi-million dollar bonuses.  Barack Obama and Joe Biden will prevent companies from abusing their monopoly power through unjustified price increases.  In markets where the insurance business is not competitive, their plan will force insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care instead of keeping exorbitant amounts for profits and administration.  Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s new National Health Insurance Exchange will also help increase competition by insurers.

Prevent Private Insurance Waste and Abuse in Medicare

Medicare’s private plan alternative, called Medicare Advantage, was established to increase competition and reduce costs.  But independent reports show that on average the government pays 12 percent more than it costs to treat comparable beneficiaries through traditional Medicare. These excessive subsidies cost the government billions of dollars every year and create an incentive structure that has led to fraudulent abuses of seniors. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we need to eliminate the excessive subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans and pay them the same amount it would cost to treat the same patients under regular Medicare.

Allow consumers to import safe drugs from other countries. The second-fastest growing type of health expenses is prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies should profit when their research and development results in a groundbreaking new drug.  But some companies are exploiting Americans by dramatically overcharging U.S. consumers. These companies are selling the exact same drugs in Europe and Canada but charging Americans a 67 percent premium. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will allow Americans to buy their medicines from other developed countries if the drugs are safe and prices are lower outside the U.S.

Prevent Drug Companies From Blocking Generic Drugs From Consumers

Some drug manufacturers are explicitly paying generic drug makers not to enter the market so they can preserve their monopolies and keep charging Americans exorbitant prices for brand name products. The Obama-Biden plan will work to ensure that market power does not lead to higher prices for consumers. Their plan will work to increase use of generic drugs in the new public plan, Medicare, Medicaid, FEHBP and prohibit large drug companies from keeping generics out of markets.

Allow Medicare to Negotiate For Cheaper Drug Prices

The 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act bans the government from negotiating down the prices of prescription drugs, even though the Department of Veterans Affairs’ negotiation of prescription drug prices with drug companies has garnered significant savings for taxpayers. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will repeal the ban on direct negotiation with drug companies and use the resulting savings, which could be as high as $30 billion, to further invest in improving health care coverage and quality.
REDUCE COSTS OF CATASTROPHIC ILLNESSES FOR EMPLOYERS AND THEIR EMPLOYEES

Catastrophic health expenditures account for a high percentage of medical expenses for private insurers. In fact, the most recent data available reveals that the top five percent of people with the greatest health care expenses in the U.S. account for 49 percent of the overall health care dollar. For small businesses, having a single employee with catastrophic expenditures can make insurance unaffordable to all of the workers in the firm.  The Obama-Biden plan would reimburse employer health plans for a portion of the catastrophic costs they incur above a threshold if they guarantee such savings are used to reduce the cost of workers’ premiums. Offsetting some of the catastrophic costs would make health care more affordable for employers, workers and their families.
AFFORDABLE, ACCESSIBLE COVERAGE OPTIONS FOR ALL

Barack Obama and Joe Biden will guarantee affordable, accessible health care coverage for all Americans. Currently, there are over 45 million Americans lacking health insurance, and millions more are at risk of losing their coverage due to rising costs. Rising costs are also a burden on employers, particularly small businesses, which are increasingly unable to provide health insurance coverage for their employees and remain competitive. Nearly two million fewer Americans receive health insurance coverage through their employers now compared to eight years ago, and this trend shows no sign of slowing down.  It is simply too expensive for individuals and families to buy insurance directly on the open market and impossible for many with pre-existing conditions.

The Obama-Biden plan both builds on and improves our current insurance system, which most Americans continue to rely upon, and leaves Medicare intact for older and disabled Americans.  Under the Obama-Biden plan, Americans will be able to maintain their current coverage, have access to new affordable options, and see the quality of their health care improve and their costs go down. The Obama-Biden plan provides new affordable health insurance options by: guaranteeing eligibility for all health insurance plans; creating a National Health Insurance Exchange to help Americans and businesses purchase private health insurance; providing new tax credits to families who can’t afford health insurance and to small businesses with a new Small Business Health Tax Credit; requiring all large employers to contribute towards health coverage for their employees or towards the cost of the public plan; requiring all children have health care coverage; expanding eligibility for the Medicaid and SCHIP programs; and allowing flexibility for state health reform plans.

GUARANTEED ELIGIBILITY

Obama and Biden will require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions so all Americans, regardless of their health status or history, can get comprehensive benefits at fair and stable premiums.
NEW AFFORDABLE, ACCESSIBLE HEALTH INSURANCE OPTIONS

The Obama-Biden plan will create a National Health Insurance Exchange to help individuals purchase new affordable health care options if they are uninsured or want new health insurance.  Through the Exchange, any American will have the opportunity to enroll in the new public plan or an approved private plan, and income-based sliding scale tax credits will be provided for people and families who need it. Insurers would have to issue every applicant a policy and charge fair and stable premiums that will not depend upon health status. The Exchange will require that all the plans offered are at least as generous as the new public plan and meet the same standards for quality and efficiency.  Insurers would be required to justify an above-average premium increase to the Exchange. The Exchange would evaluate plans and make the differences among the plans, including cost of services, transparent.

The Exchange will have the following features:

Comprehensive Benefits
The benefit package will be similar to that offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), the program through which Members of Congress get their own health care. Plans will include coverage of all essential medical services, including preventive, maternity and mental health care.

Affordable premiums, Co-pays and Deductibles

Participants will be charged fair premiums and minimal co-pays for deductibles for preventive services.

Simplified Paperwork
The plan will simplify paperwork for providers and will increase savings to the system overall.

Easy Enrollment

All Exchange health insurance plans will be simple to enroll in and provide ready access to coverage.
Portability and Choice
Participants will be able to move from job to job without changing or
jeopardizing their health care coverage.
Quality and Efficiency

Participating hospitals and providers that participate in the new public plan will be required to collect and report data to ensure that standards for health care quality, health information technology and administration are being met.

TAX CREDITS FOR FAMILIES AND SMALL BUSINESSES

Barack Obama and Joe Biden understand that too many families that do not qualify for public health programs like Medicaid and SCHIP have trouble finding affordable health insurance.  They know from talking to small business owners across the nation that the skyrocketing cost of healthcare poses a serious competitive threat to America’s small businesses.  The Obama- Biden health care plan will provide tax credits to all individuals who need it for their premiums.  They will also create a new Small Business Health Tax Credit to provide small businesses with a refundable tax credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small businesses on behalf of their employees.  To be eligible for the credit, small businesses will have to offer a quality health plan to all of their employees and cover a meaningful share of the cost of employee health premiums.

EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION

Large employers that do not offer meaningful coverage or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the national plan. Small businesses will be exempt from this requirement.
REQUIRE COVERAGE OF CHILDREN
Barack Obama and Joe Biden will require that all children have health care coverage. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will expand the number of options for young adults to get coverage by allowing young people up to age 25 to continue coverage through their parents’ plans.

EXPANSION OF MEDICAID AND SCHIP

Barack Obama and Joe Biden will expand eligibility for the Medicaid and SCHIP programs and ensure that these programs continue to serve their critical safety net function.

FLEXIBILITY FOR STATE PLANS

Due to federal inaction, some states have taken the lead in health care reform. Under the Obama-Biden plan, states can continue to experiment, provided they meet the minimum standards of the national plan.

CONTENT COMING SOON…