Building One America through Universal Health Care

Abstract

A little over a month ago, I met a man named James Lowe in Wise, Virginia. James spent the first 50 years of his life barely able to talk. All he needed was a simple operation to fix a cleft palate. It's outrageous that a working man in the richest country in the world could not speak for 50 years because he couldn't pay for a $3,000 operation. I have heard similar stories from Americans everywhere who are working hard but struggling to find and keep quality, affordable health care. Forty-seven million Americans do not have health insurance. And even those who do have it are worried about how they're going to pay for it--and whether it will be enough to pay their bills in the event of a crisis. Across the country, families as well as businesses are being squeezed by rising health care costs. Too many families are one major illness away from financial disaster. To fix this crisis, we don't need an incremental shift, we need a fundamental change. We need truly universal health care. For more than 20 years, Democrats have talked about universal health care, but have gotten nowhere because the big insurance companies, drug companies, and HMOs have spent millions to block real reform. We need to end the game in Washington and build one America, with one health system where every American can get decent, affordable health care. I have a bold plan to stand up to the big drug and insurance companies and finally guarantee truly universal health care while cutting costs for families and employers. Under my plan, businesses will either cover their employees or help pay their premiums. The government will make insurance affordable through new tax credits and by leading the way toward more cost-effective care. New Care will give families and businesses purchasing power and a choice of quality plans, including one public plan. Finally, once these steps have been taken, all American residents will be required to take responsibility and get insurance. Families without insurance will get coverage at an affordable price, and families that have insurance will pay less and get more security and choices. Employers will find it cheaper and easier to insure their workers. My plan will save an average family up to $2,500 a year and eliminate $130 billion of wasted health care spending each year. Americans don't get the quality of health care they pay for and too often can't afford the cost of the care they receive. The United States spends more per person on health care than any other country. Yet, 33 other countries have lower infant mortality rates and 28 other countries have longer life expectancies. A successful plan for universal health care must take prevention seriously. Primary and preventive care greatly reduces future health care costs, as well as improving patients' health. But our health care system is focused on treating diseases, not preventing them. Less than 5 percent of the $1.4 trillion spent on U.S. health care in 2002 went toward preventive care. As a result, many people do not receive the tests and immunizations that can prevent major illnesses and save money. It is time to invest more in prevention. Today, insurance companies have little incentive to cover the costs of preventive services because people frequently change jobs and insurers. One employer survey found that only 64 percent of insurers cover cholesterol screening and only 16 percent cover weight-loss counseling. Under my plan, new Health Care Markets will lead the effort to better align incentives in the health care system by requiring participating plans to comprehensively cover preventive care. Plans offered through Health Care Markets will encourage people to stay healthy by offering primary and preventive services, like screening for cancer and heart disease, at little or no cost. Health Care Markets will also offer lower premiums for those who get physicals and enroll in healthy living programs. …