Statement on Health Care

Abstract

I believe that every American has the right to affordable health care. We now face an opportunity--and an obligation--to turn the page on the failed politics of yesterday's health care debates. 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. By the end of my first term in office, I will sign legislation providing universal health care. My plan will guarantee coverage for every American through partnerships among employers, private health plans, the federal government, and the states. My 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 my plan, Americans will be able to maintain their current coverage if they choose to, and will see the quality of their health care improve and their costs go down. My plan also addresses the large gaps in coverage that leave 47 million Americans uninsured. Specifically, my plan will: (1) establish a new public insurance program, available to Americans who neither qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP nor have access to insurance through their employers, as well as to small businesses that want to offer insurance to their employees; (2) create a National Health Insurance Exchange to help Americans and businesses that want to purchase private health insurance directly; (3) require all employers to contribute towards health coverage for their employees or towards the cost of the public plan; (4) mandate that all children have health care coverage; (5) expand eligibility for the Medicaid and SCHIP programs; and (6) allow flexibility for state health reform plans. I will go after runaway health care costs by investing in information technology, focusing on preventive care, increasing health care quality, reducing medical errors, and stopping price-gouging by drug and insurance companies. Together, these changes will create up to $2,500 in savings for the typical family. Moreover, while covering the uninsured and modernizing America's health care system are urgent priorities, they are not enough. Simply put, in the absence of a radical shift towards prevention and public health, we will not be successful in containing medical costs or improving the health of the American people. Too many Americans go without high-value preventive services, such as cancer screening and immunizations to protect against flu or pneumonia. Providers are not adequately reimbursed for helping patients manage chronic illnesses like diabetes or asthma. Similarly, community-based prevention efforts, which have helped to drive down rates of smoking and lead poisoning, for example, are under-utilized despite their effectiveness. The nation faces epidemics of obesity and chronic diseases as well as new threats of pandemic flu and bioterrorism. Yet despite all of this, less than 4 cents of every health care dollar is spent on prevention and public health. Our health care system has become a disease care system, and the time for change is well overdue. My health plan calls for increased investment in prevention and public health. Individuals and families must have access to essential clinical preventive services such as cancer screenings and smoking cessation programs, and my health plan will require coverage of such services in all federally supported health plans, including Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and the new public plan. Americans also benefit from healthy environments that allow them to pursue healthy choices and behaviors that can help ward off chronic and preventable diseases. Healthy environments include sidewalks, biking paths, and walking trails; local grocery stores with fruits and vegetables; restricted advertising for tobacco and alcohol to children; and wellness and educational campaigns. …