During his campaign, the President-Elect had argued that health-care coverage needed to be expanded in order to assure that all children were covered. However, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) -- who??? -- is leading the push in Congress to make sure that ALL people have health-care:
Without waiting for President-elect Barack Obama, Senator Max Baucus, the chairman of the Finance Committee, will unveil a detailed blueprint on Wednesday to guarantee health insurance for all Americans by facilitating sales of private insurance, expanding Medicaid and Medicare, and requiring most employers to provide or pay for health benefits.Ambitious, wouldn't you say, in this economy?
The proposals are all broadly compatible with Mr. Obama’s campaign promises. But Mr. Baucus’s 35,000-word plan would go further than Mr. Obama’s in one respect, eventually requiring all people — not just children — to have coverage.More than half of all Americans receive coverage through employers, and Mr. Baucus said he wanted to halt the erosion of such coverage. He would offer tax credits to small businesses to help them defray the costs of providing health benefits to employees.
To make insurance more affordable for those who buy coverage on their own, Mr. Baucus would offer tax credits to individuals and families with incomes at or below four times the poverty level ($70,400 for a family of three). Only 10 percent of the uninsured have incomes above that level, he said.
- A.S. Noel
1 comments:
Ambitious? Its the opposite. It is necessary. People are financially worried because of future health care costs (if I get laid off, what then?) and retirement (how can I pay for my medication). Given that our economy rests nearly entire on perception, raising the optimism of the American consumer would do much for our current sitch.
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