Health Blog : Changes Brewing on Capitol Hill for Health Insurance:
“Next year could see the biggest push in more than a decade to transform how health insurance works in this country. Obama and McCain have both proposed significant changes, and the Democrats just hammered out a platform plank that says the party is “united around a commitment to provide every American access to affordable, comprehensive health care.”
Meanwhile, Congress is busy hatching its own plans.
During the Health Blog’s recent field trip to DC, we spoke with Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who’s pushing a health reform bill that would make some big changes to the system.
The bill, known as the Healthy Americans Act, would require everyone to buy health insurance. But instead of sending a check to the insurance company, the premium for basic coverage would be tacked onto your federal income tax. You’d choose from health plans offered by private insurers in your state or region. If you wanted to buy a plan
that covered more than the basics, you’d pay extra.
There’s a lot more to it than that (including various taxes and subsidies), but those are the basics. You can read the whole bill for yourself here.”
We’ve noted this before, but it really seems we may be acheiving critical mass/crisis for big change to occur…