Obama Health Care Plan Summarized

Obama Health Care Plan Summarized by Andrew Tobias

If You Have Health Insurance,
the President’s Plan:

• Prevents insurance companies from dropping you when you get sick.
• Caps out-of-pocket expenses so you don’t go broke when you do get sick.
• Eliminates charges for preventive care like mammograms, flu shots and diabetes tests.
• Eliminates the “donut-hole” gap in coverage for prescription drugs.

If You Don’t Have Insurance,
the President's Plan:

• Makes it available even if you have a pre-existing condition.
• Creates a new insurance marketplace – the Exchange – so you can compare plans and buy insurance at “group rates.”
• Helps low-income citizens pay for it.
• Offers new, low-cost coverage through a national “high risk” pool to protect people with preexisting conditions from financial ruin until the new Exchange is created.

For All Americans,
the President’s Plan:

• Won’t add a dime to the deficit and is paid for upfront.
• Requires additional cuts if savings are not realized.
• Implements a number of delivery system reforms that begin to rein in health care costs and align incentives for hospitals, physicians, and others to improve quality.
• Creates an independent commission of doctors and medical experts to identify waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system.
• Orders immediate medical malpractice reform projects that could help doctors focus on putting their patients first, not on practicing defensive medicine.
• Requires large employers to cover their employees and individuals who can afford it to buy insurance so everyone shares in the responsibility of reform.