US Sen. Ron Wyden's universal health care plan

[Guest guest]

Senator wants universal health care plan

By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - A dozen years after Congress rejected a Clinton

administration plan for universal health care, an Oregon Democrat is

readying a proposal to provide health care coverage to all Americans

through a pool of private insurance plans.

" Employer-based coverage is melting away like a Popsicle on the

sidewalk in August, " said Sen. Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate

Finance subcommittee on health care.

Wyden's proposal, which he planned to unveil on Wednesday, is an

outgrowth of work by the Citizens' Health Care Working Group, a

14-member panel that went to 50 communities around the country and

heard from 28,000 people about how to overhaul the nation's health

care system.

The group, created in 2003 by legislation sponsored by Wyden and Sen.

Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, recommended that the government take steps to

guarantee that all Americans have basic health insurance coverage by 2012.

Wyden said his new plan would allow workers to carry their health

insurance from job to job without penalty. More efficient

administration and more promotion of competition for health care

plans, he said, would allow greater coverage while costing no more

than the government is paying today for health insurance coverage.

Called the " Healthy Americans Act, " the plan would cover all Americans

except those on Medicare or those who receive health care through the

military.

It would require that employers " cash out " their existing health plans

by terminating coverage and paying the amount saved directly to

workers as increased wages. Workers then would be required to buy

health insurance from a large pool of private plans.

After two years, companies would no longer have to pay the higher

wages. Instead, Wyden said, they would pay into an insurance pool,

based on annual revenues and the number of full-time workers.

At Wyden's request, the Lewin Group, a Virginia-based health care

consulting firm, reviewed the plan. The consultant said the plan would

reduce health spending by private employers by nearly three-quarters

and would save $1.4 trillion in total national health care spending

over the next decade.

Increases in premium payments for individuals and families would be

offset by higher wages and subsidies provided under the plan, the

report said. As an example, Wyden cited a worker who earned $60,000

last year, and received about $12,000 worth of health care coverage.

The worker's health insurance would be terminated but his salary would

increase to $72,000, which would cover his health care coverage. The

plan would bar workers from buying a " bare-bones " health package and

pocketing the savings, Wyden said.

" You can't take your $9,000 and go to Hawaii, " he said.

Wyden said he's aware of the political pitfalls of health care reform

but believes the time has come to address the issue again.

" I think the country wants health care fixed, " he said, citing

skyrocketing costs and an estimated 46 million people who are

uninsured. " There's been lots of rhetoric and position papers. It's

time for action. "

http://news./s/ap/20061213/ap_on_go_co/wyden_health_care_1