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A call to action

Posted by: Julia Eisman on Nov 12, 2008

Today, Senator Max Baucus, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, revealed his long awaited white paper on health care reform. According to the Senator,

...the Call to Action has three equally important legs: (1) a policy that ensures meaningful coverage and care to all Americans; (2) an insistence that any such expansion be coupled with an emphasis on higher quality, greater value, and - over time - less costly care; and (3) an absolute commitment to weed out waste, eliminate overpayments, and design a sustainable financing system that works for taxpayers as well as for the nation's recipients and providers of health care.

Baucus's plan includes:

• Creating a health insurance "exchange," where individuals and small businesses could compare and purchase plans - which would include a range of private plans and a public plan option.

• An expansion of Medicaid and SCHIP.

• The plan would allow people between 55 and 64 to "buy-in" to Medicare as a temporary transition provision until quality, affordable insurance options are available through the exchange.

• Support for the employer based model where employers would be required to offer coverage to their employees, and small businesses would receive a tax credit if they comply.

Senator Baucus, along with Senator Kennedy, is expected to play a very important role, as Ezra Klein explains here, in the road to reform. Baucus chairs the Senate Finance Committee, which has broad jurisdiction, overseeing health care reform, Social Security, unemployment benefits, and taxes and trade. As chairman, it is up to Baucus to schedule markups, hearings, and votes - and ultimately serves as the gatekeeper for legislative action on, say, health care reform.

Having Baucus on board with such a comprehensive plan is certainly encouraging. To quote Families USA's own Ron Pollack:

"The white paper released today achieves a sound balance between public- and private-sector approaches, and it blends good policy with a sound view of what is achievable.

"There has never been a more auspicious opportunity to secure meaningful health care reform: The President-Elect has made it a top priority; key congressional committee chairs have made it their top priority; and the large and diverse health care interest groups are working cooperatively to find common ground.

"As a result, we have a unique opportunity to succeed this time in securing much-needed health care reform."