Health Care Bill Readied By Senator Kennedy
Based on a bill written by Senator Kennedy, individuals and businesses would have to strictly adhere to new requirements to purchase insurance. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass) has created a comprehensive legislation that would guarantee health coverage to every American. Most would contribute to the cost but some low income individuals and small businesses would get subsidies.
Although a minimum of 5 congressional chairmen are working on health care reform bills, Kennedy is the one who has completed it with detailed legislative language first. This draft addresses how the country should take care of health coverage gaps, inferior quality and rising costs.
The bill is 170 pages and is called the “American Health Choices Act. Funding sources and cost estimates are not included in the bill. The controversy in this bill would be the new government sponsored health insurance plan that would go head to head with private players.
According to Republicans the public option would lead to a single payer system and lower the importance of thep private marketplace. President Obama supports the public option, incidentally. This plan will pay 10 percent more to doctors, staff and hospitals that participate. The cost is to be recovered through premiums.
The draft is still a rough one. The bill is inspired by the health care reform that took place in Massachusetts. Insurance exchanges would also be created to enable individuals to buy insurance.
