Barack Obama
Elected Next President of The United States |
Plan StatusPart of his campaign platform.
Number of People CoveredThe plan does not mandate universal coverage except for children. Very small businesses and start-ups would be exempt from providing employer-based health insurance.Estimated Cost$1.2T to $1.6T
Payment Scheme Includes indivudally-purchased, employer-based, and government-funded insurance.
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Plan in Brief
- Aims to make health insurance affordable so that everyone can buy it, but is not required to buy it. Mandates that all children have healthcare coverage.
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Includes both a more competitive and regulated private system and an expanded public payer system.
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Establishes a new public health insurance plan available to uninsured Americans as well as to small businesses that want to offer insurance to their employees.
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Requires employers except for very small businesses and start-ups to contribute toward health coverage for their employees or toward the cost of the public plan.
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Expands eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
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Impact on Federal Government
- Funds a National Health Insurance Exchange to help individuals find and purchase private insurance plans.
- The Exchange will reform the private insurance market by creating rules and standards for participating insurance plans to ensure fairness and to make individual coverage more affordable and accessible.
- Tax cuts for those making over $250,000/year would be allowed to expire.
Impact on States
- Expands State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
- Does not replace the insurance plans the states are providing as long as those plans meet the minimum standards of Obama’s national plan.
Impact on Insurers
- The plan will make available a National Health Insurance Exchange that would compare health insurance plans.
- Insurers would have to issue every applicant a policy (guaranteed issue), and charge fair and stable premiums that will not depend upon health status.
- The Exchange will require that all the plans offered meet the same standards for quality and efficiency.
Impact on Providers
- Requires hospitals and providers to collect and publicly report measures of healthcare costs and quality as well as preventable medical errors.
- Establishes an independent institute to guide reviews and research on comparative effectiveness.
- Invests $10 billion a year over the next five years to move the U.S. healthcare system to broad adoption of electronic health information systems.
Impact on Employers
- Reimburses employer health plans for a portion of catastrophic costs they incur above a threshold if such savings are used to reduce the cost of workers' premiums.
Impact on Individuals
- Individuals and families who do not qualify for Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program but still need assistance will receive income-related federal subsidies to keep health insurance premiums affordable.
- They can choose to use the subsidy for either the new public plan or a private plan.
| Proponents/Opponents |
Supporters agree that the cost of insurance, and health care costs overall, must be reduced first, before requiring individuals to purchase insurance.
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Critics argue that without mandated health insurance, millions of Americans will choose not to purchase even affordable insurance under the Obama plan, perpetuating the expense of uninsured patients. |
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Key Targets for Investment
- The National Health Insurance Exchange, which will help reform the private insurance market by creating rules and standards for participating insurance plans.
- Mandatory coverage of children.
- Disease management.
- Establishment of an independent institute to guide reviews and research on comparative effectiveness.
- Electronic health information technology.
- Medicines from other developed countries and generics.
Notable Features
- Obama’s plan does not include an individual mandate to purchase insurance, but it does mandate coverage for children.
Experts' Comments"It's one thing to mandate health insurance coverage, but as we are learning in Massachusetts, the real challenge is making it affordable."
Bob Laszewski,
Editor, Health Care Review blog,
Jan. 7, 2008
“ My opponent [Obama] will not commit to universal health care… I do not believe we should nominate any Democrat who will not proudly stand here today, tomorrow and the next day and say universal health care is the goal.”
Hillary Clinton,
quoted by CNN Politics.com on Feb.2, 2008
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For further reading and listening
Obama' 08 On Health Care
Obama on Health Care: Kaiser's Health08.0rg
Barack Obama Key Comments on Health_Care: OnTheIssues.com
It Was Clinton Versus Obama on Health Care: NYTimes
Obama Explains Drawbacks of Individual Mandate:YouTube |
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Obama's Plan 
