Response to President Obama's Health Care Reform Proposal
The White House on Monday released President Obama's newest health care reform proposal, which the President intends to use as the starting point for discussions at a bipartisan health care reform summit scheduled for Thursday.
Estimated to cost $950 billion over 10 years, the proposal is a detailed road map of what President Obama wants from health reform. The plan received extensive coverage Monday from media such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and
USA Today.
The White House says the proposal bridges the gap between the Senate and House bills and includes new provisions meant to "crack down on waste, fraud and abuse." Among the provisions in the President's plan: increasing the threshold for the excise tax on health plans from $23,000 to $27,500 for a family plan, and implementing the same threshold for all plans in 2018; closing the Medicare prescription drug "donut hole;" and creating a new Health Insurance Rate Authority.
Soon after the President’s proposal was made available to the public, Senate and House Republican leadership released statements condemning the plan. House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued a statement, and Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a news release addressing the plan.
With the Administration ratcheting up the negative insurance company rhetoric last week, it appears the partisan discussions over health care reform show no signs of easing even as a bipartisan summit on health reform rapidly approaches. Despite the current political environment, Aetna supports reasonable, comprehensive health care reform and will continue to work for a bipartisan solution.
No comments:
Post a Comment