I get a lot of email and backchannel comments when I post my pro-healthcare reform things and so I thought I’d try to share a plan that is sponsored by Senator Bob Bennett (R-UT) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), “The Healthy Americans Act”:
The Basic Principles of the Healthy Americans Act
CHOICE – Gives Americans choice in what type of coverage best suits their individual and family’s needs and a choice in where they receive health care services.
PORTABILITY – Because the individual will now own their health policy, insurance becomes portable from job to job and individuals will no longer feel tied to their job because of health benefits.
TAX REFORM – Breaks the link between employment and insurance, giving employees instead of employers the tax benefit, which will strengthen incentives to shop for lower cost plans, as well as improve health care quality.
HEALTHY BEHAVIOR – Promotes personal responsibility and preventative medicine by creating incentives for individuals to engage in healthy behavior.
MARKET FORCES – Provides for patient-driven health care through market forces by allowing more transparency and competition, thereby forcing insurance companies to compete on price, benefits, and quality.
You can read more by clicking here.
Not bad. Why aren’t Republicans jumping all over this plan? Because they are nuts. This proposed bill contains the exact talking points that conservatives use when they whine about when they oppose the mostly Democratic bills.
Not a single person who has disagreed with me about healthcare reform in the U.S. has shared this plan. Virtually ever single person who has disagreed with me has listed things they’d like to see from healthcare reform and this plan has it.
Karl Rove likes Senator Bob Bennett, for crying out loud! He wouldn’t be our little lovey dovey Rovey if he didn’t try to throw out some diversionary crap as well:
Rove also defended the federal spending under the Bush administration, saying that, overall, nondefense discretionary spending grew more slowly than inflation during the last years of the Bush administration.
During the Bush years, overall discretionary spending grew at a rate in excess of 30 percent, according to figures from the White House budget office.
So yeah, here’s a bipartisan health plan that isn’t being talked about because the Republican party is insane. Don’t blame me, I’M OPEN TO TALK ABOUT THIS PLAN.