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Provide Universal Health Care |
"I have made a solemn pledge that I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family's premium by up to $2,500 a year."
-- Hartford, Conn.
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DECEMBER 24, 2009
Senate Bill Expands Coverage, But Not To All
The Senate passed a sweeping health care overhaul that would greatly expand the number of Americans with health insurance -- while falling far short of Obama's goal of universal coverage. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2019, some 31 million non-elderly people would gain insurance coverage through the bill, leaving about 23 million non-elderly residents -- many of them undocumented immigrants -- without coverage. |
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NOVEMBER 07, 2009
House Passes Health Care Reform
The House passed its health care reform bll, which requires all individuals to have insurance coverage. According to CBO estimates, the plan would cover 96 percent of Americans. |
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SEPTEMBER 09, 2009
Obama Promises Universal Health Care In Joint Session Address
In an address to a joint session of Congress, Obama vowed once again to expand health insurance coverage to every American. He said a final health care bill would mandate health insurance in the same way states require car insurance, and it would offer affordable options and tax credits for those who can't afford insurance. |
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JULY 31, 2009
House Bill Would Require Coverage, Expand Options
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved America's Affordable Health Choices Act, which would require all Americans to have health insurance and require most employers to provide coverage. The Tri-Committee bill would create a government-run public option and a National Health Insurance Exchange where individuals and employers could purchase private or public insurance. |
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JULY 15, 2009
Senate HELP Committee Bill Mandates Health Insurance
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved the Affordable Health Choices Act, which would require all Americans to have health insurance and would require that all employers provide it for their employees. It also establishes the state-based American Health Benefit Gateways, a pooling mechanism where individuals and employers can purchase insurance. |
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JULY 08, 2009
Hospitals Agree To Cut Costs
Vice President Joe Biden formally announced an agreement with three hospital associations to save the government $155 billion over the next 10 years. The deal, which is contingent on national health care reform passing, would help provide coverage to uninsured Americans. |
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APRIL 09, 2009
$2.3 Billion To Fund Child Care And Disease Prevention
Vice President Joe Biden announced the administration would commit $2 billion in stimulus money to a fund allowing states to expand child care services for needy families, and $300 million to an existing program providing vaccinations and immunizations. |
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APRIL 08, 2009
Obama Creates Office Of Health Reform
Obama established the White House Office of Health Reform and a similar office in the Department of Health and Human Services to help move along the administration's reform efforts. The White House team will coordinate work across the legislative and executive branches and coordinate outreach. |
By ALINA SELYUKH
Health care panelists in this year's Georgetown Public Policy Institute Conference said universal coverage faces several significant obstacles, but they echoed Obama's optimism that it can be accomplished.
"Our goal, challenge, problem is creating a high-performance, high-value system that has lower cost, greater access and far better quality," said former Sen. Tom Daschle, who was Obama's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary. He added that “islands of excellence” -- superior technology, providers and institutions -- are already there, just stuck “in the sea of mediocrity.” Daschle urged the government to follow the lead of other countries and "reverse the pyramid" of health spending, switching the treatment paradigm from "illness" to "wellness." The new system would emphasize helping people stay well and then "going up the pyramid" and covering those who are already ill, he said.
Judy Feder, senior adviser to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, decried scare tactics and protests that "we have more to lose than to gain" from a new policy, saying change is essential.
Responding that people really do fear change, Christopher Jennings, former senior health care adviser to President Clinton, stressed the value of a policy that isn’t a trade-off between old plans and new ones, but something that's built on what’s already in place -- letting people keep their plans if they like them but providing additional coverage options.
Daschle outlined several possible sticking points that policymakers will have to grind through, particularly the debate between establishing individual mandates and expanding employer-based coverage. The panel seemed to agree that an effective policy will be based on individuals seeking out the best plan for them.
Feder warned, however, that criticism will abound no matter what plans are put forth. Politically speaking, she said, "it has to be unsafe for members of Congress" to side wth the status quo.
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FEBRUARY 20, 2009
New HRSA Administrator Named
Obama announced Mary Wakefield as the new head of the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services responsible for improving health care access in underserved areas. Wakefield is director of the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota's school of medicine. HRSA received $2.5 billion in the stimulus package for training and facility improvements at its vast network of community clinics. |
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FEBRUARY 04, 2009
Obama Calls SCHIP A 'Down Payment'
In remarks before he signed an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program into law, Obama called the legislation a "down payment on my commitment to cover every single American." |
