Plan de Salud Barack Obama
Resumen
The
Problem
Millions of Americans are uninsured or underinsured because of
rising medical costs: 47 million Americans - including nearly
9 million children - lack health insurance with no signs of this
trend slowing down.
Health care costs are skyrocketing: Health insurance premiums
have risen 4 times faster than wages over the past 6 years.
Too little
is spent on prevention and public health: The nation faces epidemics
of obesity and chronic diseases as well as new threats of pandemic
flu and bioterrorism. Yet despite all of this less than 4 cents
of every health care dollar is spent on prevention and public health.
Barack Obama's Plan
Quality,
Affordable and Portable Coverage for All
- Obama's
Plan to Cover Uninsured Americans: Obama will make available
a new national health plan to all Americans, including the self-employed
and small businesses, to buy affordable health coverage that is
similar to the plan available to members of Congress. The Obama
plan will have the following features:
1. Guaranteed eligibility. No American will be turned away
from any insurance plan because of illness or pre-existing conditions.
2. Comprehensive benefits. The benefit package will be
similar to that offered through Federal Employees Health Benefits
Program (FEHBP), the plan members of Congress have. The plan will
cover all essential medical services, including preventive, maternity
and mental health care.
3. Affordable premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
4. Subsidies. Individuals and families who do not qualify
for Medicaid or SCHIP but still need financial assistance will
receive an income-related federal subsidy to buy into the new
public plan or purchase a private health care plan.
5. Simplified paperwork and reined in health costs.
6. Easy enrollment. The new public plan will be simple
to enroll in and provide ready access to coverage.
7. Portability and choice. Participants in the new public
plan and the National Health Insurance Exchange (see below) will
be able to move from job to job without changing or jeopardizing
their health care coverage.
8. Quality and efficiency. Participating insurance companies
in the new public program will be required to report data to ensure
that standards for quality, health information technology and
administration are being met.
- National
Health Insurance Exchange: The Obama plan will create a National
Health Insurance Exchange to help individuals who wish to purchase
a private insurance plan. The Exchange will act as a watchdog
group and help 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.
Insurers would have to issue every applicant a policy, and charge
fair and stable premiums that will not depend upon health status.
The Exchange will require that all the plans offered are at least
as generous as the new public plan and have the same standards
for quality and efficiency. The Exchange would evaluate plans
and make the differences among the plans, including cost of services,
public.
- Employer
Contribution: Employers that do not offer or make a meaningful
contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their
employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll
toward the costs of the national plan. Small employers that meet
certain revenue thresholds will be exempt.
- Mandatory
Coverage of Children: Obama will require that all children
have health care coverage. Obama will expand the number of options
for young adults to get coverage, including allowing young people
up to age 25 to continue coverage through their parents' plans.
- Expansion
Of Medicaid and SCHIP: Obama will expand eligibility for the
Medicaid and SCHIP programs and ensure that these programs continue
to serve their critical safety net function.
- Flexibility
for State Plans: Due to federal inaction, some states have
taken the lead in health care reform. The Obama plan builds on
these efforts and does not replace what states are doing. States
can continue to experiment, provided they meet the minimum standards
of the national plan.
Lower Costs by Modernizing The U.S.
Health Care System
- Reducing
Costs of Catastrophic Illnesses for Employers and Their Employees:
Catastrophic health expenditures account for a high percentage
of medical expenses for private insurers. The Obama plan would
reimburse employer health plans for a portion of the catastrophic
costs they incur above a threshold if they guarantee such savings
are used to reduce the cost of workers' premiums.
- Helping
Patients:
1. Support disease management programs. Seventy five percent of
total health care dollars are spent on patients with one or more
chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood
pressure. Obama will require that providers that participate in
the new public plan, Medicare or the Federal Employee Health Benefits
Program (FEHBP) utilize proven disease management programs. This
will improve quality of care, give doctors better information
and lower costs.
2. Coordinate and integrate care. Over 133 million Americans have
at least one chronic disease and these chronic conditions cost
a staggering $1.7 trillion yearly. Obama will support implementation
of programs and encourage team care that will improve coordination
and integration of care of those with chronic conditions.
3. Require full transparency about quality and costs. Obama will
require hospitals and providers to collect and publicly report
measures of health care costs and quality, including data on preventable
medical errors, nurse staffing ratios, hospital-acquired infections,
and disparities in care. Health plans will also be required to
disclose the percentage of premiums that go to patient care as
opposed to administrative costs.
- Ensuring
Providers Deliver Quality Care:
1. Promote patient safety. Obama will require providers
to report preventable medical errors and support hospital and
physician practice improvement to prevent future occurrences.
2. Align incentives for excellence. Both public and private
insurers tend to pay providers based on the volume of services
provided, rather than the quality or effectiveness of care. Providers
who see patients enrolled in the new public plan, the National
Health Insurance Exchange, Medicare and FEHBP will be rewarded
for achieving performance thresholds on outcome measures.
3. Comparative effectiveness research. Obama will establish
an independent institute to guide reviews and research on comparative
effectiveness, so that Americans and their doctors will have the
accurate and objective information they need to make the best
decisions for their health and well-being.
4. Tackle disparities in health care. Obama will tackle
the root causes of health disparities by addressing differences
in access to health coverage and promoting prevention and public
health, both of which play a major role in addressing disparities.
He will also challenge the medical system to eliminate inequities
in health care through quality measurement and reporting, implementation
of effective interventions such as patient navigation programs,
and diversification of the health workforce.
5. Insurance reform. Obama will strengthen antitrust laws
to prevent insurers from overcharging physicians for their malpractice
insurance and will promote new models for addressing errors that
improve patient safety, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship
and reduce the need for malpractice suits.
- Lowering
Costs Through Investment in Electronic Health Information Technology
Systems: Most medical records are still stored on paper, which
makes it hard to coordinate care, measure quality or reduce medical
errors and which costs twice as much as electronic claims. Obama
will invest $10 billion a year over the next five years to move
the U.S. health care system to broad adoption of standards-based
electronic health information systems, including electronic health
records, and will phase in requirements for full implementation
of health IT. Obama will ensure that patients' privacy is protected.
- Lowering
Costs by Increasing Competition in the Insurance and Drug Markets:
The insurance business today is dominated by a small group of
large companies that has been gobbling up their rivals. There
have been over 400 health care mergers in the last 10 years, and
just two companies dominate a full third of the national market.
These changes were supposed to make the industry more efficient,
but instead premiums have skyrocketed by over 87 percent.
1. Barack Obama will prevent companies from abusing their monopoly
power through unjustified price increases. His plan will force
insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient
care instead of keeping exorbitant amounts for profits and administration.
His new National Health Exchange will help increase competition
by insurers.
2. Lower prescription drug costs. The second-fastest growing
type of health expenses is prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical
companies are selling the exact same drugs in Europe and Canada
but charging Americans more than double the price. Obama will
allow Americans to buy their medicines from other developed countries
if the drugs are safe and prices are lower outside the U.S. Obama
will also repeal the ban that prevents the government from negotiating
with drug companies, which could result in savings as high as
$30 billion. Finally, Obama will work to increase the use of generic
drugs in Medicare, Medicaid, and FEHBP and prohibit big name drug
companies from keeping generics out of markets.
Fight for New Initiatives
- Advance
the Biomedical Research Field: As a result of biomedical research
the prevention, early detection and treatment of diseases such
as cancer and heart disease is better today than any other time
in history. Barack Obama has consistently supported funding for
the national institutes of health and the national science foundation.
Obama strongly supports investments in biomedical research, as
well as medical education and training in health-related fields,
because it provides the foundation for new therapies and diagnostics.
Obama has been a champion of research in cancer, mental health,
health disparities, global health, women and children's health,
and veterans' health. As president, Obama will strengthen funding
for biomedical research, and better improve the efficiency of
that research by improving coordination both within government
and across government/private/non-profit partnerships. An Obama
administration will ensure that we translate scientific progress
into improved approaches to disease prevention, early detection
and therapy that is available for all Americans.
- Fight
AIDS Worldwide. There are 40 million people across the planet
infected with HIV/AIDS. As president, Obama will continue to be
a global leader in the fight against AIDS. Obama believes in working
across party lines to combat this epidemic and recently joined
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) at a large California evangelical
church to promote greater investment in the global AIDS battle.
- Support
Americans with Disabilities: As a former civil rights lawyer,
Barack Obama knows firsthand the importance of strong protections
for minority communities in our society. Obama is committed to
strengthening and better enforcing the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) so that future generations of Americans with disabilities
have equal rights and opportunities. Obama believes we must restore
the original legislative intent of the ADA in the wake of court
decisions that have restricted the interpretation of this landmark
legislation. Barack Obama is also committed to ensuring that disabled
Americans receive Medicaid and Medicare benefits in a low-cost,
effective and timely manner. Recognizing that many individuals
with disabilities rely on Medicare, Obama worked with Senator
Ken Salazar (D-CO) to urge the department of health and human
services to provide clear and reliable information on the Medicare
prescription drug benefit and to ensure that the Medicare recipients
were protected from fraudulent claims by marketers and drug plan
agents.
- Improve
Mental Health Care. Mental illness affects approximately one
in five American families. The National Alliance on Mental Illness
estimates that untreated mental illnesses cost the U.S. more than
$100 billion per year. As president, Obama will support mental
health parity so that coverage for serious mental illnesses are
provided on the same terms and conditions as other illnesses and
diseases.
- Protect
Our Children from Lead Poisoning. More than 430,000 American
children have dangerously high levels of lead in their blood.
Lead can cause irreversible brain damage, learning disabilities,
behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma
and death. As president, Obama will protect children from lead
poisoning by requiring that child care facilities be lead-safe
within five years.
- Reduce
Risks of Mercury Pollution. More than five million women of
childbearing age have high levels of toxic mercury in their blood,
and approximately 630,000 newborns are born at risk every year.
Barack Obama has a plan to significantly reduce the amount of
mercury that is deposited in oceans, lakes, and rivers, which
in turn would reduce the amount of mercury in fish.
- Support
Americans with Autism. More than one million Americans have
autism, a complex neurobiological condition that has a range of
impacts on thinking, feeling, language, and the ability to relate
to others. As diagnostic criteria broaden and awareness increases,
more cases of autism have been recognized across the country.
Barack Obama believes that we can do more to help autistic Americans
and their families understand and live with autism. He has been
a strong supporter of more than $1 billion in federal funding
for autism research on the root causes and treatments, and he
believes that we should increase funding for the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act to truly ensure that no child is left
behind.
More than anything,
autism remains a profound mystery with a broad spectrum of effects
on autistic individuals, their families, loved ones, the community,
and education and health care systems. Obama believes that the government
and our communities should work together to provide a helping hand
to autistic individuals and their families.
Barack
Obama's Record
- Health
Insurance: In 2003, Barack Obama sponsored and passed legislation
that expanded health care coverage to 70,000 kids and 84,000 adults.
In the U.S. Senate, Obama cosponsored the Healthy Kids Act of
2007 and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
Reauthorization Act of 2007 to ensure that more American children
have affordable health care coverage.
- Women's
Health: Obama worked to pass a number of laws in Illinois
and Washington to improve the health of women. His accomplishments
include creating a task force on cervical cancer, providing greater
access to breast and cervical cancer screenings, and helping improve
prenatal and premature birth services.
Fuente
http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
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