Finally, a path forward on healthcare reform that can actually be implemented in our current system |
DOWNLOAD THE FULL COVERAGE FOR ALL PROPOSAL
|
Coverage for All (C4A) is perhaps the only realistic approach to achieving universal healthcare coverage in the United States, and starting the process of transforming our healthcare system. Proposals such as Medicare for All would radically upend almost every part of the U.S. healthcare system. Coverage for All takes a different approach, working within the current system. It changes only one key element, who collects funds for healthcare, but leaves the rest of our healthcare economy generally in place. Because it is designed to work within the healthcare system we have, it has a legitimate chance of being implemented and working.
The C4A Credit: Under C4A, every person not on Social Security receives a $5,000 credit to spend towards their healthcare coverage. Each person decides which organization spends that credit on their behalf for their healthcare: an insurer or health maintenance organization, an employer or union Taft-Hartley health plan or integrated care network. To pay for the Credit, the federal government imposes a tax on individuals and businesses selling in the United States sufficient to cover the cost of the Credits, approximately $1.3 trillion. The Credit can be supplemented by employers or unions or individuals to purchase broader healthcare coverage.
The Importance of Separating Collector from Payor
C4A sidesteps what, for many people, is the most concerning part of healthcare reform, putting the federal government in charge of people’s care. “Who pays” for the healthcare we receive is one of the most contentious questions in healthcare. The payor, ultimately, is responsible for rationing care and inevitably some of these spending decisions result in people being denied care. For many people, making the government the payor would be a radical expansion of the government’s control over our lives and our liberties. Again, C4A avoids this question - under C4A, each person decides for themselves which organization actually pays their bills, whether their existing employer or union plan, insurance company, etc.
An Evolution, Not a Revolution
The advantage of the Coverage for All approach is it wouldn’t rip our existing system by the roots. The people that have good insurance would continue to have good insurance, with their plans operating as they currently do. However Coverage for All will eventually lead to an evolution of our healthcare system, enabling new participants and new approaches to healthcare. By changing the dynamic of this one critical part of our healthcare system, collecting the funds for care, the people providing and receiving the care will have the resources and opportunities to re-imagine care delivery in the United States.
Not New Ideas, Just a New Combination
The idea of having the Federal government collect funds for healthcare and then provide them as a credit isn’t new, it goes back to the 1970s. Most recently, Sen. John McCain, in his 2008 presidential campaign, made a version of the credits the centerpiece of his healthcare policy. Virtually everything referenced in Coverage for All either exists in our current healthcare system, or has been proposed as a possible reform. Through the Affordable Care Act we already provide government credits; C4A would just expand their use and enable more plan providers, including Taft-Hartley plans to register to receive the credits. Coverage for All doesn’t force a revolution in healthcare. It solves for one problem, universal coverage, and assumes the system itself, and the people in the system, will figure out the other challenge, controlling healthcare costs. It offers a gradual, realistic path to changing US healthcare.
If you would like to discuss the proposal or have a general conversation about healthcare reform, please contact me at [email protected]. or call (314) 374-6826. Thanks, Blake Ashby
The C4A Credit: Under C4A, every person not on Social Security receives a $5,000 credit to spend towards their healthcare coverage. Each person decides which organization spends that credit on their behalf for their healthcare: an insurer or health maintenance organization, an employer or union Taft-Hartley health plan or integrated care network. To pay for the Credit, the federal government imposes a tax on individuals and businesses selling in the United States sufficient to cover the cost of the Credits, approximately $1.3 trillion. The Credit can be supplemented by employers or unions or individuals to purchase broader healthcare coverage.
The Importance of Separating Collector from Payor
C4A sidesteps what, for many people, is the most concerning part of healthcare reform, putting the federal government in charge of people’s care. “Who pays” for the healthcare we receive is one of the most contentious questions in healthcare. The payor, ultimately, is responsible for rationing care and inevitably some of these spending decisions result in people being denied care. For many people, making the government the payor would be a radical expansion of the government’s control over our lives and our liberties. Again, C4A avoids this question - under C4A, each person decides for themselves which organization actually pays their bills, whether their existing employer or union plan, insurance company, etc.
An Evolution, Not a Revolution
The advantage of the Coverage for All approach is it wouldn’t rip our existing system by the roots. The people that have good insurance would continue to have good insurance, with their plans operating as they currently do. However Coverage for All will eventually lead to an evolution of our healthcare system, enabling new participants and new approaches to healthcare. By changing the dynamic of this one critical part of our healthcare system, collecting the funds for care, the people providing and receiving the care will have the resources and opportunities to re-imagine care delivery in the United States.
Not New Ideas, Just a New Combination
The idea of having the Federal government collect funds for healthcare and then provide them as a credit isn’t new, it goes back to the 1970s. Most recently, Sen. John McCain, in his 2008 presidential campaign, made a version of the credits the centerpiece of his healthcare policy. Virtually everything referenced in Coverage for All either exists in our current healthcare system, or has been proposed as a possible reform. Through the Affordable Care Act we already provide government credits; C4A would just expand their use and enable more plan providers, including Taft-Hartley plans to register to receive the credits. Coverage for All doesn’t force a revolution in healthcare. It solves for one problem, universal coverage, and assumes the system itself, and the people in the system, will figure out the other challenge, controlling healthcare costs. It offers a gradual, realistic path to changing US healthcare.
If you would like to discuss the proposal or have a general conversation about healthcare reform, please contact me at [email protected]. or call (314) 374-6826. Thanks, Blake Ashby