Wyden's Universal Health Insurance Bill

The devil is in the details, but Senator Ron Wyden’s proposal to make health insurance coverage universal in the United States is intriguing. Here is the plan in a nutshell (as outlined in the LA Times):

Wyden's plan would require employers to continue
contributing toward the cost of health coverage, but it
would get them out the business of directly providing
insurance and limit their exposure to double-digit annual
inflation in healthcare costs.

In the first two years of the plan, employers who now
provide coverage would be required to directly pay
workers what they were spending on insurance.
Thereafter, most companies would pay the government
a healthcare contribution that resembles a payroll tax.

Using the money from their employers, individuals would
be required to purchase private insurance policies
through state purchasing pools. Benefits would be
keyed to the Blue Cross Blue Shield Standard Plan
available to federal workers. Workers would not have to
pay higher income taxes because of the employer
contribution.

The uninsured would also have to buy coverage, but
premiums for the poor would be fully subsidized by the
government, and middle-class families with incomes up
to $80,000 for a family of four would be eligible for help
on a sliding scale.

Premiums from individuals and contributions from
employers would be collected by the government
through the tax system and distributed to insurers.
Once enrolled, individuals would be covered until
retirement. Seniors in the Medicare program would not
have to make any changes.

The net effect on healthcare spending in the US would be a slight decrease nationwide, experts say. While not a panacea, it would actually cover everyone for the first time and show that it can be done without breaking the bank. One imagines that having accomplished this, the American people might find it easier to consider improvements to the system that would make it more equitable for all in the future.

Companies like Safeway supermarkets are supportive as are liberal groups like Families USA. When introduced, the 166 page plan will surely focus more attention on the need to make our insurance system more responsive to the needs of the uninsured and to rising healthcare costs. Actually enacting a plan may have to wait for a White House that will be supportive.