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| | All four plans include more spending and potentially reduced access by patients to treatment. Commentators are predicting quick action by the Democratic Congress and Presidency in 2009 on this.<ref>http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20081203/OPINION/812030387/1049/OPINION</ref> | | All four plans include more spending and potentially reduced access by patients to treatment. Commentators are predicting quick action by the Democratic Congress and Presidency in 2009 on this.<ref>http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20081203/OPINION/812030387/1049/OPINION</ref> |
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| − | Health care constitutes one-seventh of the economy, and there are 47 million uninsured residents of America. But many of those are uninsured by choice, or uninsured temporarily. The real [[liberal]] motivation to change health care, which was the first priority of [[Hillary Clinton]] when her president took office back in 1993, is to effect social change. [[Abortion]] and the [[homosexual agenda]] can be advanced under the banner of health care reform in a way that would never pass otherwise. | + | Health care constitutes one-seventh of the economy, and there are 47 million uninsured residents of America. But millions of those are uninsured by choice, or uninsured only temporarily, or in the country illegally. The real [[liberal]] motivation to change health care, which was the first priority of [[Hillary Clinton]] when her president took office back in 1993, is to effect social change. [[Abortion]] and the [[homosexual agenda]] can be advanced under the banner of health care reform in a way that would never pass otherwise. |
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| − | None of the plans are expected to be "single payer," at least not initially and publicly so. "[T]his option has been declared 'off the table' by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who's among those leading the charge for health-care reform in America. Top Democrats who will be deciding policy in America in 2009, including Baucus and President-elect Barack Obama, say single-payer is 'not politically feasible,' because the public won't strongly support it."<ref name="Single Payer">http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/12/03/state/80st_081203_column.txt</ref> The biggest supporter of "single payer" was Michigan Democrat John Conyers,<ref name="Single Payer"/> but he lost a key committee chairmanship for the new Congress in 2009. | + | None of the proposed plans are "single payer," at least not initially and publicly so. "[T]his option has been declared 'off the table' by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who's among those leading the charge for health-care reform in America. Top Democrats who will be deciding policy in America in 2009, including Baucus and President-elect Barack Obama, say single-payer is 'not politically feasible,' because the public won't strongly support it."<ref name="Single Payer">http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/12/03/state/80st_081203_column.txt</ref> The biggest supporter of "single payer" was Michigan Democrat John Conyers,<ref name="Single Payer"/> but he lost a key committee chairmanship for the new Congress in 2009. But note that Baucus's approach does provided for a taxpayer-subsidized government plan to "compete" with private plans, and supporters of this approach may intend for the taxpayer-subsidized plan to squeeze out the private plans over time in order to become a "single payer." |
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| − | Each of the Democratic plans is summarized below. | + | Most of the plans do call for mandatory insurance purchases by individuals, and mandatory insurance benefits by employers. Currently, only three states have mandatory insurance:<ref>http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=16&issue=20081119</ref> |
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| | + | :In Massachusetts, individuals must purchase health insurance or pay a tax penalty. Businesses must offer their staff insurance or pay $295 per worker to a fund for the uninsured. Vermont has a similar "pay or play" employer mandate, with a $365 penalty per worker. Hawaii requires employers to provide coverage to all employees working more than 20 hours a week. |
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| | + | Each of the new Democratic plans is summarized below. |
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| | == Ted Kennedy's Plan == | | == Ted Kennedy's Plan == |