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How to strengthen Obamacare, courtesy of the Progessive Caucus.
The following is from the CPC's Better Off Budget.
HEALTH CARE
An aging population and rising health care costs represent one of the greatest federal budget challenges. To meet this challenge, the Better Off Budget lowers health care costs while protecting consumers. We build on the positive reforms in the Affordable Care Act that are known to bend the health care cost curve over time. Medicare operates more efficiently than private health care systems; our budget protects Medicare's integrity and creates savings to improve long-term solvency. Our budget also provides states the freedom to improve on the Affordable Care Act by transitioning to a single payer system of care.
Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Negotiation – permits the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers. Giving HHS the ability to negotiate prices, as the Department of Veterans Affairs currently does, will save Medicare $157 billion over 10 years and will reduce costs for seniors.
Payment Improvements – builds on Affordable Care Act solutions by accelerating the use of bundled payments as an alternative to fee-for-service. Single payments are provided for a group of related services which creates incentives for providers to coordinate care. Paying for quality of care instead of quantity leads to better outcomes and cost savings.
Offer a Public Option – improves the Affordable Care Act by allowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to offer a public health insurance option within the health insurance marketplaces. This ensures choice, competition, and stability in coverage. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the premium costs for Americans under the public option would be between 7 and 8 percent lower than costs in private exchange plans.
Cigarette Tax – raises the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 50 cents per pack. CBO finds that younger smokers are especially deterred by higher prices, resulting in a decline of smoking rates by approximately 3 percent.
Junk Food and Fast Food Marketing – ends the tax deductibility of advertising and marketing junk food and fast food to children. One out of every three children is overweight or obese, disproportionately affecting communities of color and low-income children.
Closing the Medicare Tax Loophole (NEWT Act) – adopts Rep. Charles Rangel’s Narrowing Exceptions for Withholding Taxes (NEWT) Act, which would clarify that individuals are unable to avoid employment taxes by routing their earnings through a limited liability corporation or a limited partnership. Newt Gingrich has used this loophole to avoid paying some Medicare taxes.
Generic Prescription Drug Development and Release – prohibits “pay for delay” agreements that brand name manufacturers use to reduce competition and prevent lower cost alternatives from entering the market.
State Waivers – until we guarantee universal access to quality care, our work is not complete. As states continue to struggle with their budgets, we will provide them with the ability to set up and administer more efficient state-level single payer health programs. Our budget allows necessary waivers and protects existing federal funding for those states establishing a state single payer program.
http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/uploads/The%20Better%20Off%20Budget.pdf
An aging population and rising health care costs represent one of the greatest federal budget challenges. To meet this challenge, the Better Off Budget lowers health care costs while protecting consumers. We build on the positive reforms in the Affordable Care Act that are known to bend the health care cost curve over time. Medicare operates more efficiently than private health care systems; our budget protects Medicare's integrity and creates savings to improve long-term solvency. Our budget also provides states the freedom to improve on the Affordable Care Act by transitioning to a single payer system of care.
Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Negotiation – permits the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers. Giving HHS the ability to negotiate prices, as the Department of Veterans Affairs currently does, will save Medicare $157 billion over 10 years and will reduce costs for seniors.
Payment Improvements – builds on Affordable Care Act solutions by accelerating the use of bundled payments as an alternative to fee-for-service. Single payments are provided for a group of related services which creates incentives for providers to coordinate care. Paying for quality of care instead of quantity leads to better outcomes and cost savings.
Offer a Public Option – improves the Affordable Care Act by allowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to offer a public health insurance option within the health insurance marketplaces. This ensures choice, competition, and stability in coverage. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the premium costs for Americans under the public option would be between 7 and 8 percent lower than costs in private exchange plans.
Cigarette Tax – raises the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 50 cents per pack. CBO finds that younger smokers are especially deterred by higher prices, resulting in a decline of smoking rates by approximately 3 percent.
Junk Food and Fast Food Marketing – ends the tax deductibility of advertising and marketing junk food and fast food to children. One out of every three children is overweight or obese, disproportionately affecting communities of color and low-income children.
Closing the Medicare Tax Loophole (NEWT Act) – adopts Rep. Charles Rangel’s Narrowing Exceptions for Withholding Taxes (NEWT) Act, which would clarify that individuals are unable to avoid employment taxes by routing their earnings through a limited liability corporation or a limited partnership. Newt Gingrich has used this loophole to avoid paying some Medicare taxes.
Generic Prescription Drug Development and Release – prohibits “pay for delay” agreements that brand name manufacturers use to reduce competition and prevent lower cost alternatives from entering the market.
State Waivers – until we guarantee universal access to quality care, our work is not complete. As states continue to struggle with their budgets, we will provide them with the ability to set up and administer more efficient state-level single payer health programs. Our budget allows necessary waivers and protects existing federal funding for those states establishing a state single payer program.
http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/uploads/The%20Better%20Off%20Budget.pdf
On drug prices, Obamacare also improved the Medicaid drug rebate program, which is one of the best.
The President has proposed the same rate for Medicare (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022670043 ), which would save even more than the Senate proposal (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022725266), $164 billion to $141 billion, respectively. The Better Off Budget indicates a savings of $157 billion.
On waivers:
But even here, remedies could evolve. States might use their state-run exchanges to funnel so many applicants to a single, low-cost insurer that the insurer becomes, in effect, a single payer. Vermont is already moving in this direction, and California may be next. In this way, the Affordable Care Act could become a back door to a single-payer system – every conservative’s worst nightmare.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024699353
Obamacare: It's Obama's signature achievement
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024695694
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