Republican Presidential Candidate Romney To Announce Health Care Plan That Allows States To Tailor Approach

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 28 Aug 2007 - 13:00 PDT

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Presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) on Friday during a speech to the Florida Medical Association in Hollywood, Fla., is expected to announce a health reform proposal which he says would allow states to develop their own plans to make coverage more affordable and universal, USA Today reports (Lawrence, USA Today, 8/24).

According to the Wall Street Journal, Romney's proposal will not require mandates for individuals or companies to buy insurance coverage, which were features of the Massachusetts health insurance law enacted when he was governor. The plan "focus[es] on tax breaks and streamlining regulations," which advisers say would foster a more market-based approach to health insurance that would allow more people to buy their own plans (Jacoby/Lueck, Wall Street Journal, 8/24).

The New York Times reports that the Romney plan does not include any mandates to purchase coverage, "premised on the belief that it is impossible to create a uniform system for the entire country." Under the proposal, federal funds currently provided to states to help cover the cost of care for the uninsured would be used to allow states to aid low-income residents who do not qualify for public health insurance programs to purchase private coverage. In addition, the federal funds would be used as an incentive to prompt states to revise health insurance regulations, such as benefits mandates and restrictions on HMOs, to reduce the cost of private coverage.

The proposal also would revise the federal tax code to allow U.S. residents who purchase individual health insurance to deduct premiums, deductibles and copayments from their annual incomes (Luo, New York Times, 8/24). In addition, the proposal would revise the system used to determine the amount of federal funds that state Medicaid programs receive by turning the program into a block grant with fewer federal regulations in an effort to encourage states to tailor their programs and help their residents purchase private health insurance (Thomma, McClatchy Newspapers, 8/23). Romney's proposal also includes caps on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits (New York Times, 8/24).

Three Approaches for Helping Uninsured
Romney aides said that the proposal would help the three different groups of uninsured residents: 15 million residents who qualify for, but are not enrolled in, public health insurance programs such as Medicaid and SCHIP will be helped by changes to Medicaid financing and regulations; 12 million low-income residents who do not qualify for such programs will be helped to purchase private converge by the diversion of funds currently used to pay for care for the uninsured; and 18 million middle-income residents who decide not to purchase insurance will be encouraged to elect coverage through new tax breaks and premiums lowered by cutting state regulations.

Romney said, "We're going to make health insurance affordable. We're going to get on track to have every citizen insured. And we're going to reduce the rate of growth in health care spending" (McClatchy Newspapers, 8/23).

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