Health Security

Preliminary Plan Summary

The Health Security plan guarantees comprehensive health benefits for all American citizens and legal residents, regardless of health or employment status. Health coverage is seamless; it continues with no lifetime limits and without interruption if Americans lose or change jobs, move from one area of the country to another, become ill or confront a family crisis.

Every American citizen will receive a Health Security Card that guarantees comprehensive benefits that can never be taken away. Fundamental principles underlie health care reform:

Americans and their employers are asked to take responsibility for their health coverage and, in return, they are guaranteed the security that they will always be covered under a comprehensive benefit.

The Health Security plan creates incentives for health care providers to compete on the basis of quality, service and price. It unleashes the power of the market and puts American consumers in the driver's seat. Consumers choose from whom and how they get their care.

The plan empowers each state to set up one or more "health alliances" that contract with health plans and bargain on behalf of area consumers and employers. Health plans must meet national standards for coverage, quality, and service set by the National Health Board. But each state tailors its approach to local needs and conditions.

The Health Security plan frees the health care system of much of the paperwork and regulation, allowing doctors, nurses, hospitals and other health providers to focus on providing high-quality care. It cracks down on and abuse, reforms malpractice law and policy and outlaws insurance practices that hurt small businesses and imposes the first national standards for the protection of patient privacy and confidentiality in medical information and records.

Creating Security

The Health Security plan guarantees every American and legal resident health coverage that can never be taken away:

Controlling Costs

The Health Security plan cuts the projected growth in health care costs by increasing competition in health care, reducing administrative costs and imposing budget discipline. Health plans compete to provide affordable, quality care:

If savings attained through competition and reductions in administrative burden fail to contain costs, limits on the rate of growth of insurance premiums provide an emergency brake -- or backstop -- to ensure that premiums remain in line with inflation.

Health reform also reduces the projected rate of growth in federal and state spending for Medicare, Medicaid, and other government programs. Resources conserved from those steps are applied to other aspects of the health care system, particularly the expansion of Medicare benefits to include prescription drugs and for new long-term care services.

The Health Security plan cracks down on providers and institutions that overcharge or engage in health care fraud. It sets tough new standards and imposes stiffer penalties that include:

Expanding Choice

The Health Security plan guarantees consumers a choice of health plans and enhances the patient-doctor relationship.

Enhancing Quality

The Health Security plan improves the quality of health care. It creates standards and guidelines for health professionals, reorienting quality assurance programs to measuring outcomes rather than regulation, increases the national commitment to medical research and promotes primary and preventive care.

Reducing Bureaucracy

The Health Security plan reduces the burden of paperwork and administration, streamlines regulatory, billing and reporting requirements and helps reduce confusion.