Comparison With Obama's Proposals
Barack Obama campaigned in favor of universal health coverage as early as January 2007. A year later, Obama was differentiating his health care proposal from that of his main rival, Hillary Clinton, by saying "he and Clinton have a philosophical disagreement over her proposal to require Americans to purchase health insurance or face a penalty from the government." By July 2008, Obama was saying he would "lower the country's health care costs enough to "bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family" based on investments in electronic medical records, a reduction in administrative costs, and an improvement in prevention programs and management of chronic diseases.
After Obama became president-elect, Wyden and Bennett and the bill's cosponsors wrote a letter to him on November 20, 2008, recommending seven goals for health care reform legislation, goals reflected in HAA:
- Ensure that all Americans have health care coverage;
- Make sure health care coverage is affordable and portable;
- Implement strong private insurance market reforms;
- Modernize federal tax rules for health coverage;
- Promote improved disease prevention and wellness activities, as well as better management of chronic illnesses;
- Make health care prices and choices more transparent so that consumers and providers can make the best choices for their health and health care dollars; and
- Improve the quality and value of health care services.
Wyden characterized HAA as "harness the Democratic desire to get everyone covered to the Republican interest in markets and consumer choice" and one that had a reasonable chance of getting 70 votes in the U.S. Senate.
Read more about this topic: Healthy Americans Act
Famous quotes containing the words comparison with, comparison and/or proposals:
“From top to bottom of the ladder, greed is aroused without knowing where to find ultimate foothold. Nothing can calm it, since its goal is far beyond all it can attain. Reality seems valueless by comparison with the dreams of fevered imaginations; reality is therefore abandoned.”
—Emile Durkheim (1858–1917)
“[Girls] study under the paralyzing idea that their acquirements cannot be brought into practical use. They may subserve the purposes of promoting individual domestic pleasure and social enjoyment in conversation, but what are they in comparison with the grand stimulation of independence and self- reliance, of the capability of contributing to the comfort and happiness of those whom they love as their own souls?”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)
“One theme links together these new proposals for family policy—the idea that the family is exceedingly durable. Changes in structure and function and individual roles are not to be confused with the collapse of the family. Families remain more important in the lives of children than other institutions. Family ties are stronger and more vital than many of us imagine in the perennial atmosphere of crisis surrounding the subject.”
—Joseph Featherstone (20th century)