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Biden Lays Out Health Care Plan

October 23, 2007 6:47 PM

ABC News' Brian Wheeler Reports: Sen. Joseph Biden D-Del., unveiled his healthcare plan today at a press conference in Des Moines, Iowa.

"All Americans should have access to health care and the principles that I have laid out today represent a gateway toward that very important goal, " said Biden.

The key word in that sentence is access, and if the Senator’s campaign is able to pick up steam the difference between his plan and those of his opponents will be cast into stark relief. Biden's plan would not mandate universal health coverage, as do the proposals of most other Democratic candidates for president. The notable exception to the pack is the Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, who has mandated health care for children but not for all adults. (For more on that fight see here).

Senator Biden's plan would provide for health care coverage for the nation’s 9 million uninsured kids by expanding the State Children’s Heath Insurance Program, or SCHIP, to 300 percent of the federal poverty level ($61,950 for a family of four) and extend the coverage to age 21.

He would provide access (there's that word again!) to adults by establishing an insurance program with employers, employees, and the government sharing the cost of the premium (your share would be dependent on your income). Biden would also allow people between the age of 55 and 64 to buy into Medicare, with a government subsidy to help those who can’t afford regular insurance before Medicare kicks in at age 65.

Biden's plan also includes a federal reinsurance program to reimburse insurers and employers for catastrophic health costs (anything over $50,000; like surgery for example), provided they give health insurance to their employees, or in the case of insurance companies, "demonstrate that they operate an effective high cost case management system." According to Biden’s campaign, this could in theory reduce the cost of insurance over all by preventing one high claim from pushing everyone’s insurance premium up.

According to the AP, and confirmed with the campaign by ABC News, Biden's plan would cost $110 billion dollars a year, and he’d pay for it by rolling back the Bush tax cuts and eliminating tax breaks on capital gains.

The Senator will explain it all himself Thursday at 11:00 am at the Families USA Healthcare forum, and you can watch him right here.

October 23, 2007 in Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (0)

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