MINNEAPOLIS, November 18, 2008—The AMA has praised U.S. Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., for his important contribution last week to the ongoing effort to reform the nation’s health care system.

At a news conference on Capitol Hill, Baucus unveiled an 89-page health care reform blueprint, which outlines a path to a high-performing health care system. His plan aims to achieve affordable health insurance coverage for all Americans, control health care costs, improve the quality of care our system provides and make the market work better for consumers.

“The AMA looks forward to working with Chairman Baucus, other congressional leaders and the new administration to improve the health care system for the nation’s patients and the physicians who care for them,” said AMA President Nancy H. Nielsen, M.D., PhD. 

Baucus' plan is not in bill form yet, but it is the first proposal for the new Congress to be released.

The outline of the Baucus plan has many points in common with the MMA's Physicians' Plan for a Healthy Minnesota, which has served as a road map for efforts currently underway to reform health care in Minnesota.

Details of the Baucus plan:

• The plan requires that, in time, all U.S. residents will be insured.
• Employers of a certain size must provide coverage for workers or pay into a federal insurance fund.
• People buying insurance on the private market are given tax credits.
• A national health insurance exchange, similar to one proposed by President-elect Barack Obama, would be created to allow small businesses and individuals without insurance to pick from a menu of federally approved private plans along with a new "Medicare-style" federal health care program.
• Insurers would not be able to deny coverage or charge different premiums to people with pre-existing health problems.

The Baucus plan expands Medicare to cover people ages 55 to 64. People with incomes below the federal poverty line will be allowed to enroll in Medicaid.

Under the plan, SCHIP would be renewed and expanded to include all children in families with incomes less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

Sen. Baucus has not explained how penalties would be imposed on people who don't obtain coverage. So far the plan doesn't include a cost estimate, which won't be available until legislative language is finalized.

Baucus said his approach would require "investments" in the first five years but would generate savings after that. "It's important for us to have a good heart-to-heart talk with CBO" on scoring, he said.

Baucus will hold hearings, including one today, November 19, to solicit opinions on his plan.

Tuesday, Sen. Edward Kennedy rejoined Senate colleagues after a lengthy period of rest brought on by a malignant brain tumor. Kennedy promised to put into motion a health plan of his own, also built around the principle of universal care.