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  • Title: Draft Clinton health reform proposal is circulated as alternatives surface.
    Journal: Wash Memo Alan Guttmacher Inst; 1993 Sep 20; (14):1-2. PubMed ID: 12318381.
    Abstract:
    A brief summary is provided of the Clinton draft health reform proposal (a 240-page draft outline) that predated the presidential address before Congress on September 22, 1993, and the complete health reform plan. Hillary Rodham Clinton will present a statement before the Senate Finance Committee and the Labor and Human Resources Committee on September 28, as the chairperson of the President's Task Force on Health Care Reform. Top policy aide Ira Magaziner believes that a coalition of moderate Republicans, liberal Democrats, and moderate Democrats will be to pass the bill. Observers see the battle as one of the most difficult for the Clinton administration. The outlined plan would require employers to pay about 80% of health insurance coverage for their employees, including part-time workers and their dependents. Families would pay the remaining 20%. All individuals would be covered, and special subsidies would be available for those under a specified income threshold. Regional health alliances would mediate between consumer and health plans. Premiums would be paid to the alliances, which would have a discrete geographic territory. Alliances would negotiate with health insurance companies for the best care at the lowest prices. Preexisting medical conditions would not prevent coverage. A standard benefit package would be provided and there would be comparability across plans. For instance, covered care would include hospital care, physician and health professional services, clinical preventive services, mental health and substance abuse, family planning services, pregnancy-related services, and drugs. Prevention coverage would include prenatal and well-baby care and routine physical examinations, and reproductive health service procedures such as mammogram and pelvic examinations. Family planning and pregnancy-related services were not defined, and although contraceptive pills would be covered as prescriptions, it is unclear whether diaphragms or IUDs would be covered. Cost-sharing requirements were not specified. In vitro fertilization would not be covered and abortion services are not mentioned specifically. Congressional concern was raised over financing, and over 100 Democrats have supported a single payer, Canadian-style system. Other plans have been proposed. Experience says that congressional input will be necessary before passage.
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