Yesterday, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Pensions and Labor Committee, and Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, introduced legislation to extend Medicare to all Americans, reduce costs, and improve quality of care, including more effective use of health IT.
The goal of Medicare for All is to address many of U.S. healthcare’s greatest challenges by providing universal coverage within five years through a three-stage phase-in, benefits equivalent to those available to senators and representatives, choice of enrollment in Medicare or private plans through a plan similar to the one available to federal employees, financing through a payroll tax that will reduce average employer healthcare expenses, and incentives to improve quality and bring IT to medical care.
“We applaud Senators Kennedy and Dingell for focusing attention on providing universal coverage. This issue has been on the back burner of Congress for much too long,” said Richard L. Clarke, DHA, FHFMA, president and CEO of HFMA. “The idea of ‘Medicare for All,’ however, seems to be a ‘one size fits all’ approach to this problem. The issues of providing coverage for the uninsured and underinsured are very complex, and one size may not fit all. We need an approach that keeps the best parts of our pluralistic system of delivery and payment while dealing with the real problems of access for the uninsured and cost.”
