In refining his State of the Union address, to be given Jan. 31, President Bush is considering asking Congress to give tax breaks to consumers who buy their own health insurance, reports an article in USA Today. Bush is also expected to talk about ways to provide consumers with medical price information so they can comparison shop for health care. Other topics he is likely to cover are medical malpractice reform, increasing the amounts that can be contributed to health savings accounts, and a proposal for small businesses to pool risk to get better pricing on health insurance. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) faults Bush for not tackling the increasing numbers of uninsured or problems with Medicare Part D. The administration’s “health proposals will fatten the bank accounts of HMOs and the drug industry, and lavish more tax giveaways on the wealthy,” Kennedy is quoted in the article.
