America's Healthy Future Act: A Landmark Health Care Reform Legislation

Montana Senator Max Baucus introduced the America's Healthy Future Act, a comprehensive health care reform legislation that aims to lower costs and provide quality, affordable health care coverage for all Americans. After over a year of preparation, Baucus released his plan, known as the "Chairman's Mark," which includes provisions to make health care more accessible, improve the quality of care, and reduce costs. The bill is fully paid for through increased focus on quality, efficiency, prevention, and adjustments in federal health program payments, with the Congressional Budget Office estimating an $856 billion investment in the health care system over ten years.

Key Takeaways:

• The America's Healthy Future Act creates health care affordability tax credits to help low- and middle-income families purchase insurance in the private market.
• The legislation provides tax credits for small businesses to help them offer insurance to their employees.
• It allows people who like their current coverage to keep it and reform the insurance market to end discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and health status.
• The bill eliminates yearly and lifetime limits on the amount of coverage plans provide and creates web-based insurance exchanges to standardize health plan premiums and coverage information.
• It gives consumers the choice of non-profit, consumer-owned and oriented plans (CO-OP) and standardizes Medicaid coverage for everyone under 133% of the federal poverty level.
• The legislation shifts incentives in Medicare to reward better care, not just more care, and increases the number of primary care doctors in the system.
• It aggressively fights fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare, encourages all of a patient's doctors to coordinate care, and creates incentives for health care providers to improve quality using safer, more cost-effective health technology.
• The bill promotes preventive health care and wellness by providing annual "wellness visits" for Medicare participants, eliminating out-of-pocket costs for screening and prevention services in Medicare, and creating incentives for completing healthy lifestyle programs.

Statistics:

• The Congressional Budget Office estimates the Baucus plan would make an $856 billion investment in the health care system over ten years.
• The plan is fully paid for through increased focus on quality, efficiency, prevention, and adjustments in federal health program payments.
• The legislation aims to create health care affordability tax credits to help low- and middle-income families purchase insurance in the private market.
• Over 40 health care events were held in the state of Montana to prepare for the legislation's introduction.

Sources:

• Release from Montana Senator Max Baucus's office
• America's Healthy Future Act document available at http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/leg/LEG 2009/091609 Americas_Healthy_Future_Act.pdf
• Congressional Budget Office estimate (no specific date or reference provided)