Senator Barack Obama's health care plan is laden with newregulations and government authority that would leave Americans with even less control of their health care dollars than theyexercise today. A better course would be to transfer control ofhealth care dollars to individuals and families, both to empowerindividuals to make informed choices and to enable the marketplaceto respond rapidly to their needs and wants.
To guarantee the right to choose a better plan, Congressshould model Medicare reform after the successful Federal EmployeesHealth Benefits Program (FEHBP).
Rather than expand Medicaid, a broken welfare program that promisesmore than it can deliver, Congress can directly help the uninsuredget quality private coverage by creating a new system of refundabletax credits as the President and a bipartisan group ofcongressional leaders have proposed.
This analysis examines the House Medicare Modernization andPrescription Drug Act of 2003 (H.R. 2473). The bill establishes auniversal, but voluntary, drug benefit as an entitlement in theMedicare program. The bill also makes changes in traditionalMedicare and creates a new competitive system for Medicare thatwill take effect in 2010.