Preview of Clinton Health Plan

Employee Benefits Adviser
September 19, 2007

Some features of Hillary Clinton’s plan include:
* A mandate for individuals to get coverage through their employer or through the public system, which will be expanded.
* Tax credits for Americans to obtain coverage, so working families never have to pay more than a limited percentage of their income for health care.
* A mandate for larger employers to cover workers or pay into the public system.
* Tax credits for small businesses (less than 25 workers) that provide health coverage to their workers.
* Insurance companies can’t deny coverage for pre-existing conditions.
* If you change or lose your job, you can keep your health plan.

"They want to make sure it's affordable,” said Jacob Hacker, Yale professor and advisor to Ms. Clinton. "It's a fairly artful plan [aiming to] build on the existing system where it works and replace it where it doesn't work. You can’t, as an employer, say ‘I’m not going to do anything.’ You can’t offer benefits that are so inadequate that they don’t protect your workers."

Unlike Clinton’s health care proposal in the 1990s, there will be no mandatory health care alliances, and there is an exemption for small businesses.

Former Sen. John Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama support universal health care proposals that share some features with Clinton’s, but have some differences. The estimated cost of the Clinton plan is similar to the cost of Edward's plan and less than the cost of Obama's plan, Hacker said.

With major health reforms, employers may have a greater need of advice from benefit brokers. “I think it will actually increase the role of brokers,” Hacker remarked. “Most employers want to do the right thing.”