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Senator: Proposed health care plan would be more available, affordable

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By Ed Richter, Staff Writer 7:10 PM Thursday, July 9, 2009

The national health care plan being developed by Congress and the Obama Administration will make coverage more available to Americans and over time, less costly.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, along with Nancy-Ann DeParle, who heads the White House Office of Health Reform, hosted a media conference call Thursday, July 9, to discuss how the proposed health reform plan would improve medical care and lower the costs for Ohio families and businesses.

According to Brown, a recent survey indicated that in 82 of Ohio’s 88 counties — 20 percent of the citizens ages 18 to 64 — said they had difficulty in paying medical bills in the past year.

In Butler County, 28 percent surveyed said they had difficulty paying medical bills in the past year, while 20.7 percent had the same difficulty in Warren County.

Brown said his committee “is making major progress on the proposed plan, which will enable people to keep their current health plan if they choose or find other affordable coverage plans if their current plan is inadequate or if a person is uninsured.”

Brown said the public plan would compete against private insurers and would force them to eliminate pre-existing conditions and community ratings and offer stronger preventative services and better quality of care. He said it also roots out fraud and abuse.

“Nothing should happen to anyone’s private insurance, except that the costs may go down over time,” DeParle said, which could save a family overall about $2,500 by the 10th year, she said.

The goal of the plan is to create a system of insurance pools and there may be an expansion of eligibility for people to get on Medicaid, she said.

Brown said those expansions of Medicaid would be paid for by the federal government and not the states.

“Health care will be available to everyone,” he said.

Brown said the working poor who are below the poverty line will get a subsidy for health care and those just above the poverty line will get some assistance. The proposal also would improve long-term care and services for the elderly and the disabled, he said.

Brown said the proposed bill should be ready for consideration in early August or early September.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or erichter@coxohio.com.

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