Universal health plan could yield savings
March 20, 2007
Bloomberg News
Study: Spending could be cut by $60.7b per year
WASHINGTON -- Expanding government health insurance
coverage to all Americans could reduce healthcare spending by
as much as $60.7 billion a year, according to a study by a
nonpartisan research center.
The estimated savings would include a $33.9 billion cut in
the cost of prescription drugs, the New York-based
Commonwealth Fund said in a report yesterday . The
organization evaluated proposals introduced in Congress in
recent years, including some that would allow everyone to
enroll in Medicare, the government health insurance program
that now serves older Americans and the disabled.
Congress and President Bush are debating what to do to help
America's uninsured, about 47 million people. Polls show
Americans are concerned about rising healthcare costs, which
make up about 16 percent of total US spending.
"We wanted to highlight that there were feasible bills
introduced to Congress over the past two years that would
incrementally or more fundamentally expand coverage," Sara
Collins, the fund's assistant vice president, said in a
telephone interview.
The study examined 10 proposed plans and assumed each was
fully in place in 2007. The research was carried out the Lewin
Group, a health consulting firm based in Falls Church, Va.
The $60.7 billion in savings was based on legislation
proposed last year by Representative Pete Stark, a Democrat
from California, that would allow everyone to get insurance
through Medicare or government-approved private plans under
Medicare. Employers with 100 or more workers could keep paying
for private coverage or contribute to a fund to have employees
covered through the government.
Bush's healthcare proposal, calling for a tax deduction for
health insurance, would cover 9 million people that are now
uninsured and save about $11.7 billion a year, the study said.
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