Friday, November 21, 2008

Senator Baucus' Health Insurance Reform Plan: Can It Pass?

By Ethan Kalvin

Max Baucas, U.S. Senator from Montana, has been a long time supporter for mandating health insurance for the entire nation. He just rolled out a health care and insurance reform plan that would open a nationwide health insurance exchange, in which all U.S. citizens can buy coverage.

Senator Baucus' plan is actually pretty similar to President-Elect Barack Obama's plan he proposed during the campaign. There is, however, one key difference between their plans - Senator Baucus would require all citizens to be covered.

According an article from Reuters, Baucus' plan has gotten a "quick and enthusiastic response" from other members of U.S. Congress -: a sign that his plan might get the support it needs to pass. But some members of Congress pointed out that the economic crisis and a deep federal budget deficit might hold off any plans for such a sweeping health reform.

Likely, they're right. The total budget deficit now stands in the trillions, and there are plans to do a major financial bailout for General Motors and Ford. There's even talk of another economic stimulus package. In the short-term, funding an expensive universal health insurance program might be a bit unrealistic when we look at the challenges we're facing today.

So can it pass? If we were to guess, this plan won't go through anytime in the near future, but could be considered in the year or so.

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