The President's Proposals for Health Security in the World's Best Health Care System

The President believes that we should trust patients, working with health care professionals, to decide which treatment is best for them. Everyone should be able to choose a health care plan that meets their needs at a price they can afford. When people have good choices, health plans have to compete for their business - which means higher quality and better care. Many Americans enjoy access to good choices in employer-sponsored health care plans, but many others do not have good coverage options or are in danger of losing them. The President proposes to address this problem through over $117 billion in initiatives to make good health care coverage more available and affordable, as well as initiatives to improve the options available to people enrolled in the Medicaid and S-CHIP programs.

• Health Accounts
• Association Health Plans
• Health Credits
• Innovative Health Care Options in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program
• Stronger Medicare with Improved Benefits
• Modern Long-Term Care

II.    IMPROVING THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM BY CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT THAT ENCOURAGES AND REWARDS QUALITY

• Effective Patient Protections
• Better Information for Patients
• Support for Efforts by Health Care Professionals to Improve Quality

III.    EFFECTIVE SUPPORT TO STRENGTHEN THE HEALTH CARE SAFETY NET AND INCREASE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH

The President's proposals for improving health care coverage options will make health insurance affordable for millions of Americans, and will provide better and more up-to-date coverage options for many millions more. But the President believes that we must also improve access to preventive and primary care for Americans who are not insured. Additionally, many of our nation's uninsured or medically underserved live in rural areas or inner city neighborhoods where there is a shortage of physicians and other health care providers. Strengthening the health care safety net is a necessary part of improving American's access to care, and to helping our health care system focus on preventing disease rather than treating avoidable complications. The President has proposed major initiatives to strengthen the health care safety net.

• Expanded Community Health Centers
• Improving Service to the Underserved Through the National Health Service Corps
• Doubling the Budget of the National Institutes of Health
• Heightened Vigilance for Public Health Threats
• Public Health Education