Obama proposing to allow states more flexibility to reach universal health care

On Monday President Obama announced his support for a bill that will allow states more freedom to reach the broad goals of universal health care coverage set by the Affordable Care Act.

Under the bill, sponsored by Senators Ron Wyden (D) and Scott Brown (R), states could apply for waivers as early as 2014 to opt out from many requirements in the health care reform bill. These states would be required to demonstrate that they can cover just as many people with insurance that is as comprehensive and affordable as that provided by the federal law. Currently, the law allows states to apply for these waivers beginning in 2017.

This proposal to allow states the freedom to experiment with different strategies to achieve coverage goals laid out by the federal government seems to have bipartisan appeal. In a letter to the National Governor’s Association Republican Senator Orrin Hatch said: “The most effective path to sustainable health care reform runs through the states, not Washington.”

Independent progressive Senator Bernie Sanders also supports the provision saying: ““I believe that at the end of the day, if a state goes forward and passes an effective single-payer program, it will demonstrate that you can provide quality health care to every man, woman and child in a more cost effective way. So I wanted to make sure that states have that option.”

You can read more about the proposed changes here.

-- New York Times / Washington Post / WhiteHouse.gov