The Health Care Speech

Continued posting of the bill is on hiatus. First, a lack of time. Second, the very real possibility that everything may begin to change after last night's speech.

Regarding last night's speech:

In baseball parlance, I'd give it a triple with bases loaded. Not exactly a grand slam home run, but a very effective play. Included some details, but you have to remember: Obama is clearly a president who believes that Congress should legislate. He'll lay down some ground rules, but will defer to the legislature when the precise terms are written. This is a clear difference from the Bush administration, which had a habit of legislating from the executive's office. So here's the ground rules of health care reform:

*Do not scrap the current health care system. Examine and revise.
*Meet the following goals:
*Provide security and stability for those with insurance
*Provide insurance for those who currently have none
*Slow the growth of costs
*Those already covered must not be forced to switch coverage or change doctors
*Denying coverage due to preexisting conditions must be prohibited by law
*Coverage may not be dropped or diluted if the policy holder becomes ill
*Arbitrary coverage caps for a year or lifetime will not be allowed
*Out-of-pocket expenses must be limited
*Routine checkups and preventive care must be covered with no additional cost
*Individuals and small businesses may purchase insurance through a market
*Those who cannot afford insurance will be provided with tax credits based upon need
*Insurance companies desiring to participate in the aforementioned market have four years to adhere to the outlined regulations above
*Those currently uninsured due to preexisting conditions will be offered low-cost coverage immediately in case of catastrophic illness
*Health insurance will be mandatory
*Businesses must offer health care or chip in to cover the costs of health care
*There will be a hardship waiver, applicable to 95% of all small businesses
*A public option will be made available, running as a not-for profit
*This public option will only be available to those who currently do not have insurance
*The public option must be self-sufficient
*The overall plan must be deficit neutral
*Establish some method of malpractice reform
*The cost must be limited to $900 billion over 10 years
*Slow the growth of health care costs by 1/10 of 1% per year
*If savings are not up to expectations, create spending cuts

Overall, I see a lot of stuff from HR 3200 in here. That may form a foundation for a unified health care bill. Given these parameters, how would you establish a reformed health care system?