Baucus blueprint

Key points in the universal healthcare plan outlined yesterday by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus:

November 13, 2008

Require all Americans to have health coverage and make coverage portable from job to job.

Create a nationwide insurance pool for people who need affordable coverage, and bar private insurers in the pool from precluding people because of pre-existing conditions.

Offer subsidies to help pay premiums, and allow people who already have coverage to keep what they have.

Allow people between 55 and 64 years old to buy into Medicare, allow everyone below poverty level to get Medicaid, and cover all children in families at or below 250 percent of poverty level through the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Guarantee preventive care for the uninsured.

Cut excess spending by finding waste and abuse, reforming medical malpractice laws, and investing in health information technology.

GLOBE STAFF