Copyright 2000 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
Chicago
Sun-Times
January 20, 2000, THURSDAY, Late
Sports Final Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 22
LENGTH: 383 words
HEADLINE:
Clinton health plan tab: $ 110 billion
DATELINE:
WASHINGTON
BODY:
President Clinton proposed $ 110
billion worth of health insurance programs, asking the
Republican-dominated Congress to approve the largest investment in health care
since Medicare was created in 1965.
Less-expensive versions of the
programs died last year, in part because of the president's veto of the
Republicans' $ 792 billion tax-cutting plan.
The largest ingredients of
Clinton's plan are a $ 3,000 long-term care tax credit, costing
$ 28 billion over 10 years, and a $ 76 billion proposal to insure 4 million
parents of children who receive health coverage under Medicaid and the state
Children's Health Insurance Program. Universal health insurance
was Clinton's signature issue in winning the White House in 1992. The program
died in a Democratic-ruled Congress, prompting Clinton to adopt an incremental
approach of expanding health insurance. He eventually signed initiatives to
allow workers to carry insurance from job to job despite health problems and to
provide insurance for millions of children under Medicaid and CHIP.
To
help low-income parents, Clinton's program would create a new "family care"
portion of Medicaid and CHIP programs that insure needy children.
Further, he said the administration would intensify efforts to enroll
more eligible children, adding 400,000 children at a cost of $ 5.5 billion over
10 years. More than 2 million children are covered now.
Another proposal
would resurrect Clinton's plan to allow workers as young as 55 to buy into the
Medicare program. Congress ignored the proposal last year. This time, Clinton
would make the proposal even more attractive for workers -- and more
costly for the government -- by offering a 25 percent tax credit for
participants in the Medicare buy-in.
The cost of the buy-in and credit
over 10 years would be about $ 5.4 billion.
The president also proposed
aid for workers to buy COBRA health insurance when they leave a job. The COBRA
program allows workers to buy into their employer's health plan for up to 18 to
36 months, provided they pay the premium. However, less than 25 percent of
eligible people buy the coverage, in part because of the cost, the White House
said.
Clinton's initiative would offer a 25 percent tax credit for COBRA
premiums to make the cost more affordable.
GRAPHIC:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOAD-DATE: January 20, 2000
