December 13, 2006. Washington, D.C.

Today, Senator Ron Wyden proposed new legislation to provide affordable, high quality, private health coverage for everyone regardless of where they work or live. The legislation will be introduced at the start of the new Congress in January.

Senator Wyden said:

"After decades of talk and study, it’s time for action. Fixing health care is not as complicated as one might think."

"Start by making care more affordable. That means eliminating inefficiency, beginning with when a person signs up for coverage. Get citizens good quality outpatient health care so they don’t go to hospital emergency rooms. Reward prevention – health care, not sick care. Beef up the quality of care by reducing medical errors in our hospitals."

"The Healthy Americans Act provides a guarantee: health coverage for every American that is at least as good as Members of Congress receive and can never be taken away."

"The Act provides universal coverage for no more money than our country spends today. Better care, financial health and security, no increase in costs."

He was joined by Andy Stern, President of SEIU, a 1.8 million-member labor group; Steve Burd, Chairman, President and CEO of Safeway, a Fortune 50 employer; Ron Pollack from Families USA, a leader on health care for the low-income; and numerous business leaders, health care reform leaders, and others.

Read the rest of the announcement.

A few of the highlights...

There are, of course, many details. Here's a few of the highlights.

The Healthy Americans Act:

• guarantees you private health care coverage that doesn't go away, even if you change jobs, lose your job, retire, go to school, or become too sick to work.
• provides a generous benefit equal to those of Members of Congress
• ensures that everyone has affordable health care coverage, including meaningful assistance to low-income Americans.
• puts you in charge of your health care choices, not your employer
• makes sure that everyone has the same affordable coverage options, no matter your age, gender, genetic information, or pre-existing health conditions
• saves $1.48 trillion over 10 years through tough cost containment
• provides incentives for individuals and insurers to focus on prevention, wellness and disease management
• creates meaningful and easy-to-understand wellness statistics so that Americans can compare health care plans
• is fully paid for by spending the $2.2 trillion currently spent on health care in America

An easy-to-understand summary of how it works.

Dig deep into the details...

You want details? We've got details!

After all, this isn't just some idea on a cocktail napkin. The Healthy Americans Act is a serious legislative effort to change health care for all Americans.

Dig in here:

• The Healthy Americans Act, legislation, 166 pages. (PDF, 290k)
• Cost and Coverage Estimates Report (The Lewin Group), 29 pages. (PDF, 450k)

http://www.standtallforamerica.com/