Current Health Care Reform Options

A bill submitted by Democratic Montana Senator Max Baucus was recently submitted as a third alternative on the health care debate.  This option would cost $829 billion over the next 10 years.  This is the lowest cost option thus far from the Democrats and does not include a public option.   There are a number of controversial components, one of which is one of the funding mechanisms…an excise tax on high premium health plans.  To review a comparison of the options on the table and the current topics, you can go to http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/healthreform_sbs_full.pdf. 

The Real Solution

Interestingly enough, a proposal put forth by Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) has not made the list.  Paul Ryan’s proposal, in my opinion, is by far the best solution offered to date.  To learn more about this proposal, and to see a You-Tube video of Congressman Ryan’s explanation of his proposal, you can go to http://www.house.gov/ryan/PCA/.