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27 IRET Congressional Advisory 1 (1994)

handle is hein.taxfoundation/iretcgadv0026 and id is 1 raw text is: IRET!
February 28, 1994 No. 27
CLINTON 'LITE HEALTH CARE
REFORM: A WOLF IN SHEEP'S
CLOTHING
Support for the Clintons' health care reform
proposal has declined since it has been revealed as
a big government takeover of health care. Attention
and  growing   support has
shifted  to  the  bi-partisan
Managed Competition Act of     ..Cooper's
1993, H.R. 3222, introduced    market appn
by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) as   trivial sense t
a more moderate alternative.  less intrusive
It is not.                     making than
Cooper claims his bill is  and the singl
a market-based approach to health insura,
health care reform. However,
Cooper's bill represents a
market approach only in the trivial sense that it is
somewhat less intrusive of private decision making
than the Clintons' plan and the single payer or
national health insurance plan introduced by Senator
Paul Wellstone (D-MN) and Rep. Jim McDermott
(D-WA). In reality, Cooper correctly characterizes
his plan as Clinton 'Lite'. The Cooper proposal
would significantly increase the role of government
in the provision and financing of health care
services. In this regard, the Clintons' plan can be
characterized  as Cooper Heavy because first
Cooper's, and later the Clintons' proposals, were
derived from the same managed competition
model.

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There are several clues that suggest that the
Cooper bill would move health care in America
away from market based decision making and
toward greater government control. First, it would
involve large tax and spending increases. The
proposal would limit the amount of health insurance
premiums that companies could deduct from their
taxable income. This limitation would both exert
control over health insurance and raise revenues for
additional federal spending. Cooper would also
deny tax deductions to plans that use risk pools
instead of community rating to establish premium
rates. People with healthy habits would subsidize
the premium  costs  of people who engage in
unhealthy behavior, such as drug or alcohol abuse,
promiscuous sex, or mountain climbing. Cooper's
plan also includes a new mandatory tax on health
insurance premiums (up to 1%) that would be paid
to Health Plan Purchasing Cooperatives (HPPCs),
his version of the Clintons'
Regional Alliances. HPPCs, to
represents   a    be established  as regional,
only  in  the     geographic monopolies by the
t is somewhat      states, would collect and then
ivate decision    distribute all individual and
?lintons' plan     small business employee health
?1 or national    insurance premiums.
an                    Cooper's plan would have
the government dictate a new
one-size-fits all system  of
health care delivery and health insurance coverage.
Like the Clintons' plan, Cooper's would establish a
new federal bureaucracy, a Health Care Standards
Commission, that would define a standard health
benefit package.  His plan, moreover, would
practically force Americans to receive their health
care from federally-approved Accountable Health
Plans (AHPs) which resemble HMOs (Health
Maintenance Organizations).  In order to be
approved, AHPs would have to maintain and
provide the government with extensive records about
medical outcomes, treatment costs, and patient
satisfaction. If a company or individual participates
in an AHP, the premiums are considered a

Institute for
Research on the
Economics of
Taxation

IRET is a non-profit, tax exempt 501(c)(3) economic policy research and educational organization devoted to informing the
public about policies that will promote economic growth and efficient operation of the free market economy.
1730 K Street, N., Suite 910, Washington, D.C. 20006
Voice 202-463-1400 * Fax 202-463-6199 0 Internet www. ret.org

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