Obama: A Health Plan or Weasel Words?

Barack Obama's web site (http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/) neatly encapsulates his health plan. I have taken the liberty of interlineating comments (in bold).

Barack Obama's Plan
Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All

* Obama's Plan to Cover Uninsured Americans: Obama will make available a new national health plan to all Americans This still leaves states, counties and cities with the staggering financial burden of providing health care services for individuals who are in the United States illegally, including the self-employed and small businesses, to buy affordable health coverage that is similar What does "similar" mean?to the plan available to members of Congress. The Obama plan will have the following features:
1. Guaranteed eligibility. No American will be turned away from any insurance plan because of illness or pre-existing conditions Will full benefits apply immediately upon enrollment or will there be a waiting period?.
2. Comprehensive benefits. The benefit package will be similar That word again. to that offered through Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), the plan members of Congress have. The plan will cover all essential Who defines "essential"? Right now, it may be a clerk in an insurance company's office who is not a physician or otherwise qualified to make decisions about essential care. Sometimes, it is patients' families whose expectations may not be consistent with standards of reasonable medical judgment. And as we saw a few years ago, sometimes Congress jumps in to make decisions concerning "essential" care. medical services, including preventive, maternity and mental health care.
3. Affordable How is "affordable" defined? premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
4. Subsidies. Individuals and families who do not qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP but still need financial assistance will receive an income-related federal subsidy to buy into the new public plan or purchase a private health care plan. Will they be able to purchase a plan which has a comparable network of providers and pays its network of providers the same amount as other plans?
5. Simplified paperwork This was the promise of HMOs, too. The paperwork was replaced by the requirement that physicians, other health care providers and hospitals spend hours on the telephone trying to get authorizations. and reined in health costs. What does "reined in health costs" mean? Does it signify that services will be cut in order to control costs?
6. Easy enrollment. The new public plan will be simple to enroll in and provide ready access to coverage. If experience is of any value, such plans have neither been simply to enroll in and financial constraints have made access problematic.
7. Portability and choice. Participants in the new public plan and the National Health Insurance Exchange (see below) will be able to move from job to job without changing or jeopardizing their health care coverage. This may be a major benefit. However, some employers may find that portability means that some talented individuals leave their employ because they are no longer constrained by a family member's uninsurability.
8. Quality and efficiency. Participating insurance companies in the new public program will be required to report data to ensure that standards Such standards are not described. Where will the bar be set? for quality, health information technology and administration are being met.