Every American should have access to high quality, sustainable and affordable health care. National health reform legislation will extend insurance coverage to more than 32 million Americans over the next decade, fulfilling both a strong moral and economic imperative.
The new health reform law includes provisions to strengthen and build on our current system, transforming it to one that is more efficient and equitable for all. It commands a strong partnership between federal and state governments and individuals, and its success largely rests on a sustained national commitment to reform the system.
To guarantee all Americans access to quality health coverage, the legislation encourages insurance competition anchored in customer satisfaction and clinical value rather than risk selection, and we are glad to see that the new health reform law embraces the three policies we have long supported at the New America Foundation as conditions for national health reform:
1. Insurance market reforms;
2. Subsidies to make insurance more affordable for low and middle income Americans; and
3. An individual mandate.
