Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson estimates his plan for universal healthcare could save the government $110 billion a year. The cost of his plan, he said, would be between $104 billion-$110 billion a year.
Gov. Richardson (D-N.M.) is the latest presidential contender to put forth a plan for revamping the nation's healthcare system. He unveiled the plan in a speech Tuesday.
Several of the presidential candidates are calling for affordable healthcare for all Americans, while touting ways to achieve savings.
"We don't need more aggregate spending - we need to spend that money more efficiently to achieve health coverage for all Americans that is better," Richardson said in his document. "And that is because Bill Richardson understands the importance and power of consumer choice, building effective markets and decentralized solutions rather than new government programs and bureaucracies."
Richardson is calling for negotiating prescription drug prices through Medicare and giving seniors the option to buy prescriptions directly through Medicare - a measure he says could save $34 billion a year.
Besides the savings derived from negotiating prescription prices, Richardson also identified these savings:
- $22 billion a year by speeding the adoption of healthcare IT. Richardson would encourage individuals, families, businesses and insurance companies to buy 21st Century Health Care Bonds. Funding from the bonds would be used to help physicians and healthcare facilities make the up-front financial investments needed for widespread adoption of IT
- $3 billion per year by eliminating tax shelters for high-risk health plans
- $9 billion per year by paying for up-front coverage to avoid emergency care later
- $38 billion per year by promoting coordinated care and disease management
- $5 billion a year by increasing the use of generic drugs.
Richardson's plan calls for covering more young people as well as people close to retirement and veterans. He would offer Medicare as a choice to people age 55-64. His plan calls for expanding SCHIP coverage for poor children. It would make it possible for children to stay on their parents' health plan through age 25.