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Health care premiums are set to double in the next decade unless serious reforms are taken, said presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) in a statistics-packed speech at Jack Morton Auditorium Thursday morning. Speaking to a standing-room only crowd, Clinton laid out a seven-point plan to transform a system that she called "ineffective and outdated."
Americans currently spend 15.9 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product on health care, an amount that vastly exceeds all other nations, and one that could increase to 20 percent by 2016. Clinton's plan focused on reducing unnecessary costs and getting help to those who need it, with the ultimate goal of providing affordable health care to all Americans.
"Every day, parents have to choose between paying their own premiums, or their children's," Clinton said.
Clinton's plan included proposals to lower the cost of prescription drugs, enact medical malpractice reform, and create medical homes for patients who suffer from chronic and severe illnesses such as diabetes. She also proposed giving people access to preventive care, something the insurance companies generally do not cover. In what was a recurring theme throughout the speech, Clinton discussed the need to pressure insurance providers.
"All insurance providers who are participating in a government program like Medicare would have to cover preventive care if they want to keep doing business with the federal government," she said.
Clinton also proposed turning all medical records into electronic files, a move she claimed would both save $77 billion annually and reduce doctor error.
"There is no reason why health records can't be stored on a computer accessible from a doctor's office or hospital."
As president, Clinton said she would expand the number of insurance providers from which individuals and businesses select coverage. She also promised to crack down insurance companies that discriminate against individuals because of their medical conditions.
