Insurers no longer could base premiums on a person's medical history, although they still could charge more to 50-year-olds than to people in their 20s.

• Existing plans will be allowed to continue except that they may not enroll new members unless said plans are the equivalent of the government provided plan(s).
  
• Various "tests" (e.g., "diversity") will determine when and for how long existing plans will be allowed to exist. Again, unless they mirror government plans expect them to be forced out of existence.
  
• You will be paying for things you may not want or need, such as free interpreter services, family planning services, etc.
  
• No one has to prove they are a citizen to enroll or that they qualify for subsidized plans. Once in no one can force them to prove they still qualify.
  
• Doctors will take a 20% cut in reimbursements the first year and a 10% cut the second year.
  
• Maximum "private" profit is 15% over the cost of providing services. And don't expect that to stay at 15%, either.
  

‘‘(iii) CERTIFICATION OF INCOME AND
14 RESOURCES.—For purposes of applying
15 this section—
16 ‘‘(I) an individual shall be per
17 mitted to apply on the basis of self
18 certification of income and resources;
19 and
20 ‘‘(II) matters attested to in the
21 application shall be subject to appro
22 priate methods of verification without
23 the need of the individual to provide
24 additional documentation, except in
1 extraordinary situations as determined
2 by the Commissioner.’’.

WASHINGTON – House Democrats are crafting a plan that would require all Americans to carry health insurance and would help families making less than $88,000 pay the premiums. Employers, too, would have to help foot the bill.

"SCHIP is senseless. Like its much larger sibling, Medicaid, the program forces taxpayers to send their money to Washington so that Congress can send it back to state governments with strings attached. ...SCHIP's record shows that Washington has no special wisdom that gives it the right to dictate how the states provide medical care to the needy."

—Cato scholar Michael F. Cannon

This, however, is how American politics works. First politicians convince you that sending your money to Washington is a good idea (usually because someone else "has to send more") and then they bribe you with your own money by promising to send back a few more pennies on the dollar than "the other guys". "Sink this SCHIP," by Michael F. Cannon SCHIP's Perverse Incentives, by Daniel J. Mitchell, Cato@Liberty "Sinking SCHIP: A First Step toward Stopping the Growth of Government Health Programs," by Michael F. Cannon Alternatives to SCHIP expansion exist! SCHIP Plus a Tax Credit: A Compromise Health Insurance Plan for Kids

Chart Source: Heritage

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush's health insurance proposals would cost taxpayers $526 billion through 2017, according to a preliminary estimate from Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation.

One Democratic lawmaker jumped on the figure Tuesday to describe the proposal as a tax increase. The projection, which comes from the committee's nonpartisan staff, is stunningly different from the administration's estimates as well as those from other independent analysts.

The changes wouldn't go into effect until fiscal year 2009. At first, the changes would result in less money coming into the Treasury.

But that would change beginning in 2011, according to the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation. By 2017, the change would increase revenues by $148 billion for that year.

John Sheils and Randy Haught of the Lewin Group, a consulting firm, recently estimated that the president's health insurance plan would reduce taxes by $108.5 billion through 2017.