Feds to design health insurance for the masses

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal government is taking on a crucial new role in the nation's health care, designing a basic benefits package for millions of privately insured Americans. A framework for the Obama administration was released Thursday.

The report by independent experts from the Institute of Medicine lays out guidelines for deciding what to include in the new "essential benefits package," how to keep it affordable for small businesses and taxpayers, and also scientifically up to date.

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Until now, designing benefits has been the job of insurers, employers and state officials. But the new health care law requires insurance companies to provide at least the federally approved package if they want to sell to small businesses, families and individuals through new state markets set to open in 2014.

Most existing workplace plans won't be required to adopt the federal model, but employers and consumer advocates alike predict it will become the nation's benchmark for health insurance over time.

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Work on the benefits package is already well under way within the HHS department. On the outside, a huge lobbying campaign to shape the final package is about to take off.

Employer groups - particularly those representing low-wage industries - want to keep benefits fairly basic ... But consumer and patient advocacy groups that helped pass the overhaul law want to make sure their priorities are included.

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The panel's rough estimate put annual premiums for individual coverage under the plan at $5,500 to $7,000 in 2014, comparable to what employers pay now.

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The Institute of Medicine is an independent organization advising the government on technical issues.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MANDATED_HEALTH_BENEFITS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-06-19-09-42

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Employer groups - particularly those representing low-wage industries - want to keep benefits fairly basic ... But consumer and patient advocacy groups that helped pass the overhaul law want to make sure their priorities are included.

Of course they do. They want the Cadillac plan that members of Congress get. Wouldn't you?