Kennedy Plan: Insurance Mandate and Public Option
[caption id="attachment_29" align="alignright" width="136" caption="Sen. Edward M. Kennedy"]
[/caption]
Sen. Ted Kennedy, Chair of the Senate HELP Committee, is stepping up his efforts to reform the U.S. healthcare system. Sen. Kennedy wrote an OpEd piece in the Boston Globe, giving an overview of his plan. The Washington Post has printed an article which outlines some of Sen. Kennedy's plan that are as of yet, publicly undisclosed and more controversial.
What will be the impact of these proposals on the rural population? Since rural populations are typically older and poorer, any measure that increases the number of those covered by insurance is good. However, giving benefits of insurance to rural populations is not very helpful if the delivery systems in rural areas are not sufficient in terms of workforce and resources.