THE HACKER PLAN. I'm getting near-overwhelmed with the array of new health care plans, but I'd be remiss not to mention Jacob Hacker's new plan through EPI. And I am never remiss. Hacker's plan isn't Medicare-for-All, at least not quite. As he puts it, it's really Medicare-for-Many. The government will create a new, Medicare-style health plan that's open for enrollment to any and all individuals interested in jumping in, covers mental health and maternal care, and has strict limits on out-of-pocket spending. Simultaneously, all employers will be required to offer insurance as good or better than the new government plan. If they don't want to contract out with the private sector, they'll pay 6% of payroll to enter their workers into the government plan. The unemployed and self-employed will have to buy coverage, and there'll be heavy subsidies tied to income. Done. You'll notice that, unlike the other plans, Hacker's took four sentences to explain. It's a simple, elegant mechanism for coverage, requiring none of the complex market restructuring and odd coverage schemes of the plans that seek to preserve the private insurance market as a protected whole. Its secondary virtue is that it offers an easy, potential path to effective single-payer, allowing the government insurer to compete with private insurers, and possibly outcompete them as well. And by using the example of Medicare, Hacker promises familiarity with what's being offered -- a crucial advantage given the dangers complexity pose in the public arena. It's worth noting that the plan also has another name: HR 5886, introduced by Pete Stark during the last Congress. The differences between the two are minimal, and Hacker boasts involvement in both. Elsewhere, Merril Goozner looks at the plan's cost containment and Dr. Steve rounds up some more reactions. --Ezra Klein
