A new plan for national universal health care would cost taxpayers in the short term, according to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who unveiled the plan yesterday.

Max Baucus

“In the short term, health care reform would cost taxpayers more than the government can achieve in savings from all reforms and financing changes,” Baucus said in his detailed 87-page plan, adding that failing to act would double the national expenditure on health care from $2 trillion to $4 trillion.

“In short,” he said, “we must all realize that the cost of inaction, both in human and financial terms, will eventually be far greater than any initial outlays.

Baucus’ plan is just one in a series of recent calls for health care reform by national legislators, including President-Elect Barack Obama.

Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee chairman, called on Congress to create health reform legislation that would achieve “coverage for every American while also addressing the underlying problems in our health system” in a detailed, 87-page plan that was made public yesterday.

Baucus’ plan, which he said is not intended to be a legislative proposal, is very similar to the plan Obama outlined on the campaign trail, the notable exception being that Baucus would eventually mandate coverage for adults as well as children.

Baucus would create a nationwide insurance pool called the Health Insurance Exchange. Like the national exchange Obama suggested, Baucus’ exchange would allow consumers to choose between keeping their current coverage or opting into one of the insurance options offered under the national plan. Discrimination based on pre-existing conditions would be prohibited.

The plan would refocus payment incentives toward “quality and value,” rather than rewarding providers for delivering more care rather than better care, Baucus said. He also wants to improve health care infrastructure by investing in research, training and health information technology.

In addition, Baucus said his plan would invest more to detect and eliminate fraud, waste and abuse in public programs; address overpayments to private insurers in the Medicare Advantage Program; increase transparency of cost and require disclosure of payments and incentives to providers; and reform medical malpractice laws that could lower administrative costs and health spending throughout the system.

Other legislators have been drafting health care proposals, including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), Rep. Peter Stark (D-Calif.) and Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.).