WASHINGTON, Jun 7, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A plan drafted by ailing U.S. Sen.
Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is the most liberal approach to healthcare reform being
discussed in Congress, sources said.
The 170-page plan would add costs to employers and create a new program for
millions of people with disabilities, The Washington Post reported Sunday. The
plan requires businesses to provide insurance for workers or pay penalties,
sources told the Post.
Kennedy, who has incurable brain cancer, also envisions offering government
subsidies to people earning as much as 500 percent of the poverty level, or
$110,000 for a family of four, the Post reported.
The plan is unrealistically generous and would hurt U.S. businesses, large and
small, said Neil Trautwein, a vice president of the National Retail Federation.
Trautwein said he spent "scores of hours" in meetings with Kennedy aides who
consulted a diverse range of interests. In the end, however, Kennedy's draft
still contained a "lot of the same old tired ideas we have fought against for
many years," Trautwein said.
URL: www.upi.com
Copyright 2009 by United Press International