Impact of the American Health Security Act of 1993

In the months to come, opponents of President Clinton's proposal will focus on issues of choice among physicians and health plans and on estimates of the economic impact of reform. Others will raise the issue of the efficiency of the administrative structures necessary to implement the Act. These important concerns notwithstanding, people with rheumatic diseases stand to gain much from the passage of the American Health Security Act of 1993, principally the knowledge that they always will have insurance, that their out-of-pocket costs will be limited, that they will have access to a standard set of benefits, and that these benefits are more comprehensive than the current Medicare and Medicaid programs and all but a small percentage of private health insurance plans.