WASHINGTON -- As Congress prepares to debate President Barack Obama's proposed $3.6 trillion budget for the 2010 fiscal year, one of the key elements under scrutiny will be his plans to overhaul the U.S. health care system.

While the budget wouldn't go into effect until Oct. 1, the Obama administration has been hard at work laying the foundation to educate the American public and health care leaders about what the plan entails and how it affects them.

In his opening statements at the White House Forum on Health Reform on March 5, Obama said more than 30,000 people had already added their concerns and input to the discussion on healthcare reform at about 3,000 meetings held earlier in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

He said the call for healthcare reform is "coming from the bottom up" and noted that regional forums have and will be held in several states in March and April.

"This time, there is no debate about whether all Americans should have quality, affordable health care -- the only question is, how?" said Obama.

What's In The Plan?

According to the president's healthcare agenda, as listed on the White House.gov Web site, the Obama-Biden plan would improve the infrastructure of the existing health care system to reduce inefficiency and waste and improve health care quality using current providers, doctors, and plans.

"Under the plan, if you like your current health insurance, nothing changes, except your costs will go down by as much as $2,500 per year. If you don’t have health insurance, you will have a choice of new, affordable health insurance options," said Obama. The Obama-Biden plan would lower costs in the health care system by focusing on four elements:

Electronic health records
The plan would computerize the process of creating and maintaining medical records to allow nationalization of information so that records follow patients.

According to the plan, the adoption of a standards-based electronic health information system would reduce the costs of processing claims, prevent unnecessary testing and help ensure appropriate drug utilization.

Disease prevention and management
According to the plan, more than 75 percent of health care funding is spent on patients with one or more chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure.

So, the president would require all providers participating in the plan to follow proven disease management programs.

It would also require that providers deliver quality care by promoting patient safety and reducing disparity in health care, reforming medical malpractice while preserving patient rights and requiring full transparency regarding quality and costs.

Increased competition
The Obama-Biden plan tackles what it calls "needless waste and spiraling costs" by increasing competition in the insurance and drug markets.

The plan would force insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care instead of keeping exorbitant amounts for profits and administration.

It would also allow consumers to import safe drugs from other countries and help prevent drug companies from blocking generic drugs from consumers.

Catastrophic illness costs
Researchers have found that the top 5 percent of people with the greatest health care expenses in the U.S. account for 49 percent of the overall spending.

Thus, the plan calls for reimbursing employer health plans for a portion of the catastrophic costs they incur, making health care more affordable for employers and workers and helping them reduce premiums and avoid bankruptcy.

"Because so many Americans are just one illness or medical emergency away from bankruptcy, we have made a historic commitment to health care reform in this budget -- reform that will finally lower costs for families, businesses, and state governments; reform that's not a luxury, but a necessity if we hope to bring down the cost of Medicare and Medicaid so that we can reduce our deficit in the long run," Obama said.

Insuring The Uninsured

For the uninsured, Obama said he wants to create a voluntary national health plan called the National Health Insurance Exchange that has guaranteed eligibility and that will cover all essential medical services, including preventive, maternity and mental health care, and offer federal subsidies for those who can't afford the group rates.

The plan would also require all large employers to contribute toward health coverage for their employees or towards the cost of the public plan.

It would also require that all children have health care coverage under the State Children's Health Insurance Program and would expand eligibility for the adults under Medicaid.

The Obama-Biden plan is also geared toward promoting public health. According to the president's healthcare agenda, it will require coverage of preventive services, including cancer screenings, and increase state and local preparedness for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

Obama said he would pay the $50 to $65 billion health care reform effort with unspecified savings from making the system more efficient, by rolling back President George W. Bush's tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year and retaining the estate tax at its 2009 level.