Institute of Medicine advisers recommended that the package be built on the midtier health plans offered by small employers, expanded to include certain services and squeezed into a real-world budget. They did not spell out a list of services to cover, but recommended that the government require evidence of cost-effectiveness.
"In this day and age, when we are talking about fiscal responsibility, it's a report that recognized that we have to take account of what we can afford while trying to make sure that people have adequate coverage," said panel member Elizabeth McGlynn, director of Kaiser Permanente's Center for Effectiveness and Safety Research.
Until now, designing benefits has been the job of insurers, employers, and state officials. But the new health-care law requires insurance companies to provide at least the federally approved package if they want to sell to small businesses, families, and individuals through new state markets set to open in 2014.
Most existing workplace plans will not be required to adopt the federal model, but employers and consumer advocates alike predict it will become the benchmark for health insurance over time.
With the nation divided over President Obama's health-care overhaul, and Republicans condemning it as a government takeover, the administration reacted cautiously to the recommendations.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said officials would hold "listening sessions" around the country before any final decisions are made, which could take months.
"Before we put forward a proposal, it is critical that we hear from the American people," Sebelius said.
Actually, work on the benefits package is well under way within HHS. And a lobbying campaign to shape the final package is about to begin.
