Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System

Crossing Our Lines is a bipartisan agreement for comprehensive health reform reached by Senators Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, and Bob Dole. It is the culmination of an inclusive year-and-a-half effort that included strategic outreach to key health care stakeholders, a series of state-based public policy forums, and months of personal deliberations by the Leaders. Taken together, the recommendations ensure that all Americans have quality, affordable health coverage, while improving health care quality and reining in skyrocketing costs.

Organized around four “pillars” of health reform, its policies are inextricably intertwined, and consequently work together to achieve more significant improvements in the health care system than could be achieved if they were considered in an isolated manner.

• Promoting High-Quality, High-Value Care
• Making Health Insurance Available, Meaningful and Affordable
• Emphasizing and Supporting Personal Responsibility and Healthy Choices
• Developing a Workable and Sustainable Approach to Health Care Financing