Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, has long supported national health-care reform that makes affordable health coverage available to all Americans. The coverage should include a basic set of required, comprehensive health-care benefits, like those in the federal plan that members of Congress enjoy. Insurers should compete for customers based on price and the quality of their services, not by limiting their risk through confusing options, incomplete information, or greatly restricted benefits.

As reform is developed and debated, Consumers Union supports these changes in the way health insurance is presented and sold:

Clear terms

All key terms in policies, such as "out-of-pocket" and "annual deductible," should be defined by law and insurers should be required to use them that way in their policies.

Standard benefits

Ideally, all plans should have a uniform set of benefits covering all medically necessary care, but consumers should be able to opt for varying levels of cost-sharing. Failing that, states should establish a menu of standardized plans, as Medicare does for Medigap plans. Consumers would then have a basis for comparing costs of plans.

Transparency

Policies that insurers currently sell should be posted in full online or available by mail upon request for anyone who wants to examine them. They should be the full, legally binding policy documents, not just a summary or marketing brochure. In many states now, consumers can't see the policy document until after they have joined the plan. At that point, they're legally entitled to a "free look" period in which to examine the policy and ask for a refund if they don't like what they see. But if they turn the policy back in, they face the prospect of being uninsured until they can find another plan.

Disclosure of costs

Every plan must provide a standard "Plan Coverage" summary that clearly displays what is—and more important, is not—covered. The summary should include independently verified estimates of total out-of-pocket costs for a standard range of serious problems, such as breast cancer treatment or heart bypass surgery.

Moreover, reliable information should be available to consumers about the costs in their area of treating various medical conditions, so that they have a better understanding of the bills they could face without adequate health coverage.