Sen. Hillary Clinton’s proposal to achieve health care coverage for all Americans will lower costs, improve quality, cover everyone, and provide all of us with more meaningful health care choices.

Today’s broken system affects our families, businesses and economy. We spend more per person on health care than any country in the world, yet 47 million people are left without insurance, millions more underinsured and without the coverage they need when they need it most, and those with coverage paying more for less.

Today, medical bills cause half of all personal bankruptcies. “Health care” has become “sick care” with high-premium and high-deductible plans that offer inadequate coverage. All while our businesses, also burdened by high health care costs, find it harder to compete with the rest of the world.

Clinton’s plan is the only plan of the presidential candidates that achieves universal health care to provide health security for every American. It is simple and strategic.

If you have private insurance and you want to keep it, you can. You can stay with the doctors you trust and the coverage you choose. Costs will be lowered and quality of care improved through the modernizing of our health care system. Those covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, will keep their coverage, and holes in the health care safety net will be mended and reinforced. If you don’t have health insurance or are unhappy with what you have, you’ll gain access to the wide variety of private plans in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, the same plans that members of Congress receive. You’ll also have the choice of a public plan that will provide a stable, competitive alternative to private insurance.

Leading health care economists such as Jonathan Gruber of MIT, suggest that Clinton’s plan would cover almost twice as many of those who are currently uninsured than Sen. Barack Obama’s plan with only a slightly higher investment. It is estimated that Clinton’s plan would cost $2,700 per newly insured person a year, versus $4,400 a year under Obama’s plan.

Clinton’s proposal does not create a single new government department or agency. Instead, it provides more choices. If you’re an employer, you choose the plan that is best for your business. If you’re an individual, you choose the plan that is best for you and your family. Whether you keep your current insurance or choose one of the new private or public options, Clinton’s plan guarantees:

Coverage will be accessible. No coverage will be denied or premiums increased because of pre-existing or genetic conditions or factors such as age, occupation, or gender.

Coverage will be affordable. Tax credits for millions of Americans will ensure that health care costs never exceed a reasonable percentage of a family’s income.

Coverage will be guaranteed. If you pay your premiums and follow the rules, your insurance company will be required to renew your coverage at a price you can afford, even if you lose your job, start your own business, or decide to stay home with your children.

Coverage will be portable. Insurance companies will be required to let you take your plan with you if you change jobs or move. And you will receive care from your doctors, nurses and hospitals that you know and trust.

Clinton’s plan will achieve these goals through shared responsibility. Insurance companies will no longer be allowed to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions. Drug companies will be required to negotiate lower prices. Large companies will have to offer coverage or help finance coverage for their employees. Government will guarantee affordable health care choices. Individuals will be responsible for purchasing insurance. For small businesses, Clinton’s plan recognizes their role as the engine of job creation and the disproportionate burden health care costs place on them. Rather than requiring small businesses to cover their workers, Clinton’s plan provides tax credits to ensure that many of them choose to.

Clinton’s proposal distinguishes itself from her opponents’ plans by achieving health care for all in a fair, balanced, strategic way. Her plan ensures every American coverage, while Obama’s plan leaves some 15 million people without and enables continued cost shifting within the health care system.

It is time for our country to achieve health care for all. We are ready for change, and I trust that Clinton, who has the knowledge and experience to accomplish real change, is the leader who is up to the task.

Jill Conover, D-Oakland, represents District 78 in the Maine House. She is a member of the Joint Standing Committee for Insurance and Financial Services.