WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, continued his effort to revamp the country's health-care system with testimony before the Senate Budget Committee this week.

Bennett and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are pushing their Healthy American Act, a health-care reform bill that would no longer tie a person's health insurance to a person's employment, among various other changes.

"Although the Healthy Americans Act may not be a perfect bill, I believe it is a perfect jump-start to a meaningful dialogue about the core principles necessary for health-care reform that will ultimately drive down the cost, while increasing quality, of health care," Bennett said.

He emphasized the timing is perfect because of the political atmosphere.

"Democrats controlling Congress have a political motive to accomplish big things and Republicans cannot try to take credit for their candidate because they don't have a candidate who is part of the current administration," Bennett said.

A big part of the bill is creating "portability" with health insurance so people can change jobs without fear of losing coverage. It also provides incentives for people to stay healthy with payments for wellness programs.

"The Healthy Americans Act embraces these principles; that health care coverage can be affordable, the uninsured can be covered and, not insignificantly, our economy will be strengthened," Bennett told the committee Tuesday.

The legislation would give every individual a tax benefit for buying health insurance, which the senators say would create an incentive to buy insurance.

Bennett and Wyden wrote a commentary, published in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, explaining why the bill should move forward.

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