Donat
10-14-2009, 07:01 PM
October 13, 2009 ( UPDATED October 14, 2009) — The Senate Finance Committee today passed a massive healthcare reform bill in a mostly partisan vote that foreshadows continued vociferous debate in Congress as both chambers continue to craft legislation.
All 13 Democratic members of the committee, along with 1 lone Republican, Sen. Olympia Snow (ME), voted for the bill. The remaining 9 Republican committee members cast nays.
"This is a balanced, commonsense plan for reforming healthcare," said Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus (MT), a Democrat, adding, "It guarantees that no American goes broke because he gets sick."
Ranking committee member Sen. Charles Grassley (IA), however, summed up Republican opposition today when he said the bill was "moving on a slippery slope toward government control of medicine."
The bill takes the revolutionary step of requiring most Americans to obtain health coverage, but it also offers subsidies to help the cash-strapped pay for it. Likewise, the legislation would require all but small employers to either cover their workers or pay a penalty into a fund for subsidizing their coverage. The bill also creates state-based markets for health insurance called exchanges, expands coverage under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and curbs health-plan practices deemed abusive, such as denying coverage based on preexisting conditions.
The bill would reduce the number of uninsured Americans in 2019 by 29 million, leaving 25 million nonelderly adults — a third of them illegal immigrants — without coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill makes no provision for a government-sponsored health plan — the controversial "public option" — but instead authorizes member-owned "co-op" health plans as an alternative to private insurance.
Some Democrat committee members such as Sen. John Kerry (MA) and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (WV) continued to voice support for the public option, suggesting the notion hasn't died yet.
"A public option is necessary because the insurance industry doesn't know how to stop itself," said Sen. Rockefeller. "You have to put up an impediment to slow them down. That is the public option."
While the bill would cost $829 billion, the CBO projected that it would reduce the federal deficit by $81 billion over 10 years through spending cuts and increased revenue, such as "play or pay" contributions from employers. Republicans, though, are decrying what they view as hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes and fees.
Republican committee member Sen. Jim Bunning (KY) said that the plan wasn't achieving the proper bang for its buck because it leaves 25 million people uninsured. "That is hardly universal coverage," noted Sen. Bunning.
Long Legislative Path Toward Healthcare Reform
The vote by the Senate Finance Committee represents just 1 milepost in the slog toward an overhauled healthcare system, and as several committee members noted, the bill passed today may dramatically differ from a bill that eventually comes before the entire Congress.
The Finance Committee bill now must be merged with legislation passed earlier by the Senate Health, Energy, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee into a unified bill that the entire Senate would consider. This blending process could be contentious because the HELP bill calls for a government-sponsored health plan. And the HELP bill also is more expensive, adding $597 billion to the federal deficit through 2019, according to the CBO. Other than those differences, the 2 Senate committee bills are similar in terms of individual and employer mandates, subsidies, state-based health insurance exchanges, expanded Medicaid coverage, and tighter regulation of health plans.
Any unified bill approved by the Senate then must be harmonized with reform legislation approved by the House. That job would fall to a Senate-House conference committee. Three House committees have drafted the "America's Affordable Health Choices Act," or HR 3200, but it has not yet come to the House floor for a vote. HR 3200 resembles both Senate bills for the most part, but like its HELP counterpart, it calls for a government-sponsored health plan, setting the stage for more debate between public-option advocates and opponents of what they call "socialized medicine." The House legislation extends coverage to more Americans than the 2 other bills, leaving only 17 million uninsured by 2019.
A conference committee bill would go before both chambers of Congress for a final vote. If it gets a double stamp of approval, the bill would then go to President Obama, who could sign or veto it.
Democrats Denounce Analysis of Bill Commissioned by Health Insurance Industry
The deliberations of the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday heated up a few degrees when several Democratic members criticized a report released Monday by the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers that claimed the committee bill would boost the cost of private health coverage by 111% over 10 years. Under the status quo, this cost would rise by only 79%, according to the report, commissioned by America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry association.
Sen. Kerry said the analysis was seriously flawed because it ignored many aspects of the bill that would lower the cost of coverage. "The insurance industry ought to be ashamed of this report," said Sen. Kerry, calling it a last-minute attempt to muddy the waters. Likewise, Sen. Rockefeller described the report as "politicking for corporate gain at its worst."
For its part, AHIP issued a statement Tuesday saying, "While we agree with the objective of the current proposal, we are concerned about its workability and cost."
Authors and Disclosures
Journalist
Robert Lowes
Freelance writer, St. Louis, Missouri
Disclosure: Robert L. Lowes has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
All 13 Democratic members of the committee, along with 1 lone Republican, Sen. Olympia Snow (ME), voted for the bill. The remaining 9 Republican committee members cast nays.
"This is a balanced, commonsense plan for reforming healthcare," said Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus (MT), a Democrat, adding, "It guarantees that no American goes broke because he gets sick."
Ranking committee member Sen. Charles Grassley (IA), however, summed up Republican opposition today when he said the bill was "moving on a slippery slope toward government control of medicine."
The bill takes the revolutionary step of requiring most Americans to obtain health coverage, but it also offers subsidies to help the cash-strapped pay for it. Likewise, the legislation would require all but small employers to either cover their workers or pay a penalty into a fund for subsidizing their coverage. The bill also creates state-based markets for health insurance called exchanges, expands coverage under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and curbs health-plan practices deemed abusive, such as denying coverage based on preexisting conditions.
The bill would reduce the number of uninsured Americans in 2019 by 29 million, leaving 25 million nonelderly adults — a third of them illegal immigrants — without coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill makes no provision for a government-sponsored health plan — the controversial "public option" — but instead authorizes member-owned "co-op" health plans as an alternative to private insurance.
Some Democrat committee members such as Sen. John Kerry (MA) and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (WV) continued to voice support for the public option, suggesting the notion hasn't died yet.
"A public option is necessary because the insurance industry doesn't know how to stop itself," said Sen. Rockefeller. "You have to put up an impediment to slow them down. That is the public option."
While the bill would cost $829 billion, the CBO projected that it would reduce the federal deficit by $81 billion over 10 years through spending cuts and increased revenue, such as "play or pay" contributions from employers. Republicans, though, are decrying what they view as hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes and fees.
Republican committee member Sen. Jim Bunning (KY) said that the plan wasn't achieving the proper bang for its buck because it leaves 25 million people uninsured. "That is hardly universal coverage," noted Sen. Bunning.
Long Legislative Path Toward Healthcare Reform
The vote by the Senate Finance Committee represents just 1 milepost in the slog toward an overhauled healthcare system, and as several committee members noted, the bill passed today may dramatically differ from a bill that eventually comes before the entire Congress.
The Finance Committee bill now must be merged with legislation passed earlier by the Senate Health, Energy, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee into a unified bill that the entire Senate would consider. This blending process could be contentious because the HELP bill calls for a government-sponsored health plan. And the HELP bill also is more expensive, adding $597 billion to the federal deficit through 2019, according to the CBO. Other than those differences, the 2 Senate committee bills are similar in terms of individual and employer mandates, subsidies, state-based health insurance exchanges, expanded Medicaid coverage, and tighter regulation of health plans.
Any unified bill approved by the Senate then must be harmonized with reform legislation approved by the House. That job would fall to a Senate-House conference committee. Three House committees have drafted the "America's Affordable Health Choices Act," or HR 3200, but it has not yet come to the House floor for a vote. HR 3200 resembles both Senate bills for the most part, but like its HELP counterpart, it calls for a government-sponsored health plan, setting the stage for more debate between public-option advocates and opponents of what they call "socialized medicine." The House legislation extends coverage to more Americans than the 2 other bills, leaving only 17 million uninsured by 2019.
A conference committee bill would go before both chambers of Congress for a final vote. If it gets a double stamp of approval, the bill would then go to President Obama, who could sign or veto it.
Democrats Denounce Analysis of Bill Commissioned by Health Insurance Industry
The deliberations of the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday heated up a few degrees when several Democratic members criticized a report released Monday by the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers that claimed the committee bill would boost the cost of private health coverage by 111% over 10 years. Under the status quo, this cost would rise by only 79%, according to the report, commissioned by America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry association.
Sen. Kerry said the analysis was seriously flawed because it ignored many aspects of the bill that would lower the cost of coverage. "The insurance industry ought to be ashamed of this report," said Sen. Kerry, calling it a last-minute attempt to muddy the waters. Likewise, Sen. Rockefeller described the report as "politicking for corporate gain at its worst."
For its part, AHIP issued a statement Tuesday saying, "While we agree with the objective of the current proposal, we are concerned about its workability and cost."
Authors and Disclosures
Journalist
Robert Lowes
Freelance writer, St. Louis, Missouri
Disclosure: Robert L. Lowes has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.