By a 13-10 party-line vote, with all the Democrats voting for it, the first health care overhaul bill emerged from a congressional committee on July 15. The Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee’s bill, including a public insur-ance option to compete with private insurers, drew cheers from unionists, derision from business and the Radical Right -- and “no” votes from every committee Republican.
But the measure is not the last word in health care, as three House committee chairmen unveiled a joint bill, with votes scheduled starting July 16, while the Senate Finance Committee wrestles with how to pay for health care. The House bill, too, has a public option, cost controls -- another union cause -- and would be paid for by cost curbs and by a surtax on the rich. Additionally, the House bill bans taxing workers’ health insurance.
Health care overhaul is a top cause of the Democratic Obama administration and organized labor. Both say that with health care consuming one of every six dollars of the U.S. economy -- $2.5 trillion -- and with health care costs skyrocketing, permanent recovery from the current recession and the nation’s long-term economic health both depend on reining in health care costs while covering everyone.
"The bill builds on what works in today’s health care system and fixes the parts that are broken. It protects current coverage – allowing individuals to keep the insurance they have if they like it – and preserves choice of doctors, hospitals, and health plans,” a fact sheet about the House bill (HR 3200) contends. That measure is similar to what the Senate panel passed. Its details include:
A health insurance exchange, which the fact sheet calls “a transparent and functional marketplace for individuals and small employers to comparison shop among private and public insurers.” The exchange, which will include the public competitor tothe private insurers, would work with states “to set and enforce insurance reforms andconsumer protections,” make sure everyone is enrolled and to “administer affordability credits to help low- and middle-income individuals and families purchase insurance.”
A public health insurance option within the exchange. “It will be a new choice in many areas of our country dominated by just one or two private insurers today. The public option will operate on a level playing field. It will be subject to the same market reforms and consumer protections as other private plans in the exchange and it will be self-sustaining – financed only by its premiums,” the fact sheet adds.
A ban on present insurers’ denial of care. The bill outlaws “discriminatory practices that enable them to refuse to sell or renew policies today due to an individual’s health status. In addition, they can no longer exclude coverage of treatments for pre-existing health conditions. The bill also protects consumers by prohibiting lifetime and annual limits on benefits,” the fact sheet adds. It also holds down premium increases.
Setting a floor. A new panel of doctors and health care experts, chaired by the Surgeon General, will “recommend a benefit package based on standards set in the law. This new essential benefit package will serve as the basic benefit package for coverage in the Exchange and over time will become the minimum quality standard for employer plans,” the fact sheet adds. That halts bare-bones plans, such as Wal-Mart’s.
The basic package will include preventive services with no cost-sharing, mental health services, oral health and vision for children, and caps the amount of money a person or family spends on covered services in a year,” the fact sheet declares.
Tax credits to help workers shoulder the cost. The bill would give health insurance payment tax credits to workers and families ineligible for Medicaid -- the federal program that covers the poor -- up to income limits of $43,000 for an individual and $88,000 for a family of four. It would also cap out-of-pocket health care spending.