New Health Care Reform Bill Emerges

After months of negotiations, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus (D-Mont.), unveiled the "America's Healthy Future Act" this week. The bill was unveiled without any Republican support and may fail to receive the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster. This bill marks the final major health care reform bill to be released this year. Although three committees in the House passed H.R. 3200, "America's Affordable Health Choices Act" in July, the bills have not yet been meshed together and floor time has not been reserved for a vote by the full House. Meanwhile, the Senate HELP committee passed the "Affordable Health Choices Act," which will ultimately have to be merged with the Finance Committee's bill.  The president hopes to have a final bill to sign into law before the end of the year. The three main bills contain key differences and to date AGC has only opposed the House's "America's Affordable Health Choices Act." The House bill fails to address the root cause of rising costs, will likely eliminate competition and restricts economic growth with punitive penalties for employers. The Finance Committee's bill appears to be the best effort yet to lower health care costs, increase coverage and improve the quality of care. However, the bill includes significant cuts to doctors under Medicare and new tax on employer-provided health care benefits, and it fails to properly address medical malpractice insurance.  AGC hopes that Congress can find a bipartisan bill for health care reform. Comparing the bills Senate Finance Committee: creates co-ops to purchase health care that operate at the regional, state and national level. Insurers cannot reject applicants based on pre-existing conditions or renewals. All individuals are required to have health insurance and it can be purchased through exchanges. The mandate comes with subsides for low income individuals and tax penalties for individuals who fail to purchase coverage. There is no employer mandate. Employers with over 50 employees that do not offer coverage must reimburse the government for each employee receiving health care subsidies. Senate HELP Committee: creates a public plan option to compete with private insurance. Insurers cannot reject applicants based on pre-existing conditions or renewals. All individuals are required to have health insurance and can purchase coverage through exchanges. The bill includes subsides for low income individuals and tax penalties for individuals who fail to purchase coverage. The HELP Committee's plan contains an employer mandate for employers with over 25 employees, and failure to provide adequate coverage results in a $750 penalty for each uninsured full time worker each year. The plan makes tax credits available for small employers to purchase insurance. Tri-Committee (House Bill): creates a public plan to compete with private insurance. Insurers cannot reject applicants based on pre-existing conditions or renewals. All individuals are required to have "acceptable health coverage" that can be purchased through new exchanges and subsides are made available for low income individuals, while tax penalties exist for individuals who fail to purchase coverage. The House bill includes an employer mandate for employers with payrolls exceeding $500,000 and includes a payroll tax penalty ranging from 2 to 8 percent. The plan includes some tax credits for the smallest of employers.