Goggen
10-14-2009, 09:49 PM
By Laura Litvan and Nicole Gaouette
http://www.militaryphotos.net/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=i7j6oMxoeTlU
Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The Senate Finance Committee approved an $829 billion plan to overhaul U.S. health care, clearing the way for a full Senate debate over the broadest expansion of the government’s role in the medical system since the creation of Medicare in 1965.
Just one Republican on the panel, Senator Olympia Snowe (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Olympia+Snowe&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) of Maine, voted for the measure in an otherwise party-line 14-9 tally. That marked the first time a Republican in either the Democratic-controlled Senate or House has supported the revamp legislation, President Barack Obama’s (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Barack+Obama%3Fs&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) top domestic priority.
“Ours is a balanced plan that can pass the Senate,” said panel Chairman Max Baucus (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Max+Baucus&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), a Montana Democrat.
Baucus had spent months courting Snowe and other Republicans, making his committee the last of five congressional panels to complete its version of the legislation. Senate and House Democratic leaders must now merge the bills and schedule floor debates. After each chamber votes, they’ll have to reconcile their measures.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Harry+Reid&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) will meld the finance panel bill with one approved by the Senate health committee in July, forcing him to resolve differences over a host of issues that divide both political parties and risk rupturing Democratic unity. Reid spokesman Jim Manley (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Jim+Manley&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) said the health- care bill should be on the floor the week of Oct. 26.
“There are many miles to go in this legislative journey,” Snowe said. “My vote today is my vote today. It doesn’t forecast what my vote will be tomorrow.”
Stocks Fall
The Standard & Poor’s index (http://www.militaryphotos.net/apps/quote?ticker=HMO%3AIND) of 13 health insurance stocks lost 2.4 percent. UnitedHealth Group Inc. (http://www.militaryphotos.net/apps/quote?ticker=UNH%3AUS), the largest insurer by sales, led the decline, with the shares of the Minnetonka, Minnesota, company dropping 94 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $24.29 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Health Net Inc. (http://www.militaryphotos.net/apps/quote?ticker=HNT%3AUS) followed, with the Woodland Hills, California, company falling 61 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $16.27.
“We cannot support this legislation in its current structure,” Robert Zirkelbach (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Robert+Zirkelbach&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), a spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group, said in an e- mail.
Senator Jon Kyl (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Jon+Kyl&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), an Arizona Republican, criticized Baucus for saying he was proud of the bill. “That sets the bar pretty low,” Kyl said in an interview after the vote. “All you have to do is raise taxes, but that hits the American people pretty hard.”
Premiums Seen Rising
Kyl said critics were unfair to dismiss a study (http://americanhealthsolution.org/assets/Reform-Resources/AHIP-Reform-Resources/PWC-Report-on-Costs-Final.pdf) released two days ago by the insurance industry group charging that the finance panel plan would more than double premium costs. Kyl said the Congressional Budget Office and health policy firms “all agree that premiums will go up.”
The White House criticized the report, and doctors, medical-device makers and one of two hospital groups reiterated their support for the overhaul.
Unlike other versions, the finance bill includes a new tax on the most-expensive insurance plans, doesn’t require employers to provide coverage to workers, and omits a provision creating a new government insurance program, the so-called public option, which most Republicans oppose.
Nonprofit co-operatives would instead provide competition to an insurance industry that stands to gain millions of new customers because the bill requires Americans to obtain insurance. The measure also imposes new restrictions on insurers’ ability to deny people coverage.
‘Extraordinarily Complicated’
The legislation seeks to curb health costs and provide coverage to almost all Americans who lack insurance. Democrats want to expand the Medicaid program for the poor and provide subsidies for millions of Americans to obtain policies.
The Congressional Budget Office gave the bill a boost last week when it estimated the measure would cut the federal budget deficit by $81 billion over 10 years. Obama has vowed not to sign any bill that adds “one dime” to the deficit (http://www.militaryphotos.net/apps/quote?ticker=FDEBTY%3AIND). The agency also said the proposal would provide insurance for 94 percent of all legal residents of the U.S., up from 83 percent now.
Obama today praised Baucus’s panel for “plowing forward on what we all acknowledge is an extraordinarily complicated issue.”
‘Slippery Slope’
Senator Charles Grassley (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Charles+Grassley&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), the ranking Republican on the panel, echoed the view of many members of his party by saying the legislation will strengthen the federal government’s management of the health-care system.
“This bill is already moving on a slippery slope toward more government control of health care,” Grassley said. He said it’s likely to continue a “march leftward” as the legislation is merged in Congress.
The finance committee has sole jurisdiction in the Senate over how to pay for the overhaul, making its tax and spending- cut provisions almost certain to remain in the final bill the chamber considers.
They include a new 40 percent excise tax, beginning in 2013, on insurers of employer-sponsored health plans with benefits exceeding $8,000 for individual coverage and $21,000 for families. Thresholds are increased by $1,850 and $5,000 for retirees 55 and older and for employees in the coal mining and other union-heavy industries.
Biggest Tax Increase
That provision would raise $201 billion over 10 years, the CBO said, making it the biggest tax increase in the measure.
Another tax provision would increase the threshold for itemized deductions for unreimbursed medical expenses from 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income to 10 percent. The measure also imposes $13 billion in new annual fees on drugmakers, medical device manufacturers and health insurers.
The legislation is also offset by $404 billion in cost savings over a decade in both the Medicare and Medicaid programs. That includes $117 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage (http://www.medicare.gov/choices/advantage.asp), a program in which private insurers offer 10 million senior-citizen enrollees benefits such as dental or vision coverage not offered by the government program.
To expand health-insurance coverage, the legislation requires all U.S. citizens or legal residents to have coverage, or pay a penalty of $750 per year, with the fines phased in between 2014 and 2017. Those forced to pay more than 8 percent of their income to buy insurance are exempt.
Expansion of Government
Employers with 50 or more workers would pay a fee, though in contrast to other pending bills, penalties for companies that don’t offer health benefits would only apply to those workers who qualify for a lower-income tax credit to get their own policy. The penalty could reach as high as $400 per worker receiving a tax credit.
The measure seeks a sweeping expansion of government aid to reduce insurance costs for every American with an income below 400 percent of the federal poverty level. That level is $18,310 for a family of three in 2009.
Beginning in 2014, non-elderly people with an income below 133 percent of the poverty level would be covered by Medicaid. The measure also establishes an online insurance exchange where others without insurance can purchase a policy.
Legislation approved by three House committees and the Senate health panel would create a public option within the exchange which, like Medicare, would compete with insurers to provide coverage. The finance committee bill’s nonprofit co-ops are a bid to appeal to Republicans and centrist Democrats. The co-ops would get $6 billion in seed money.
Taking All Customers
The finance committee would bar insurers from excluding new enrollees based on pre-existing medical conditions. It would also allow variation in premium rates based on age limited to a 4 to 1 ratio, meaning older people could be charged no more than four times what younger policyholders are.
By contrast, the Senate health measure has a much-stricter 2 to 1 ratio for insurers, making that another issue of interest to industry that Democratic leaders must decide before the measure goes to the Senate.
Democrats on the committee made clear they will seek changes during Senate debate that include amendments to create a public option, scale back the penalties for those who fail to get coverage, and further expand subsidies.
To contact the reporters on this story: Laura Litvan (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Laura+Litvan&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 13, 2009 16:44 EDT
Though, it's not set in stone just yet.
http://www.militaryphotos.net/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=i7j6oMxoeTlU
Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The Senate Finance Committee approved an $829 billion plan to overhaul U.S. health care, clearing the way for a full Senate debate over the broadest expansion of the government’s role in the medical system since the creation of Medicare in 1965.
Just one Republican on the panel, Senator Olympia Snowe (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Olympia+Snowe&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) of Maine, voted for the measure in an otherwise party-line 14-9 tally. That marked the first time a Republican in either the Democratic-controlled Senate or House has supported the revamp legislation, President Barack Obama’s (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Barack+Obama%3Fs&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) top domestic priority.
“Ours is a balanced plan that can pass the Senate,” said panel Chairman Max Baucus (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Max+Baucus&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), a Montana Democrat.
Baucus had spent months courting Snowe and other Republicans, making his committee the last of five congressional panels to complete its version of the legislation. Senate and House Democratic leaders must now merge the bills and schedule floor debates. After each chamber votes, they’ll have to reconcile their measures.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Harry+Reid&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) will meld the finance panel bill with one approved by the Senate health committee in July, forcing him to resolve differences over a host of issues that divide both political parties and risk rupturing Democratic unity. Reid spokesman Jim Manley (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Jim+Manley&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) said the health- care bill should be on the floor the week of Oct. 26.
“There are many miles to go in this legislative journey,” Snowe said. “My vote today is my vote today. It doesn’t forecast what my vote will be tomorrow.”
Stocks Fall
The Standard & Poor’s index (http://www.militaryphotos.net/apps/quote?ticker=HMO%3AIND) of 13 health insurance stocks lost 2.4 percent. UnitedHealth Group Inc. (http://www.militaryphotos.net/apps/quote?ticker=UNH%3AUS), the largest insurer by sales, led the decline, with the shares of the Minnetonka, Minnesota, company dropping 94 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $24.29 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Health Net Inc. (http://www.militaryphotos.net/apps/quote?ticker=HNT%3AUS) followed, with the Woodland Hills, California, company falling 61 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $16.27.
“We cannot support this legislation in its current structure,” Robert Zirkelbach (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Robert+Zirkelbach&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), a spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group, said in an e- mail.
Senator Jon Kyl (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Jon+Kyl&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), an Arizona Republican, criticized Baucus for saying he was proud of the bill. “That sets the bar pretty low,” Kyl said in an interview after the vote. “All you have to do is raise taxes, but that hits the American people pretty hard.”
Premiums Seen Rising
Kyl said critics were unfair to dismiss a study (http://americanhealthsolution.org/assets/Reform-Resources/AHIP-Reform-Resources/PWC-Report-on-Costs-Final.pdf) released two days ago by the insurance industry group charging that the finance panel plan would more than double premium costs. Kyl said the Congressional Budget Office and health policy firms “all agree that premiums will go up.”
The White House criticized the report, and doctors, medical-device makers and one of two hospital groups reiterated their support for the overhaul.
Unlike other versions, the finance bill includes a new tax on the most-expensive insurance plans, doesn’t require employers to provide coverage to workers, and omits a provision creating a new government insurance program, the so-called public option, which most Republicans oppose.
Nonprofit co-operatives would instead provide competition to an insurance industry that stands to gain millions of new customers because the bill requires Americans to obtain insurance. The measure also imposes new restrictions on insurers’ ability to deny people coverage.
‘Extraordinarily Complicated’
The legislation seeks to curb health costs and provide coverage to almost all Americans who lack insurance. Democrats want to expand the Medicaid program for the poor and provide subsidies for millions of Americans to obtain policies.
The Congressional Budget Office gave the bill a boost last week when it estimated the measure would cut the federal budget deficit by $81 billion over 10 years. Obama has vowed not to sign any bill that adds “one dime” to the deficit (http://www.militaryphotos.net/apps/quote?ticker=FDEBTY%3AIND). The agency also said the proposal would provide insurance for 94 percent of all legal residents of the U.S., up from 83 percent now.
Obama today praised Baucus’s panel for “plowing forward on what we all acknowledge is an extraordinarily complicated issue.”
‘Slippery Slope’
Senator Charles Grassley (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Charles+Grassley&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), the ranking Republican on the panel, echoed the view of many members of his party by saying the legislation will strengthen the federal government’s management of the health-care system.
“This bill is already moving on a slippery slope toward more government control of health care,” Grassley said. He said it’s likely to continue a “march leftward” as the legislation is merged in Congress.
The finance committee has sole jurisdiction in the Senate over how to pay for the overhaul, making its tax and spending- cut provisions almost certain to remain in the final bill the chamber considers.
They include a new 40 percent excise tax, beginning in 2013, on insurers of employer-sponsored health plans with benefits exceeding $8,000 for individual coverage and $21,000 for families. Thresholds are increased by $1,850 and $5,000 for retirees 55 and older and for employees in the coal mining and other union-heavy industries.
Biggest Tax Increase
That provision would raise $201 billion over 10 years, the CBO said, making it the biggest tax increase in the measure.
Another tax provision would increase the threshold for itemized deductions for unreimbursed medical expenses from 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income to 10 percent. The measure also imposes $13 billion in new annual fees on drugmakers, medical device manufacturers and health insurers.
The legislation is also offset by $404 billion in cost savings over a decade in both the Medicare and Medicaid programs. That includes $117 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage (http://www.medicare.gov/choices/advantage.asp), a program in which private insurers offer 10 million senior-citizen enrollees benefits such as dental or vision coverage not offered by the government program.
To expand health-insurance coverage, the legislation requires all U.S. citizens or legal residents to have coverage, or pay a penalty of $750 per year, with the fines phased in between 2014 and 2017. Those forced to pay more than 8 percent of their income to buy insurance are exempt.
Expansion of Government
Employers with 50 or more workers would pay a fee, though in contrast to other pending bills, penalties for companies that don’t offer health benefits would only apply to those workers who qualify for a lower-income tax credit to get their own policy. The penalty could reach as high as $400 per worker receiving a tax credit.
The measure seeks a sweeping expansion of government aid to reduce insurance costs for every American with an income below 400 percent of the federal poverty level. That level is $18,310 for a family of three in 2009.
Beginning in 2014, non-elderly people with an income below 133 percent of the poverty level would be covered by Medicaid. The measure also establishes an online insurance exchange where others without insurance can purchase a policy.
Legislation approved by three House committees and the Senate health panel would create a public option within the exchange which, like Medicare, would compete with insurers to provide coverage. The finance committee bill’s nonprofit co-ops are a bid to appeal to Republicans and centrist Democrats. The co-ops would get $6 billion in seed money.
Taking All Customers
The finance committee would bar insurers from excluding new enrollees based on pre-existing medical conditions. It would also allow variation in premium rates based on age limited to a 4 to 1 ratio, meaning older people could be charged no more than four times what younger policyholders are.
By contrast, the Senate health measure has a much-stricter 2 to 1 ratio for insurers, making that another issue of interest to industry that Democratic leaders must decide before the measure goes to the Senate.
Democrats on the committee made clear they will seek changes during Senate debate that include amendments to create a public option, scale back the penalties for those who fail to get coverage, and further expand subsidies.
To contact the reporters on this story: Laura Litvan (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Laura+Litvan&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 13, 2009 16:44 EDT
Though, it's not set in stone just yet.