Sept. 18, 2009

This Week in Health Care Reform
Lawmakers
continued to negotiate health care reform legislation this week. On
Wednesday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee, revealed his proposed reform legislation despite ongoing
concerns from both Republicans and Democrats.

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Senate Negotiations

Sen.
Baucus Unveils Proposed Legislation: On Wednesday, after months of
negotiations to develop a bipartisan reform proposal, Sen. Baucus
unveiled a major health care reform bill. The GOP, to date, has
withheld its support of the bill.

With an expected price tag of
$856 billion , the bill proposes insurance cooperatives, individual
mandates, taxes on high-end insurance plans, fees on industry players,
Medicaid expansions and government subsidies for qualifying families.
It would also prohibit insurance companies from dropping or denying
coverage based on preexisting conditions. The bill is deficit-neutral
and less costly than prior proposed bills. In addition, the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that the bill will trim
federal deficits by $49 billion over 10 years.

Sen. Baucus has
indicated he will continue to work to forge bipartisan consensus,
saying that the bipartisan talks could continue even as the Finance
Committee begins its formal bill drafting and voting session next week.
With concerns voiced from both sides of the aisle, however, it is not
clear whether the bill will receive enough support.

Republicans
question the states' role in paying for Medicaid expansion, an
individual requirement to purchase coverage, and fees on health
insurance companies, clinical laboratories and medical device
manufacturers. In addition, they want to include specific language
restricting the use of federal dollars for abortion.

Democrats
believe there are excessive cost burdens placed on some families and
have concerns about the financing of the plan. Interested parties, from
consumers to employers to industry groups, are still digesting what
Sen. Baucus's reform bill will mean for them.

Public Plan

American
Opposition Drops if Public Option Dropped: A recent Washington Post-ABC
News poll, conducted in the days following President Obama's televised
address to a joint session of Congress, found that 46 percent of those
polled favor proposed changes to the nation's health care system, while
48 percent are opposed. Public opinion appears to shift if the public
option is dropped from the reform package, though, with opposition
dropping 6 percent. About 55 percent of those polled like the idea of a
public option.

Additional Activities

Industry Groups Give
Support Following President Obama's Speech: Following the President's
presentation of a health care reform blueprint to a joint session of
Congress, industry groups expressed support for the proposed reform
plans . The Americas Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the American
Medical Association (AMA), the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) and the American Association of
Retired Persons (AARP), endorsed President Obama's calls for change,
saying they remain open to major reform for availability, financing and
regulation of health care.

Debate Swirls Around Illegal
Immigrants and Health Care: House Democrats asked White House officials
to clarify statements made by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs last week
indicating that President Obama would bar illegal immigrants from
directly buying health insurance from a government-created insurance
exchange. Democrats believe that the health care proposals were
developed to prevent illegal immigrants from getting tax-supported
subsidies to buy health insurance, but not to prevent them from using
their own money for private insurance.

White House officials
clarified that illegal immigrants could use their own money to buy
coverage from the few private insurance companies that will be
permitted to sell insurance outside the exchange. Rep. Lamar Smith
(R-TX) accused the Administration of providing coverage to illegal
immigrants with this arrangement.

Looking Ahead

The
Senate Finance Committee is expected to begin mark-up on Tuesday,
preparing the bill for debate in the full Senate next month. The full
committee will meet on Thursday to discuss the proposal, with any
amendments due by end of the day Friday.