The House approved the Senate version of health care reform last night, 219-212. The bill does lots of things, most notably:
- Eliminates the ability for your insurance company to deny you coverage because you have a pre-existing condition. It creates a high risk pool from which people will be able to procure insurance with caps on out-of-pocket costs;
- Insurance companies can no longer drop you if you become ill;
- Eliminates annual caps on insurance;
- Children can stay on the parents’ insurance until they’re 26;
- Small businesses will be provided federal tax credits up to 35% of premiums to insure employees;
- Provides incentives to states to expand health insurance for children under the Child Health Insurance Program;
- Children can no longer be denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition;
- Extends a tax credit to people who lose their job to maintain COBRA coverage;
- Creates a competitive insurance market through insurance exchanges;
- Increases Medicare reimbursements to rural health care providers; and
- Closes the “doughnut hole” in Medicare that causes the cost of prescription drugs to increase over the long-term. In the short term people will receive a $250 rebate;
- Taxes expensive health insurance plans known as “cadillac plans.”
It expands coverage to 31 million people, including 4 million children. One of the ways it does that by implementing an individual insurance mandate, which I discussed last night, as well as expanding Medicaid.
Regarding the mandate, it is important to note that for those individuals or families who do not receive insurance through an employer, but who make too much to qualify for Medicaid will receive a subsidy on a sliding scale. This means a family will pay somewhere between 3% and 9.5% of annual income on health care, a reduction from current limits. It, like many other provisions, begins in 2014.
The New York Times has a useful interative graphic that helps explain what the plan does, and when.
The reconciliation bill that was also approved by the House and now heads to the Senate amends the bill that President Barack Obama will sign perhaps as early as today. Here’s an explainer on what the reconciliation bill includes by issue. Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated this weekend that he had the 50 votes required to pass it as-is. The major issue is whether the tax on expensive health insurance plans impacts Social Security. Under the rules of reconciliation, Social Security cannot be altered in any way. Assuming it clears that parliamentary hurdle, 20 hours of debate begins on Tuesday and ending Thursday. Voting will commence on the bill itself immediately thereafter.
