Healthcare Reform Update - 18Jan10

"White House Scores Key Labor Deal"

• The White House cut a deal with labor union leaders on how to tax high-cost insurance policies, a key revenue source included in the Senate healthcare reform bill.
• Under the deal, union members and government employees would be exempt from a proposed surtax on expensive insurance plans until 2018, five years after the legislation would take effect.
• Also known as the "Cadillac tax," the provision would levy a tax on individual insurance plans worth more than $8,500 and family policies above $23,000 annually. Labor unions pushed hard against such a tax, maintaining that it would hurt many workers who have accepted lower wages in exchange for more expensive benefits.
• The tax is included in the Senate's healthcare bill, which is the final bill the House will work on to formulate proposed final legislation.
• The initial House bill used an income tax on millionaires to finance its package.
• Resolving the differences between the two bills' tax structures has been a key stumbling block in finalizing health reform legislation.
• Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31527.html

"All Eyes on Massachusetts Special Election"

• Democrats are rushing to finalize healthcare legislation in anticipation of a close race in Massachusetts that could decide the fate of healthcare reform.
• The special election being held in Massachusetts on Jan. 19 will decide the replacement in the Senate for the late Ted Kennedy.
• If the seat goes to a Republican, it would be the key 41st vote needed to block the bill with a filibuster. (A filibuster is the right to unlimited debate.)
• Once considered a shoo-in for the Democrats, recent polls show Republican Scott Brown leading Democrat candidate Martha Coakley. Additionally, last week two widely-known prognosticators (those who call the outcome of an election), the Cook Political Report and the Rothenberg Political Report, changed their rating of the race to a "toss up."
• Congress is hurrying the conference committee to assure their legislation is finalized before the election. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Friday. “I would certainly hope that within the next 24, 48, 72 hours, we have a general agreement between the Senate and the House.”
• Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/76399-healthcare-talks-in-race-with-massachusetts-special-election

"Democrats Ponder Backup Plan on Healthcare Bill"

• Congressional Democrats are contemplating a fall-back plan to pass healthcare reform legislation, even if a Republican victory in Massachusetts deprives Senate Democrats of the crucial 60th vote they need to overcome filibusters.
• The most likely Plan B would be to have House Democrats approve the Senate’s healthcare bill, removing the need for an additional Senate vote and sending the measure directly to President Obama for his signature.
• Democrats could also try to pass a revised healthcare bill in the Senate before the new Massachusetts senator is sworn in. Or they could try to use a procedural tactic known as budget reconciliation that would require only 51 votes to pass the legislation.
• Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/health/policy/18health.html?ref=policy