Please note that, although the momentum for healthcare reform appears to be building back up, it is still not clear whether Congress will move ahead with a comprehensive bill amid the current political environment.
"Obama Unveils New Healthcare Reform Proposal in Anticipation of Thursday Debate"
- President Obama released a $950 billion healthcare reform proposal Monday morning.
- The proposal will serve as the starting point for negotiations by Congressional leaders at a bipartisan healthcare summit.
- This version is intended to reflect many of the compromises reached during the conference committee before Senator Scott Brown’s election.
- Basically Obama’s proposal is very similar to the Senate bill that was being used as a basis for these compromises.
- Here are some notable changes:
- Delays the tax on high-cost health insurance policies for all plans until 2018, and raises the threshold at which the tax would kick in to $27,500 for an annual family plan, up from $24,000.
- Maintains the state-based exchange system under the Senate bill, rather than the national marketplace envisioned by the House.
- Pushes back implementation of the taxes on various healthcare industry players, and changes the fee on medical device manufacturers to an excise tax.
- Boosts measures to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare.
- Fully closes the “donut hole” for Medicare prescription drug beneficiaries.
- Lowers the penalty on individuals who don’t purchase insurance to $325 in the first year.
- Raises the Medicare payroll tax on couples earning more than $250,000 a year.
- Gives the federal government sweeping new powers to curb exorbitant rate hikes by health insurance companies.
- Boosts tax subsidies for low- and moderate-income individuals to purchase insurance and bigger penalties on larger employers that do not provide health insurance. Absent in Obama’s plan is a public health insurance option.
- Read more:
No comments:
Post a Comment