House Democrats to unveil health bill
Reuters
By John Whitesides and Donna Smith
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives finished work on Wednesday on a healthcare bill that includes a government-run insurance plan, requires individuals to buy health coverage and imposes a surtax on the wealthy to help pay for it.
The measure, the product of weeks of closed-door talks to merge three pending health bills, will be unveiled by party leaders on Thursday and submitted to the full House for debate as early as next week.
The bill includes a government-run "public" insurance option that uses reimbursement rates negotiated with healthcare providers, Democrats said, a setback for House liberals led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi who favored a more "robust" version to compete with private insurers.
Pelosi failed to gain the 218 votes needed to pass a version of the government-run plan using lower rates pegged to Medicare, the health plan for the elderly.
The healthcare measure being prepared for debate in the Senate also includes a public insurance option based on negotiated reimbursement rates but, unlike the House bill, it would allow states to decline to participate.
(More here.)
By John Whitesides and Donna Smith
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives finished work on Wednesday on a healthcare bill that includes a government-run insurance plan, requires individuals to buy health coverage and imposes a surtax on the wealthy to help pay for it.
The measure, the product of weeks of closed-door talks to merge three pending health bills, will be unveiled by party leaders on Thursday and submitted to the full House for debate as early as next week.
The bill includes a government-run "public" insurance option that uses reimbursement rates negotiated with healthcare providers, Democrats said, a setback for House liberals led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi who favored a more "robust" version to compete with private insurers.
Pelosi failed to gain the 218 votes needed to pass a version of the government-run plan using lower rates pegged to Medicare, the health plan for the elderly.
The healthcare measure being prepared for debate in the Senate also includes a public insurance option based on negotiated reimbursement rates but, unlike the House bill, it would allow states to decline to participate.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home