House Health Reform Bill Headed to the Floor

As you all know, Speaker Pelosi unveiled the House health reform bill that will go to the floor next week for debate, further amendment, and an eventual vote by the full House. Some key changes from HR 3200 to the new HR 3962 include:

·         Medicaid expansion to 150% FPL (was 133%)

·         Public Option with negotiated provider payment rates (rather than Medicare or Medicare plus some % increase)

·         Bill cost over 10 years reduced below $900 billion

·         Reduced premium assistance for low- and moderate-income families (higher percentage of income may be spent on premiums)

·         Deeper reductions in drug costs by industry, mostly related to Medicare drug benefits, e.g., Reduces the donut hole by $500 and institutes a 50% discount on brand-name drugs, effective January 1, 2010.

·         CLASS act:  new voluntary public long-term care insurance program (modeled I Senate HELP Committee proposal)

·         Increased small business exemption and increased size of businesses which may buy coverage through the health insurance exchange

·         Immediate national subsidized high-risk pool and roll-back or pre-existing condition waiting periods (completely banned by 2013)

·         Indefinite extension of COBRA until health insurance exchange coverage is available

·         Immediate ban on health insurance recissions and life-time caps

·         COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS—Increases funding for Community Health Centers to allow for a doubling of the number of patients seen by the centers over the next 5 years.

There’s a slew of summary pieces on the Education and Labor Committee web site to give you a good, quick, overview of the major changes made to the House’s Health Reform bill, the Affordable Health Care for America Act [H.R. 3962].  No, it’s not a substitute for reading independent analyses (or heaven help us, actual bill text), but it’s a great way to wrap your mind around the big picture before you dig in and try to ferret out the details.  In addition to 4- and 10-page summaries, among the nearly 3 dozen fact sheets posted are Top 10 Changes to the Health Insurance Reform Bill, and Top 14 Provisions That Take Effect Immediately.