PUBLIC PLAN: Senate Weighs Removing Option From Reform Bill; Expanding Medicare, Medicaid
Senate Democrats on Monday discussed possible compromises to the chamber’s health reform bill (HR 3590) that could leave the legislation without a public health insurance plan and instead expand Medicare and Medicaid, Politico reports. A cohort of five liberal Democratic senators and five moderate Democratic senators has been working for five days to find a consensus on a public plan that can garner the necessary 60 votes to avoid a Republican filibuster on the bill (Budoff Brown, Politico, 12/7).
The compromise currently being weighed would remove a public health insurance plan from the legislation and instead require the Office of Personnel Management to manage a new system of national health plans that would be available in every state. There would be at least two available plans, which would be run by not-for-profit organizations or other groups separate from the government, such as for-profit insurance companies (Wayne, CQ Today, 12/7). In order to appease liberal Democrats who are calling for a government-run public plan that competes alongside private insurers, Democrats discussed on Monday a proposal to allow people ages 55 to 64 who cannot find insurance elsewhere to buy coverage through Medicare at a subsidized rate (Hitt/Adamy, Wall Street Journal, 12/8). Another proposal would expand Medicaid to cover people with incomes up to 150% of the federal poverty level, up from the 133% level currently included in the Senate bill. A third proposal discussed would require insurers to spend about 90% of premiums on clinical services and programs that aim to improve quality of care, thus limiting the profits that insurers could make (Pear/Herszenhorn, New York Times, 12/8).
Members of the negotiating group have said that they hope to finish the public option compromise proposal by the end of the day Tuesday in order to send it to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring. However, many expressed concern about the impending deadline. “We have so many things dancing around in our heads, we’re like three-year-olds at Christmas time,” Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said, adding, “It’s so intense. And we can’t lose (any votes) so the stakes are so high.” Nelson said, “I think everybody is anxious to finish as soon as you can. I just don’t know how to put a timetable on it.”
– Julia Moss
Note: This is an abridged version of the story that appeared in American Health Line this morning. For complete access to the full version, plus all of AHL’s other stories and content, subscribe to AHL.
