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Healthcare Reform Debate Continues:
Public Option Out?
Healthcare reform continues to divide the country and Congress. It seems that each day brings a new idea, bill, or rumor about the outcome of President Obama’s healthcare agenda. While there is no definite answer yet, we seem to be moving slowly towards change in the healthcare industry.
In recent weeks, senators dismissed a House health care reform plan as too expensive and partisan. Instead, the Senate is looking to a deal on negotiations in a Senate committee that has not |
yet approved a bill.
Meanwhile, the White House continues to waiver on which way to turn toward healthcare reform by not offering a definite position on whether a government-run insurance plan will be part of the proposal. The government-run insurance plan is the most controversial item in any healthcare reform proposal.
According to Senator Kent Conrad, D-N.D., a member of the bipartisan negotiating team trying to work out a compromise on the Senate Finance Committee, the public option will not pass: "The only thing that has a prospect of passing is what is happening in the Senate, in the Finance Committee, where three Democrats and three Republicans have been given the responsibility to come up with a proposal for our colleagues. And the proposal that we are developing is fully paid for."
On September 16, Obama again took to the “campaign trail” by delivering an address to Congress to promote his plan for healthcare reform. In his speech, Obama mentioned a system of non-profit cooperatives instead of a government-run option. In recent weeks Obama has seemed to back away from the public option and in the speech urged Democrats to consider alternatives.
According to Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., any consideration for the public option is long gone: "The House bill is dead because deficit politics apparently matter, and the public option is unacceptable, so that's a good start." Graham noted that the bill would add $239 billion to the deficit over 10 years.
Obama’s best hope for Republican support comes from Senator Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. Snowe is also against the public option: "I urged the president to take the public option off the table, because it's universally opposed by all Republicans in the Senate. And therefore, there's no way to pass a plan that includes the public option. ... it is a roadblock to building the kind of consensus that we need to move forward," she said. "I appreciate the fact that the president did demonstrate flexibility on the question in his speech Wednesday night, but it does leave it open, and therefore unpredictable."
Meanwhile, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has been advocating a bipartisan bill. Under this bill, Americans who do not pay a penalty for not buying insurance could be charged up to $25,000 by the Internal Revenue Service or face up to a year in jail.
The Baucus bill does not include a public option, and its overall cost is lower than other Democratic proposals. The bill uses federal subsidies for lower-income individuals and families and establishes an insurance exchange in which coverage would have federally guaranteed benefits. The bill also limits higher premiums based on age and does not allow insurance companies to refuse coverage based on health history.
However, the Baucus bill includes an individual health insurance mandate and a penalty of up to $1,900 for failure to obtain insurance, along with legal action from the IRS against those who fail to pay the mandate penalty of up to one year in jail or a $25,000 penalty.
Republicans contend the Baucus bill is too expense and includes too much government action. The only Republican that may support the bill is Snowe.
At its core, the bill is designed to expand health insurance coverage to millions of people who lack it, employing a new system of federal subsidies for lower-income individuals and families and establishing an insurance exchange in which coverage would have federally guaranteed benefits.
Insurance companies would be prohibited from refusing to sell insurance based on a person's health history, and limits would be imposed on higher premiums based on age. |
