Senate Finance Committee Approves Health Care Reform Legislation
The Senate Finance Committee has approved its health care reform legislation, entitled "America's Healthy Future Act." This legislation will now have to be merged with the version approved by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (the "HELP Committee").
The two bills share many common concepts, such as penalties for individuals who fail to obtain health insurance, expansion of Medicare and requirements for insurance plans that, for example, include prohibitions on exclusions for pre-existing conditions.
However, the Finance Committee's version differs from the HELP Committee's in some significant ways. First, the Finance Committee's version does not establish a government-run health insurance plan, commonly referred to as a "public option," that would compete in the health insurance exchanges with private health insurance plans. Second, it does not mandate employers to provide health insurance. Third, it proposes different methods for financing the cost of the legislation. For example, the Finance Committee's version proposes assessing fees on pharmaceutical manufacturing companies ($2.3 billion), medical device manufacturers ($4 billion), health insurance providers ($6 billion), and clinical laboratories ($750 million).
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