Senate [Finance Committee] Chairman Says Health Care Bill Is Coming

[steven johnson]

Source: NY Times

The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee told colleagues on Friday that he would soon present them with a detailed proposal for overhauling the nation's health care system in an effort to force either an agreement or an acknowledgment that further bipartisan negotiations would be futile.
The chairman, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, signaled his intentions in a telephone conference call with five other committee members who have been struggling for months to forge a bipartisan bill and break a partisan stalemate in Congress, an official familiar with the call said.
The official said Mr. Baucus had told the group that he would circulate a detailed proposal as early as Saturday. In doing so, he would be taking a big step toward forcing a final decision by the group as to whether it sees any realistic prospect of a deal.
Many of the ideas expected to be included in the Baucus plan have been aired for weeks among the negotiators and by other lawmakers. But if Mr. Baucus follows through, it would be the first time he had assembled a complete package, an indication of the pressure he is under to produce an agreement.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/health/policy/05health.html

[kenny blankenship]

1. Ran out of stuff to give away.

It was bound to happen eventually.

[steven johnson]

2. Here are the details of the Baucus bill

Basic elements of Baucus plan:

-- would require most Americans to have health insurance
-- Medicaid would be expanded to cover anyone with income less than 133 percent of the poverty level
-- states would be required to pay some of the new Medicaid costs
-- the 10-year cost of Mr. Baucus's proposal would be less than $900 billion
-- Congress would define a minimum package of benefits that must be provided by insurance companies, and federal officials would later fill in the details
-- a new tax on insurance companies selling policies with premiums far exceeding the national average, roughly $13,000
-- set up consumer-owned nonprofit cooperatives to sell insurance
-- prohibit insurers from denying coverage or charging higher premiums because of a person's medical history or current condition
-- limit the ability of insurers to charge higher premiums because of age
-- pass a bill with Democrats' votes alone, perhaps, and at best one Senate Republican, Ms. Snowe because of opposition by Grassley & Enzi