Next up, Senate negotiators will meet with their counterparts in the House (which passed its own $894 billion bill in November) to work out differences between the two and try to forge one unified bill that Congress can present to President Obama. But with their differences vast, this will not be an easy negotiating process. Expect standoffs over the cost of healthcare reform, new fees and taxes, the so called “public option,” abortion coverage, and pet projects rolled into the bill that have nothing to do with healthcare at all.
So in case you’re like most and can’t make heads or tails of what’s really going on, here is a simplified explanation of where the Senate bill currently stands:
EMPLOYER OBLIGATION – Companies with more than 200 employees would be required to enroll their workers in a health insurance plan, with no ability for employees to opt out. Companies with more than 50 but fewer than 200 workers would not be required to offer insurance, but if they didn’t, they’d have to pay a fee of $750 per employee each year (with some variations). Companies with fewer than 50 workers would not have to offer insurance or pay any fees. Those rules would go into effect in 2014. The House bill would place similar requirements on employers, but with a different way of determining which companies are required to offer insurance.
THE “Public Option” – There is no public option in the Senate bill. The House bill would establish a government-run insurer that would compete with private insurers offering coverage to those not covered by their employers. The public option is one of the biggest differences between the House and Senate bills, and will likely be one of the biggest battles as healthcare reform hits the home stretch.
INSURANCE EXCHANGES – This is how everyone would buy insurance if they don’t have an employer who provides it. The structure is complicated, but these exchanges would basically be run by each state in conjunction with the federal government, allowing states to create additional mechanisms for offering insurance to their residents. Traditional insurance companies would be allowed to compete for customers through the exchanges and across state lines, provided they met a set of requirements set by the federal government. The least expensive plans would offer catastrophic coverage only and not be available to everyone. There would be several other levels of coverage, priced more for each bump-up in benefits. The exchanges would go into effect in 2014. The House bill includes similar reforms, although there would be an additional health-insurance exchange at the national level. And the public health-insurance plan (not included in the Senate bill) would compete with private plans on each of the exchanges.
SUBSIDIES TO HELP PAY FOR COVERAGE – For the most part, government subsidies would help cover the cost of insurance for individuals earning as much as 400% of the poverty level. In 2009, the poverty level for an individual in most states was $10,830; for a family of 4, it was $22,050. So an individual earning less than $43,320 or a family of 4 earning less than $88,200 would qualify for some aid. The House bill has a similar income threshold for subsidies, but a different formula for determining how much the subsidy would be.
MEDICAID EXPANSION – Eligibility for Medicaid would be expanded to people or families earning 133% of the poverty level (with exceptions), effective in 2014. The House bill would broaden Medicaid eligibility to those earning 150% of the poverty level, and do so by 2013.
INSURANCE FOR HIGH RISK PATIENTS – People who can’t get traditional coverage due to a pre-existing medical condition would be eligible for insurance under a new “national high-risk pool,” with rates comparable to those for the general population. The pool would go into effect quickly — within 90 days of a bill becoming law. The House bill has a similar provision, with different ceilings for allowed premiums and deductibles.
LIFETIME LIMITS – Insurance companies would no longer be allowed to cap the amount of lifetime benefits or cancel coverage, unless the patient defrauded the insurer. Those rules would go into effect in 2010. By 2014, there would be tougher limits prohibiting annual caps on benefits, in addition to lifetime caps. The House bill has similar provisions and would go a step further by severely restricting insurance companies’ ability to deny coverage on account of pre-existing conditions.
NEW TAXES – To help pay for increased coverage, a number of long-standing tax credits and deductions would decline, while taxes on some other benefits would increase. One of the most prominent changes would be a tax on “gold-plated” health insurance plans that provide lavish benefits but are expensive. The threshold at which the surtax would kick in would be $8,500 for an individual’s annual premium and $23,000 for a family’s. There’s a lot of fine print, leaving some people with gold-plated plans exempt from the tax. The House bill doesn’t tax gold-plated plans, but raises funds through an additional 5.4% income tax on individuals earning $500,000 or more per year, and families earning $1,000,000 or more. Obviously, these new taxes are controversial, creating more difficulty for negotiators.
ABORTION COVERAGE – Federal subsidies cannot be used to fund abortion unless the life of the mother is at risk or there’s a case of rape or incest. The House bill has a similar provision, with an additional stipulation that prohibits federal money from being spent on any insurer that provides abortions, even if it’s with private funds.
INDOOR TANNING BOOTHS – Beginning in 2010, there would be an additional 10% tax on the cost of indoor tanning services to help pay for health reform. This was supposedly put into place so as to discourage the use of artificial tanning salons, which medical officials link to a large number of skin cancer cases nationally.
