The proposal is an updated version of the bill that was considered by House Committees over the summer, containing modifications reflecting negotiations made between House Democrat leadership and factions of liberal and moderate Members of their caucus.Much of the internal negotiations dealt with the question of including a government-run health plan as part of the proposal, and if so, in what specific form. The bill released today contains a proposal to create a government-run health insurance plan that would reimburse providers at “negotiated” rates and is supported by a fragile consensus of House Democrats.

Mandates for employers to offer coverage and individuals to purchase coverage remain in the updated version. The bill also seeks to create a national insurance exchange where private insurance plans along with the government-run plan would be offered and be accessible to all individuals and businesses to purchase coverage. Additionally, the bill contains numerous insurance market reforms that both commercial insurance companies as well as employer-sponsored self-insured plans would have to comply with.

The House is expected to consider and vote on the reform bill next week.

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This entry was posted by Adam V. Russo on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 10:12 am and is filed under Health Care Legislation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.