SIIA Legislative Update – Compromised Reached on Public Option Proposal
A group of liberal and moderate Senate Democrats reached an agreement late last night in their negotiations on the structure of a government insurance option to be included in the Senate’s Healthcare reform bill.
While firm details have yet to be released for public review, SIIA’s Government Relations Staff has learned from our sources on Capitol Hill that the proposal would allow for a system of national health insurance plans run by private entities but administered by the Office of Personnel Management, which already manages health benefits for Federal employees. It is likely that coupled with this approach will be a provision added to the reform package to allow those ages 55 and above to buy into Medicare. These individuals would be allowed to use any subsidies they may be eligible for to purchase Medicare coverage. The last major provision of this compromise package would be to allow States to create their own insurance plans to cover residents whose incomes are less than 300% of the FPL.
The proposal will now be submitted to the Congressional Budget Office by Majority Leader Reid for an official cost estimate. Once returned, the Majority Leader will then seek firm commitments from Senators. Once he has at least 60 Senators in support, he will call for a cloture vote to end debate. 60 votes in support of a cloture vote protects a bill from a filibuster and allows for a vote on final passage of the bill that needs only a simple majority for it to succeed.
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