Oh how I'd love to have a good vent about this - but I'm so swamped with trying to work with Donna and the office on the HPS Conference, that I just haven't had the mental energy to tackle it. This is another summary from the American Thoracic Society's newsletter. It's very brief. I chose it becasue they write a nice summary. Keep in mind it is a summary though.
Health Care Reform - What Next?
While House and Senate Democratic leaders are still scrambling to make sense of Sen-Elect Brown's victory in Massachusetts, it is clear that the election results will have a significant impact on the health reform legislation. Prior to the special election on Massachusetts, Congress appeared headed towards tweaking the Senate health reform bill and attempting to pass the bill before President Obama's State of the Union address.
Now both House and Senate Democratic leaders are appear to have abandoned the Senate bill and are considering a number of other options, ranging from passing only those provisions that have bipartisan support, to using budget reconciliation (which requires only 51 votes) to passing the more controversial elements of health reform, to restarting the process from scratch, to giving up all together.
House Democratic leaders are currently considering a two-step plan to scale back the reform legislation and pass budget-related measures through the budget reconciliation process, which requires only a simple majority vote in the Senate and a series of smaller individual bills on issues such as insurance regulations.
The issues that are under consideration for inclusion in smaller bills are insurance regulations that have some support among Republicans, such as a prohibition on coverage denials based on pre-existing conditions, eliminating lifetime and annual caps and prohibiting insurance companies from rescinding coverage when individuals become sick. Medical malpractice reform, transitioning provider payments to a value-based system and expanding coverage through tax credits are also being discussed. The House Democratic leadership has not yet commented on these proposals, so it appears that it will be a few more days at least before a clear House-Senate strategy on health reform emerges.
Health Care Reform - What Next?
While House and Senate Democratic leaders are still scrambling to make sense of Sen-Elect Brown's victory in Massachusetts, it is clear that the election results will have a significant impact on the health reform legislation. Prior to the special election on Massachusetts, Congress appeared headed towards tweaking the Senate health reform bill and attempting to pass the bill before President Obama's State of the Union address.
Now both House and Senate Democratic leaders are appear to have abandoned the Senate bill and are considering a number of other options, ranging from passing only those provisions that have bipartisan support, to using budget reconciliation (which requires only 51 votes) to passing the more controversial elements of health reform, to restarting the process from scratch, to giving up all together.
House Democratic leaders are currently considering a two-step plan to scale back the reform legislation and pass budget-related measures through the budget reconciliation process, which requires only a simple majority vote in the Senate and a series of smaller individual bills on issues such as insurance regulations.
The issues that are under consideration for inclusion in smaller bills are insurance regulations that have some support among Republicans, such as a prohibition on coverage denials based on pre-existing conditions, eliminating lifetime and annual caps and prohibiting insurance companies from rescinding coverage when individuals become sick. Medical malpractice reform, transitioning provider payments to a value-based system and expanding coverage through tax credits are also being discussed. The House Democratic leadership has not yet commented on these proposals, so it appears that it will be a few more days at least before a clear House-Senate strategy on health reform emerges.
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