Key senator outlines bipartisan health-reform plan
By Cindy House 
| September 9, 2009 | 8:01 AM
Ahead of President Barack Obama’s health-reform speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, details emerged of a plan proposed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus that may become the framework for a reform bill in the Senate.
Baucus, D-Mont., is part of the “Gang of Six,” a bipartisan group of senators who have been meeting for months to develop an alternative health-reform plan.
Baucus’ proposal calls for new regulations for the insurance industry, including ending health insurance penalties for pre-existing conditions, and allowing interstate sales of insurance policies. It requires everyone to have health insurance by 2013 and provides tax credits to help offset the cost for low-income consumers.
The plan also establishes state-based insurance exchanges that consumers can use to compare different health policies. It does not require employers to offer health insurance, but it does impose a fee on large businesses for each employee who takes the insurance tax credits.
Unlike the reform plan proposed in the House, the Baucus proposal does not mention a public insurance option. That portion of the House plan has come under fire from critics as a step toward socialized medicine and a single-payer health insurance system.
What’s getting the most attention in the Baucus plan, though, are the fees that would be imposed on the health care industry to help cover the cost of the proposal. These include:
- A 35 percent excise tax on insurance companies for high-cost policies (above $8,000 for singles and $21,000 for families)
- A $2.3 billion annual fee imposed on drug makers
- A $4 billion annual fee imposed on medical device makers
- A $6 billion annual fee imposed on health insurers
- A $750 million annual fee imposed on clinical laboratories
These fees would begin next year, even though many of the other aspects of the plan would not go into effect for three to five years.
Baucus said he hopes to reach agreement with the “Group of Six” on the proposal before Obama’s speech.
gang of six, health insurance, health reform, max baucus, senate
