New US Senate Health Care Proposal Carries Smaller Price Tag

[undeterred]

Source: Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A Senate health-care proposal released Thursday would keep more people in employer-sponsored health plans and cost far less than an earlier version of the proposal that drew heavy criticism.

The new proposal, issued by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee after lengthy consultations with the Congressional Budget Office, would cost $611.4 billion over 10 years. The CBO analysis states that 21 million uninsured people would gain coverage under the proposal, but Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who is leading committee Democrats on health-care matters, said the bill combined with Senate Finance Committee legislation would result in coverage of 97% of Americans.

The new analysis comes as welcome news to Democrats on the panel, after a June 15 review showed that an earlier draft of the legislation would cost $1 trillion over the 2010-2019 period and cover only 16 million more people than currently insured. There are an estimated 40 million uninsured in the U.S.

The vast difference in dollar figures results in large part from a section in the proposal that would slap penalties on employers who don't offer employee health benefits. Under the proposal, firms with 25 or more employees that don't offer coverage would face fees of $750-per-year for full-time workers and $375-per-year for part-time workers.



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090702-710177.htm...

[pattmarty]

1. OK. Now let's get fucking going here.

[harun]

2. I'll second that.