Baucus Unveils Senate Finance Committee Reform Bill

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 17 Sep 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Wednesday formally released a 10-year, $856 billion health reform bill, the Wall Street Journal reports (Hitt, Wall Street Journal, 9/16). On Tuesday, the bipartisan "Gang of Six" negotiators working on the legislation failed to reach a final deal, but Baucus signaled that he was still ready to release the draft bill, Roll Call reports. Prior to the release of the bill, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed their displeasure with certain aspects of the legislation (Drucker, Roll Call, 9/16).

After a meeting with the negotiating group on Tuesday, Baucus told reporters, "We're continuing to meet -- keep discussing, keep negotiating," adding that he still planned to release the bill on Wednesday. He also confirmed that the markup of the bill will begin on Sept. 22 (Drucker, Roll Call, 9/15).

In its current form, the bill replaces a public insurance plan option with a network of not-for-profit health cooperatives. The package would implement, among other levies, industry fees and taxes on the highest-priced health care plans to generate funds and prevent the bill from adding to the federal deficit (Roll Call, 9/16). The bill also would prevent insurers from practices such as denying coverage for pre-existing conditions (Wall Street Journal, 9/16).

In a statement released on Tuesday, Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) -- one if the three Republican members of the Gang of Six -- said he will not support the bill, CongressDaily reports (Edney, CongressDaily, 9/16). Grassley cited various reasons for his decision, including that it fails to address his concerns regarding abortion coverage.

However, he echoed the negotiating group's commitment to continuing talks for a bipartisan deal. "We've been clear from the start that we're willing to stay at the table," adding, "There's no reason not to keep working until we get it right. In the end, legislation that impacts every American should have strong bipartisan support" (Budoff Brown, Politico, 9/15).

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