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Where Health Care Legislation Stands Now© Sound Mind Investing | November 2009
• There currently is no single piece of health care legislation on the table. • In the House of Representatives, "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009" [PDF, 2454 pages] was introduced in July. Its major provisions include a new government-run insurance plan (the "public option") to compete with the private companies, a requirement that all Americans have health insurance, and a prohibition on denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions. It has not been voted on by the full House, and is subject to change as negotiations proceed. • In the Senate, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee approved its version — "The Affordable Health Choices Act" [PDF, 615 pages] — in July. It is similar to the House bill in its major provisions, but will need to be reconciled with the approach taken by the Senate Finance Committee which filed its 1,502-page bill [PDF] in October. The Finance Committee approach is often referred to as the "Baucus bill" after the Committee's chairman, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana). • The action has now moved to a group of Democratic congressional leaders and senior White House staff who will attempt to meld the two Senate versions and the House version into one "centrist" bill that will garner sufficient support to pass both the House and the Senate. The Baucus bill is widely considered to be the "starting point" for those discussions. RELATED ARTICLES
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