Republicans to release their own health bill
A draft of the House Republicans’ alternative health care overhaul legislation is circulating in Washington — one that the GOP says is a far less costly and intrusive approach to helping the uninsured than the Democratic proposals in the House and Senate.
While GOP aides cautioned that the draft was still being refined, the general approach expands state-based high-risk insurance pools for Americans with pre-existing health problems, permits trade associations to organize to purchase group insurance, imposes caps on medical liability lawsuits and allows health insurance companies to sell policies across state lines.
Most of these ideas — particularly efforts to reform medical malpractice laws — were left out of the Democratic approaches.
Over the weekend, House Minority Leader John Boehner called the Democratic bill “unaffordable,” saying: “We do not increase taxes, we do not cut Medicare and Medicaid and we do not have mandates on individuals or businesses.”
The Republican plan, which will be offered as an amendment to the Democratic bill, also would authorize subsidies to states that reduce the annual per person premium for health insurance coverage or develop new programs that cover more of their residents over a 10-year period.
To learn more:
- Read a draft of the bill.
This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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