The House of Representatives on Nov. 7, by a 220-215 vote, passed a bill to overhaul the healthcare system. Any differences between the Senate and House bills will have to be reconciled. The main provisions of the House bill are:
INSURANCE MARKET CHANGES
- Creates an insurance market exchange where individuals and small businesses would purchase coverage
- Creates a new government health insurance plan that would be sold through the exchange
- Provides for the creation of nonprofit healthcare cooperatives to sell coverage through the exchange
- Bars insurers from excluding for pre-existing conditions and from charging more for medical history
- Creates a temporary national high-risk pool program to provide medical coverage to the uninsured, including those with pre-existing conditions denied coverage. The program would operate until the exchange becomes available
- Permits young people to remain on their parents’ health insurance policy up to the age of 27
- Eliminates lifetime limits on coverage
- Provides for states to enter compacts to allow for the sale of insurance across state lines
COVERAGE MANDATES AND PENALTIES
- Individuals are required to obtain coverage. Those who do not would face a 2.5 percent tax
- Most employers are required to provide coverage to their workers and pay for at least 72.5 percent of the premium for individual full-time workers, 65 percent for family coverage
- Exempst firms with up to $500,000 in payroll
- Firms with annual payrolls between $500,000 and $750,000 that do not provide coverage would pay fees on a sliding scale of 2 percent, 4 percent and 6 percent of wages; firms with payrolls of $750,000 and above would pay 8 percent
- Tax credits to help small firms afford coverage
FINANCING
- A surtax of 5.4 percent on individuals earning more than $500,000 a year and couples making more than $1 million
- A 2.5 percent excise tax on medical devices
- Raises $6.1 billion over 10 years by repealing rules liberalizing the way multinational companies allocate interest expenses
- Limits tax breaks for foreign multinational companies incorporated in offshore tax havens
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
AIG to Acquire Renewal Rights of Everest’s Retail Commercial Business Worth $2B 
Florida Appeals Court Reverses $200M Jury Verdict in Maya Kowalski Case 
Jamaica Catastrophe Bond Has Now Triggered, Government Says 
Insured Losses From Hurricane Melissa Could Reach $4.2 Billion, Verisk Estimates From This Issue
