Health-care bill status
- The Senate aims to begin debate the week of Oct. 26. Its two health-bill-writing committees, Finance and Health, differ on whether to create a government alternative to private insurers. (Finance said no; Health said yes.)
- House leaders are working to meld bills reported out of three committees. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that a finished bill is likely "in the course of the next week," and she insisted again that it include a government-run insurance option. The House is unlikely to start floor consideration of a bill before early November.
- If each chamber approves a bill, compromise negotiations would combine them into a single measure that must win majorities in the House and Senate.
- Any final votes are unlikely before December.
- President Barack Obama has said he wants to sign a health-care overhaul by the end of the year.
- In general, bills moving toward floor votes in both chambers would require most Americans to purchase insurance; would provide federal subsidies to help those of lower incomes afford coverage; and would give small businesses help in defraying the cost of coverage for their workers. The measures would, among other things, bar insurance companies from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions and, for the first time, limit their ability to charge higher premiums on the basis of age or family size.
- The Senate Finance Committee bill established a 10-year price of $829 billion, a figure that is considered unlikely to grow substantially in whatever bill might pass Congress.
- House and Senate Democrats are at odds over how to pay for changes: The House wants higher income taxes on the wealthy, while the Senate prefers higher taxes on insurers. -- From Wire Reports
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