Senate Releases Democratic Health Bill: $849 Billion

Tonight, Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) unveiled the $849 billion Senate Democratic health reform bill. This bill is a combination of the bills that the Senate Finance Committee and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed this year.

The bill is over 2,000 pages so we have not digested it at this point and the full bill is available at http://democrats.senate.gov/reform/patient-protection-affordable-care-act.pdf. The bill costs $849 Billion over 10 years and would provide coverage for 94% of Americans. The Bill is estimated to reduces deficit $127 billion in first 10 years with more dramatic savings estimated beyond the first 10 years.

We understand that key Senate votes including Landrieu, Nelson and Lincoln met in Reid's office this afternoon for a first look at the bill. We have also heard that Baucus had to return home to Montana for a family emergency.

Since there has to be one day between the day cloture if filed and the day you have to vote we assume that cloture vote will be Saturday based on reports this evening. It could be delayed if Baucus can not return to DC. If Reid is able to get to the 60 vote mark, he will invoke cloture on the motion to proceed. Thirty hours after cloture is invoked the Senate will proceed to vote on adoption of the motion to proceed itself. All of this happens before the real work on the health reform bill.

Based on a summary released tonight by the Senate, the Bill does include some immediate benefits primarily in areas of insurance market reforms and issues that impact patient access to adequate health insurance coverage:

• Access to Affordable Coverage for the Uninsured with Pre-existing Conditions
• Re-insurance for Retiree Health Benefit Plans
• Closing the Coverage Gap in the Medicare (Part D) Drug Benefit
  * The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will reduce the size of the “donut hole” by raising the ceiling on the initial coverage period by $500 in 2010.
  * The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will also guarantee 50 percent price discounts on brand-name drugs and biologics purchased by low and middle-income beneficiaries in the coverage gap.
• Small Business Tax Credits
• Extension of Dependent Coverage for Young Adults (until age 26)
• Free Prevention Benefits
• No Arbitrary Limits on Coverage
  * The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will prohibit insurers from imposing lifetime limits on benefits and will restrict the use of annual limits.
• Ensuring Value for Premium Payments (insurance standards and new transparency)
• Public Access to Comparable Information on Insurance Options
• Health Insurance Consumer Information
• Clear Summaries, Without the Fine Print
• Appeals Process
  * Under The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, all health plans will implement an effective appeals process for appeals of coverage determinations and claims.
• Administrative Simplification Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, all health plans will adopt uniform descriptions of plan benefits and appeals procedures and will use uniform forms and claims processing processes to reduce costs.