House-Senate Conferees Reach Deal on Trade Bill, Including Health Benefits for Trade-Displaced Workers

House and Senate negotiators on July 25 reached an agreement on trade legislation that includes provisions to help American workers displaced by international trade to purchase health insurance, the New York Times reports. The compromise bill, which would allow President Bush to present trade agreements to Congress for straight up-or-down votes without amendments, would provide uninsured trade-displaced workers with a tax credit to cover 65% of the cost of their health insurance premiums. The workers could use the tax credits to purchase health insurance through COBRA, the 1986 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, which allows unemployed workers to retain employer-sponsored health coverage by paying 102% of the premiums. Secondary workers -- those who lose their jobs because they provide services for American industries affected by international trade -- also would receive the tax credits (Stevenson, New York Times, 7/26). The House may vote on the compromise bill on July 26, and the Senate will likely consider the legislation "soon afterward," the Los Angeles Times reports (Anderson, Los Angeles Times, 7/26).

Differences Resolved
The compromise legislation resolves differences in House and Senate versions of the trade bill passed earlier this year. In May, the Senate passed a version of the legislation that would provide as many as 100,000 uninsured trade-displaced workers with advanceable tax credits to cover as much as 70% of the cost of health insurance purchased through COBRA or through group health insurance pools established by states. The House last month approved a version of the bill that would provide uninsured trade-displaced workers with a health insurance subsidy set at 60% of the cost of coverage. The original House bill, passed last December, contained no health provisions (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/25). House Republican aides said that the "sweetened" health benefits in the compromise bill would likely "attract enough Democrats to ensure passage" (New York Times, 7/26).