Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus today unveiled a health care bill that would require most individuals to have health insurance. Insurance companies could not deny health coverage based on a pre-exisiting medical conditions or place yearly or lifetime limits on coverage.
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People who earn as much as 133 percent of the federal poverty level ($14,440 for an individual, $29,400 for a family of four) would be eligible for Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor. The measure includes a health insurance ‘exchange’ where people could buy insurance and a system of health care “co-ops” rather than a government-run health insurance plan. Subsidies would help low-income workers purchase health insurance and small businesses would receive tax credits to help offset the cost of providing coverage.
The bill is projected to cost $856 billion over 10 years. It would be paid for with an excise tax on high-end health insurance policies, lower payments to the Medicare Advantage program and with fees on medical device manufacturers, clinical labs, drug makers and health insurance companies. Baucus negotiated the plan with five other finance committee members – including three Republicans – but no one in the GOP has endorsed the package.