As Democrats try to reform healthcare and essentially reorder one-sixth of the U.S. economy, the Congressional Budget Office is charged by Congress with assessing the effect on the federal budget and the impact on American lives. The Senate majority leader has vowed to hold no vote on a health plan until the CBO passes judgment. But the agency, while almost universally praised for honest and impartial analyses, does not have a crystal ball to determine the exact numbers, reports the Washington Post.
Seven months ago, insurance companies vowed to be allies in President Obama's effort to revamp healthcare, with one industry leader later telling Congress that "health insurance reform needs to be done this year." But as an $829 billion, 10-year healthcare bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee moves toward debate by the full Senate, the insurance industry and the Obama administration are increasingly at odds over key provisions in the bill, reports USA Today.
Despite growing frustration with the way health insurers deny medical treatments, major healthcare bills pending in Congress would give patients little new power to challenge those sometimes life-and-death decisions, according to this article from the Los Angeles Times. Experts said the legislation under consideration does not significantly enhance patient protections against insurers refusing to cover requests for treatment. Most people currently have no right to challenge health insurers' treatment decisions by suing them for damages, the article notes.
Congressional Budget Office analysts have given House leaders cost estimates for two competing versions of their plan to overhaul the healthcare system, concluding that one comes within striking distance of the $900 billion limit set by President Obama and the other falls below it. The report from the CBO puts the cost of one plan at $859 billion over the next decade and the other at $905 billion. The cheaper version would rely heavily on a more dramatic expansion of Medicaid, reports the Washington Post.
By more than doubling the maximum penalties that companies can apply to employees who flunk medical evaluations, healthcare reform provisions passed by the Senate finance and health committees could put workers under intense financial pressure to lose weight, stop smoking, or even lower their cholesterol. The bipartisan initiative builds on a trend that sees some employers offer lower premiums to workers who complete personal health assessments, while others limit coverage for smokers. But critics say employers could use the rewards and penalties to drive some workers out of their health plans.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned insurance companies that healthcare reform could cost the industry dearly through new fees, fewer regulatory protections, and fresh competition from the federal government. The admonition came in response to the insurance's lobby's aggressive campaign to block reform legislation from advancing. Pelosi added that the House may adopt a Senate provision that would assess a flat fee on insurance companies that is expected to generate about $40 billion over 10 years as a way to pay for its reform bill.