In a speech on the Senate floor, Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) lashed out at Democrats and their plan to permanently adjust a Medicare doctor payment formula at a 10-year cost of nearly $250 billion that will be added to the federal deficit. Corker said the bill, sponsored by Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan, is "designed to pass a quarter of a trillion dollars of unfunded liabilities on to future generations." Corker also accused the American Medical Association of prostituting itself by agreeing to support the Democrats' healthcare legislation in exchange for the formula fix.
Top Senate Democrats are close to finalizing their health bill and could unveil a measure that would include stiffer penalties on employers who fail to provide health coverage. Senate leaders plan to submit the bill to the Congressional Budget Office for a cost estimate as soon as October 26, and make the legislation public as soon as a day later, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The bill is expected to expand health coverage to tens of millions of Americans by giving low- and middle-income Americans subsidies to offset the cost of insurance, and expanding the Medicaid federal-state insurance program to cover a broader swath of the poor.
Several Democratic senators have voiced optimism that Congress would pass a healthcare bill containing at least the germ of a government-run insurance program, the New York Times reports. The senators' remarks came after Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, told President Obama that he would try to press for a government-run insurance program. With five healthcare bills under consideration in both branches of Congress, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already said that the House version of the legislation would include the public option, but other key senators have previously said it would be difficult to round up 60 votes needed to guarantee that the legislation would not be blocked by a likely Republican filibuster.
As the proposed $900 billion healthcare legislation is under debate, a critical unknown is whether people would comply with a mandate on individuals to carry insurance. The Senate Finance Committee set its maximum penalty for noncompliance at $750 per year, at the same time creating subsidies to help low-income Americans buy coverage. In the House, the penalty is based on income, but works out to about the same for a middle-class family. But many reform supporters say the finance panel's subsidies are too low, and insurers are pushing for larger penalties.
With a growing sense that Democrats may have the votes to pass healthcare reform, many participants are now attempting to shape the components of landmark legislation rather than to defeat it, the Washington Post reports. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-NV) is expected to request a cost estimate on the bill he has worked out behind closed doors, and lawmakers, industry executives, and lobbyists told the Post that this is the moment to exert maximum influence on legislation aimed at refashioning the $2.4 trillion healthcare sector.
As President Obama's push for a healthcare overhaul moves toward its final stages, the health insurance industry is on the verge of seeing a plan enacted that largely protects its financial interests. There is broad agreement that the final plan will, for the first time, require Americans to buy health coverage, with taxpayer subsidies for millions who cannot afford it. For the health insurance industry, that means millions of new paying customers. In addition, there are likely to be no limits on what insurers can charge, while at the same time the plan is expected to limit competition from any new national government insurance plan that lawmakers create.