Progress is being made on health care reform in the Senate, with the Senate Finance Committee debating the bill this week. Once the bill is passed in committee, it must be combined with the Senate HELP Committee bill that was passed earlier this summer. Democrats are hopeful that the bill could reach the Senate floor within the next couple of weeks, but procedural obstacles could extend Congress’ work on the bill into December.
Discussions are ongoing regarding the various policy options for a public plan, including the health insurance cooperatives included in the Senate Finance Committee’s bill, where small employers could join together as a member-owned organization to provide health care at a lower cost than individual insurance, and the “trigger option,” where a public option would only be instituted if a certain percentage of the population did not receive coverage. There is also the possibility of leaving the public insurance option to the states; however, liberal House members have threatened to vote against a bill that does not include a public plan.
(This is the first of periodic updates that the Office of Government Relations will provide on health care.)
