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Dems, GOPers Ready Amendments For Senate Health Care Bill
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Democrats and Republicans will begin considering amendments to far-reaching health care legislation on the Senate floor momentarily. This process will go on for weeks, and involve hundreds of proposed changes. But to touch things off, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will likely introduce Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) who will offer a women's preventive health care amendment, according to a Senate Democratic aide--the first amendment of the process.
By contrast, the first Republican amendment will come from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who will propose that the bill be recommitted to the Finance Committee, which would be instructed to strip it of its Medicare cuts. At a 60 vote threshold, the amendment won't pass, but if it did, it would likely be the end of health care reform this Congress.
In other words, we're dealing with two very different species of amendments.
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jimbomoron
November 30, 2009 3:14 PM
Hey Brian,
I've got my list of amendments that could and should be offered:
1. Increase the minimum actuarial value of the Bronze Tier to 70 percent, the Silver Tier to 80 percent, and the Gold Tier to 93 percent (House has a minimum actuarial value of 70 percent)
2. Lower, or better eliminate, the oldest age which someone can purchase a policy having 50 percent actuarial value to 26 (House doesn't have a young invincible policy)
3. Decrease the age rating from 3:1 to 2:1, and scrap the smoker rating (this is the same as the House's rating rules and that of Massachusetts)
4. Scrap the "prevention and wellness" program offering a 30 percent discount to those who participate
5. Increase the income exemption for the individual mandate penalty from 8% to 15% of income
6. Begin the $750/person, half for a minor, individual mandate penalty when the community rating begins (House is 2.5 percent of income)
7. Get rid of the free-rider provision, have a real employer-mandate, and use the revenue from the pay-or-play requirement to increase the subsidies for the 100-300 percent FPL level
8. Increase the standards for plans to offer health insurance on the Exchange -- in other words, increase the Exchange's bargaining power
9. Set the beginning date of the Exchange to 2013 by lowering the excise tax threshold to $8,000/$21,000 plans or $6,000/$17,000 adjusted for CPI-medical rather than CPI+1%
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MJAN
November 30, 2009 4:15 PM
"which would be instructed to strip it of its Medicare cuts."
This makes no sense considering the Republicans' seeming passion for deficit reduction. Doesn't this bill represent the first time Medicare cuts have been seriously proposed and thus, doesn't it also represent the first of many necessary cuts to our entitlement programs? How in the world does the GOP think it can reduce the deficit without cuts to Medicare??? Oh wait, now I remember: Pork barrel spending!
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