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Volume 14, Issue 2 | February
24, 2010 |
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Healthcare Reform Update:
Obama’s New Reform Proposal and this Week’s Bipartisan
Healthcare Summit
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This Thursday, February 25, the
White House is convening a bipartisan summit of House and Senate
Democrats and Republicans to hold a televised discussion on
healthcare reform. At the core of the discussion will be
President Obama’s newly released proposal for revamping the
nation’s healthcare system.
The President’s proposal is largely based on the healthcare
legislation previously passed by the Senate. Among the key
differences from the original Senate bill are increased federal
subsidies for lower income families; a postponement until 2018
of the excise tax on high cost plans; a new Federal Health
Insurance Rate Authority to review and approve insurer rate
increases; and increased taxes on higher income individuals,
medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and
health insurers to help offset the almost $1 trillion ten year
cost of the program. |
The healthcare summit is organized
to focus discussion on four topics: insurance reforms; cost
containment; expanding coverage; and deficit reduction.
It is highly unlikely that the meeting will result in bipartisan
agreement on the best path forward, let alone bipartisan
agreement on the actual terms of reform legislation. Following
the meeting, Democrats are likely to carefully assess both
public and congressional feedback on the summit as they decide
whether to pursue the controversial and risky strategy of using
reconciliation to seek passage of Obama’s proposed plan.
Please contact your ArlenGroup consulting team for more
information.
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The Insight newsletter is not intended to provide legal advice but perspective on recent regulatory issues,
trends and standards affecting employee benefits. Please consult your own legal counsel for further information on the topics discussed in this issue of Insight.
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