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QUICK POST: Reach of Subsidies Is Critical Issue for Health PlanJuly 27, 2009
Posted Nov 04 2009 10:08pm
The major health care bills moving through Congress would require nearly all Americans to have health insurance. But as lawmakers struggle to achieve the goal of universal coverage, a critical question is whether the plans will be affordable to those who are currently uninsured.
All the bills offer some kind of assistance to lower-income people who do not get health benefits through the workplace. The bills would provide premium subsidies to millions of people and would establish limits on consumers’ out-of-pocket costs. But lawmakers and consumer groups say insurance could still be out of reach for many families with modest incomes who receive small subsidies or none at all.
“We have to make sure that the health plans are affordable to average Americans, and to low-wage workers who are not eligible for Medicaid, because they would confront a penalty if they do not have health insurance,” said Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, a Republican who is leading efforts to forge a bipartisan bill.
The question of how to make insurance affordable to all Americans is just one of the difficult issues facing Congress as it debates what is President Obama’s top domestic priority. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, despite resistance from conservative Democrats, vowed on Sunday that a health care overhaul would pass. “When I take this bill to the floor, it will win,” Ms. Pelosi said on CNN.
Under the legislation, insurers generally must accept all applicants and could not deny coverage because of a person’s medical history.
But Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, acknowledged that “there are some questions” about whether insurance would be affordable. “People who are making $50,000 or $60,000 a year and are spending $13,000 on health insurance may not get much of a subsidy,” said Mr. Wyden, a member of the Finance Committee. “Those people will ask, ‘How am I going to make this work for me and my family?’
Reach of Subsidies Is Critical Issue for Health Plan – http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/health/policy/27health.html?_r=1&hp
The major health care bills moving through Congress would require nearly all Americans to have health insurance. But as lawmakers struggle to achieve the goal of universal coverage, a critical question is whether the plans will be affordable to those who are currently uninsured.
All the bills offer some kind of assistance to lower-income people who do not get health benefits through the workplace. The bills would provide premium subsidies to millions of people and would establish limits on consumers’ out-of-pocket costs. But lawmakers and consumer groups say insurance could still be out of reach for many families with modest incomes who receive small subsidies or none at all.
“We have to make sure that the health plans are affordable to average Americans, and to low-wage workers who are not eligible for Medicaid, because they would confront a penalty if they do not have health insurance,” said Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, a Republican who is leading efforts to forge a bipartisan bill.
The question of how to make insurance affordable to all Americans is just one of the difficult issues facing Congress as it debates what is President Obama’s top domestic priority. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, despite resistance from conservative Democrats, vowed on Sunday that a health care overhaul would pass. “When I take this bill to the floor, it will win,” Ms. Pelosi said on CNN.
Under the legislation, insurers generally must accept all applicants and could not deny coverage because of a person’s medical history.
But Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, acknowledged that “there are some questions” about whether insurance would be affordable. “People who are making $50,000 or $60,000 a year and are spending $13,000 on health insurance may not get much of a subsidy,” said Mr. Wyden, a member of the Finance Committee. “Those people will ask, ‘How am I going to make this work for me and my family?’
Reach of Subsidies Is Critical Issue for Health Plan – http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/health/policy/27health.html?_r=1&hp
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