Senate HELP Bill Includes Public Option & Insurance Mandate

The AP (7/3, Alonso-Zaldivar) reported Americans "who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit with fines of more than $1,000 under a healthcare overhaul bill unveiled Thursday by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama's top domestic priority." The Congressional Budget Office "estimated the fines will raise around $36 billion over 10 years. Senate aides said the penalties would be modeled on the approach taken by Massachusetts, which now imposes a fine of about $1,000 a year on individuals who refuse to get coverage."

USA Today (7/3, Fritze) reported leading Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee "unveiled new details of a plan to revamp the nation's healthcare system Thursday, including a public, government-run insurance program and a $750-per-employee annual fee on companies that do not offer health benefits." Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), "a leading architect of the legislation, said the new bill will cost $611 billion over the next decade - lower than an earlier $1 trillion estimate - and that he hoped his committee could have its version completed next week." The HELP legislation "would provide insurance to 15 million who do not have it now, about 30 percent of the uninsured population, the CBO said. Obama and Dodd said once the bill is merged with a separate proposal by the Senate Finance Committee as many 97 percent of uninsured would be covered."

The Wall Street Journal (7/3, Adamy) noted that, despite the lowered estimate of $611 billion, the "total cost of the healthcare overhaul is likely to increase substantially once a key element to expand insurance coverage is added in." The new plan "gives employers more incentive to provide coverage, and makes it harder for people with employer insurance to get government-subsidized coverage." But the "latest proposal doesn't include provisions for a large number of uninsured Americans whom lawmakers intend to cover by expanding Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor."

According to McClatchy (7/3, Lightman), President Obama "quickly embraced the plan, saying it 'reflects many of the principles I've laid out.' Among them: changes that 'will prohibit insurance companies from refusing coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, and the concept of insurance exchanges, where individuals can find affordable coverage if they lose their jobs, move or get sick.'" Still, Obama "stopped short of specifically endorsing the 'fee' on employers."

The Washington Post (7/3, Connolly), The Hill (7/3, Young), the New York Times (7/3, Calmes), the Washington Times (7/3, Haberkorn), CQ HealthBeat (7/3, Wayne, subscription required), and Bloomberg News (7/3, Faler, Dodge) also covered the story.