Capitol Hill Reports - House Dems Unveil Manager's Amendment to Health Care Reform Bill

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House Dems Unveil Manager's Amendment to Health Care Reform Bill
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
7:00 PM

House Democratic leaders today released the text of a manager's amendment drafted by Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Emeritus John Dingell (D-MI) to the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962). The amendment modifies and adds language to the original bill with the goal of securing enough Democratic votes to pass the House, although additional revisions to the bill will probably be required to push it over the top.

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Among other provisions, the 42-page manager's amendment would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to work with states that lack high-risk pool programs to coordinate with public-private partnerships on the state level. In addition, the amendment would require HHS to conduct an annual review of premium increases in order to identify potential price gouging by health insurance companies.

Some revenue provisions have crept into the manager's package, including language that would permanently delay implementation of a tax break for multinational corporations with respect to worldwide allocation of interest. (A similar -- albeit short term -- proposal is contained in the Senate's unemployment benefits extension legislation.)

The Dingell amendment is silent on prohibiting federal funding for abortions, an issue that has prompted some Democrats to oppose the underlying bill until stronger language is added.

"[W]e are now in the final stage of moving this critical bill through the House," Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said today in a written release. "We pledged we would make this amendment available for 72 hours before a vote. Now that the amendment is posted, the clock has started."

Hoyer added that the Democratic leadership will continue discussing the legislation with its members. "I will bring it to the floor once we have consensus and in keeping with our 72 hour pledge," he said.

A House vote on the health care legislation could occur this weekend.

Unveiled late last month, H.R. 3962 would require most legal U.S. residents to obtain health insurance starting in 2013, or face a financial penalty. The bill also would provide subsidies to low-income individuals and families through insurance "exchanges" to substantially reduce the cost of purchasing coverage.

Implementing the proposed expansions in health care coverage would cost the federal government a net $894 billion over ten years, according to a preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT). CBO and JCT are the official scorekeepers of spending and tax legislation, respectively. However, the overall bill would result in a net reduction of $104 billion in cumulative budget deficits over the ten-year window due to offsets stemming primarily from a 5.4 percent income tax "surcharge" on individuals earning $500,000 or more a year, and modifying payment rates for Medicare and Medicaid.

"In the subsequent decade, the collective effect of its provisions would probably be slight reductions in federal budget deficits," states the initial CBO/JCT score on H.R. 3962. "Those estimates are all subject to substantial uncertainty."

The following links provide additional details of H.R. 3962: Summary; Detailed Summary; Section-by-Section; Bill Text; Changes from Introduced Version; Implementation Timeline; CBO Score; JCT Score.