House Democrats Unveil Draft of Health Care Reform Legislation

House Democratic leaders unveiled a comprehensive health care reform plan on June 19, calling for the establishment of a public health insurance program that would compete with private insurers to lower costs. The proposal would create a Health Insurance Exchange to provide a functional marketplace for individuals and small employers to comparison shop among private and public insurers.

Few details of how the plan would be paid for were announced, and lawmakers said they were awaiting estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

In a press conference to announce the discussion draft, House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., said his committee along with the House Education and Labor and the House Energy and Commerce committees would hold hearings and work out final details in the coming weeks. Ways and Means has already scheduled a hearing on the discussion draft on June 24.

President Obama, in a written statement, said the House Democrats’ proposal is “a major step” toward improving the quality of health care and making it more available and affordable.

Almost immediately, the proposal was sharply criticized by the top Republican lawmaker in the House. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, faulted the Democrats’ plan for raising taxes, rationing care, and empowering government bureaucrats to make key medical decisions. “This plan will make health care more expensive, reduce the quality of care for millions of families and small businesses, cost American jobs, and force untold millions of Americans off their current plans and into a government-run nightmare operated by federal bureaucrats,” Boehner charged.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who chairs the Energy and Commerce panel, said the Democrats were considering changes to the Medicare and Medicaid program, such as forcing pharmaceutical manufacturers to repay excessive profits made on drugs sold to Medicare patients. The bill would impose a tax on individuals and families who do not have their own coverage. In addition, small businesses would get a 50 percent health care credit towards the expense of providing coverage to their employees.

The discussion draft is accessible here: http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/DraftHealthCareReform-BillText.pdf.