The House of Representatives recently passed both H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and H.R. 4872, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. The former, approved by the Senate in December, addresses a number of healthcare-related issues including employer responsibilities, private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, prescription dugs, subsidies, etc. Having passed both the House and the Senate, the Affordable Care Act will now go to President Obama for his approval.

Comprehensive health care reform legislation passed a significant milestone last week as Senate and House committees approved different legislative packages. At the same time, comments from the head of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) put a damper on the potential further progress of the 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.

Members of both the House and the Senate have released draft summaries or draft legislative language for comprehensive health care reform legislation. Staff members of three House committees -- Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor – released a three-page summary of a possible health care reform bill that includes a public insurance option, insurance market reforms, and insurance premium support for families up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level.

President Obama is looking at making the recommendations made by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) each year easier to put into effect. In a letter to Sens. Edward Kennedy (D.-Mass.) and Max Baucus (D.-Mont.) sent June 2, Obama outlined several proposals to cut health care spending over the next 10 years, particularly in the Medicare program.