The third and final House panel approved a comprehensive healthcare reform package last Friday, bringing President Barack Obama's goal of health reform in 2009 one step closer to reality.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved America's Affordable Health Choices Act by a vote of 31 to 28. It will be merged with the version passed by the House committees on Ways and Means and Education and Labor this summer, to face a full House vote sometime after Sept. 8, when Congress returns from summer recess.
House leaders said the legislation "will build on what works in today's healthcare system, makes important insurance market reforms to protect consumers, encourages competition among insurance plans to improve choices for patients and expands access to quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans."
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) called the final vote cast by his committee "a historic moment and a defining moment for our country."
Waxman said the committee's approval of the bill shows significant cooperation among the various factions in the House. "This bill will deliver the results the nation's healthcare system so desperately needs: lower costs, better quality and broader coverage," he said.
The legislation calls for insurance reforms to protect consumers. Insurance companies would no longer be able to discriminate on the basis of pre-existing conditions or drop coverage for those who become seriously ill, nor would they be able to discriminate on the basis of gender or selectively refuse to renew coverage. They would also be required to fully cover regular checkups and preventative care without cost-sharing and abide by limits on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses.
The legislation would also change the structural costs in the healthcare system to improve care and lower costs.
The bill is fully paid for and is deficit-neutral, Waxman said.
Hundreds of organizations representing doctors, surgeons, nurses, hospitals, providers, consumers, labor, researchers, state and local governments and public policy institutions support the bill.
Obama said the bill "moves us closer to health insurance reform than we have ever been before."
He said the bill was strengthened by a debate that allowed all voices to be heard, including progressives, fiscally conservative "Blue Dog Democrats" and members of both the Democratic and Republican caucuses.
"Over the next few weeks, we must build upon the historic consensus that has been forged and do the hard work necessary to seize this unprecedented opportunity for the future of our economy and the health of our families," he said.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed its version of the bill, sponsored by Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) on July 15, but that bill awaits approval by the Senate Finance Committee before it can head to a final Senate vote.
Observers expect the Senate Finance Committee will face steep controversy cutting a deal to gain bipartisan support, as hoped for by the president. Senate Republicans are balking at the price tag of nearly $611 billion over 10 years.
The House version of the bill is estimated to cost $1 trillion over 10 years and would be paid for through tax adjustments for Americans earning more than $350,000 a year and cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.