If you’ve been following the health care debate in Washington, you know that the issue of a public insurance option–whether to create one, and, if so, how robust it should it be–is proving to be a thorny one.
But there are other, somewhat less pyrotechnic issues that will have to be resolved before Congress can deliver a bill–and one of those is the question of how to pay for it. Industry representatives have pledged to pitch in for part of the cost, and Democrats have floated various ideas–slashing Medicare and Medicaid spending, taxing employer-provided health benefits–but thus far, they’ve released no specific proposals.
But that’ll all change soon enough. House Democrats will release bill text at the end of the week explaining how a reform package will be financed. The situation’s a bit less clear in the Senate, where the Finance Committee has yet to unveil it’s legislation.
On Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden is expected to announce that three major hospital associations have agreed to provide $160 billion in savings for the overhaul–a substantial chunk of the price tag which is expected to run upwards of one trillion dollars.
Late update: According to Ryan Donmoyer of Bloomberg, the House is likely to propose taxing high income earners. “Two people familiar with closed-door talks by committee Democrats said a House bill probably will include a surtax on incomes exceeding $250,000, as Congress seeks ways to pay for changes to a health-care system that accounts for almost 18 percent of the U.S. economy.” That’ll be a tough sell to Republicans (then again, what isn’t?) but will probably appeal more to most Democrats than the idea of taxing employer-provided health benefits.
