House Bill Introduced on Affordable Health Choice

I found this article on the Modern Healthcare website and thought that it should be shared with everyone.
Mark Krebs
Health Care Management Student
Globe UniversitySioux Falls

House bill would cost $1.04 trillion: CBOBy Matthew DoBiasPosted: July 15, 2009 - 9:00 am EDTThe Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday said that the House's version of a health reform bill would cost $1.04 trillion over a 10-year period, but cautioned that its analysis is preliminary and did not take into account a plan to raise taxes or savings from Medicare and Medicaid.

Looking at the health insurance provisions, the CBO said that the House bill would cover between 94% and 97% of the nation's population by 2019.

House Democrats introduced the so-called America's Affordable Health Choices Act yesterday, calling it “landmark” legislation and lauding provisions that include a mandate that all persons have some level of coverage, an expansion of the Medicaid program and the establishment of a public health plan option.The bill has been hashed out by three different committees: Ways and Means, Education and Labor, and Energy and Commerce. Leaders from those committees plan to pay for the bill with a new tax on the nation's highest income earners, which they say will raise $540 billion over the next decade. The balance of the bill is expected to come from savings wrung from Medicare and Medicaid