Orszag Sees Health-care Law In Six Weeks, Praises Baucus Strategy
“The goal would be, yes, over the next six weeks or so, maybe sooner,” Orszag said in an interview yesterday as the finance panel run by Montana Democrat Max Baucus began the first of three days of meetings to revise the measure.
Lawmakers have been struggling with legislation that would cover tens of millions of people who lack insurance and tame health-care costs, the top priority of President Barack Obama. Baucuss committee is still dealing with the issue about two months after four other panels drafted bills because he tried unsuccessfully to court Republican support.
While the White House hasnt endorsed any one plan, Orszag, 40, repeatedly returned to the $856 billion proposal Baucus released last week when asked about the overhaul effort. He said it “definitely” shows “you can devise a health-reform bill that significantly expands coverage while doing so in a way that is not only deficit-neutral” but “deficit-reducing,” citing a review by the Congressional Budget Office.
Baucus is still attempting to win Republican support as well as defuse criticism in his own party. He made changes to the proposal yesterday such as scaling back a tax on high-end insurance plans, a priority of labor unions, and expanding government subsidies to help Americans fulfill a mandate to buy insurance.
Deductions, Fees
He also proposed further limits on deductions that Americans can take on their taxes, reduced some of the fines that would be assessed on people who failed to get insurance and changed the makeup of annual fees on medical industries. The revised plan calls for eliminating fees on clinical laboratories and increasing by $700 million the amount that insurers would shoulder.
The revision of the so-called Cadillac tax on high-end insurance policies would be “modestly positive” for insurers, while the lower penalty for those who lack insurance was “negative,” said Matt Perry, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in New York.
“Its Day One of mark-up and a lot can change,” said Perry, who researches more than a dozen companies, including industry leaders UnitedHealth Group Inc. of Minnetonka, Minnesota, and Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc.
Baucuss plan calls for nonprofit cooperatives rather than a government program to compete against private insurers. The government program, or “public option,” is favored by Democrats including Obama as the best way to push prices down.
Either One
Orszag signaled the administration doesnt consider a government-run insurance program essential. He suggested that either the creation of cooperatives or “triggers” to activate a public option if needed to cut costs would be sufficient.
The White House budget chief praised aspects of the Baucus plan, including its proposal to create an innovation center, base hospital payments on quality reporting and provide incentives for doctors to cut down on unnecessary treatments and procedures through the use of “bundled payments” for a patient.
“You provide payments for quality,” Orszag said. He also stressed the importance of a widespread conversion to electronic records included in all of the congressional proposals.
564 Amendments
Members of Baucuss committee, split between 13 Democrats and 10 Republicans, have filed 564 amendments for consideration. The changes would add to the cost of the proposal, though it would still be less than $900 billion over 10 years, Baucus said yesterday.
Baucus aims to get a measure that will attract the 60 votes needed to block Republican delaying tactics. Democrats control 59 votes in the Senate, making bipartisan support necessary.
The top Republican on the panel, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, said yesterday that he cant support the initial plan, in part because its too costly. He blamed the White House and Senate Democratic leaders for pushing for speedy action rather than lengthier talks with Republicans for compromise.
Democrats “would like to see it done now, rather than to see it done right,” Grassley said.