The Senate Finance Committee voted 14-9 to approve the pending healthcare reform bill, America’s Healthy Futures Act of 2009. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe of Maine joined Democrats in voting in favor of the bill.
The bill approved by the Finance Committee would expand Medicaid eligibility, provide tax credits to help low- and middle-income people purchase coverage, and create health insurance exchanges to facilitate the purchase of insurance by individuals and small businesses in lieu of a public plan option.
The draft legislation would also require that most individuals obtain insurance, with penalties of $200 per adult that begin in 2014 and reach $750 by 2017. Businesses with more than 50 employees would be mandated to pay for government insurance subsidies for which their workers may qualify.
Insurance reforms included in the bill would prohibit denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions and preclude insurers from dropping coverage for those who become ill.
The Congressional Budget Office projects that the bill would cost $829 billion and reduce the federal deficit by $81 billion over a 10-year period.
The Senate Finance Committee was the last of five congressional committees to clear draft healthcare reform legislation. The Finance Committee’s bill must now be blended with a competing bill that was approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee bill before reform legislation can be voted on by the full Senate.
This article was updated on Oct. 15.
