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• Advocacy Highlights

Advocacy Highlights

Finance Chairman Pushes Ahead on Health Reform
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) sent members of a health reform bipartisan working group an 18-page document setting forth a framework for health reform legislation and reflecting conversation of the group held throughout the summer.  The legislation would cost approximately $900 billion over 10 years.  It would include an insurance cooperative instead of a public option.  It would also expand Medicaid coverage to people whose incomes are 133 percent of the federal poverty line, and provides tax credits to families up to 300 percent of the poverty line. Like other health reform bills, it creates a health insurance exchange, prohibits insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or drop coverage for those who fall ill, boosts funding for prevention and wellness programs, and changes the health care delivery system by rewarding doctors for quality of care rather than the quantity of services. The bipartisan group met on September 8 to discuss the framework.  

Senator Baucus' Framework for Health Reform:

http://www.psych.org/MainMenu/AdvocacyGovernment
Relations/GovernmentRelations/HealthCareReform/Senate-Health-Reform/Senate-Finance-Framework.aspx

Side-by-Side Comparison of Health Reform Proposals
The Kaiser Family Foundation has developed a chart for evaluating the similarities and differences of the House and Senate health reform proposals, including major amendments from the Committee markups. Also included are comparisons of funding mechanisms used by House and Senate proposals to finance the approximately $1 trillion cost of health reform legislation. Please use the following link to access this helpful resource:
 
http://www.kff.org/healthreform/sidebyside.cfm