Senate Finance Committee
Roundtable on Coverage
The
Senate Finance Committee met today for the second
in a series of three “Roundtable” discussions on
major issues in health care reform. Today’s
Roundtable focused on health care “coverage,”
which includes issues such as an employer mandate
and an individual mandate, as well as prevention
and wellness which holds particular relevance for
the Campaign to End Obesity. If the
Committee develops a minimum benefit package as
expected, provisions for wellness programs and
preventive care will be
included.
The
discussion today however, focused principally upon
the highly controversial issue of whether a
“competing” public plan option should be included
in health care reform. The public plan
option is vehemently opposed by Republicans who
oppose proposals that would move coverage from the
private sector to a public sector plan. Some
on the Committee propose to allow a public plan
option only as a “fallback” if there is not
sufficient participation by private health plans
in the new health insurance exchange.
Next
week, the Committee will convene for a “walk
through” of their paper on the issue which will
provide further details. Later this month, a
third Roundtable will be held on the issue of
financing. The Committee hopes to produce
legislation in early
June.
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