As you might have heard, the U.S. Senate voted to invoke cloture (limit debate) on Majority Leader Reid’s Manager’s Amendment to the health care bill shortly after midnight this morning. This 383-page amendment, that few saw and no one will be able to further amend, brings the wrong kind of health “reform” to the brink of passage.
Transparency (not to mention cost containment) is not readily abundant, but what we do know does not look good, as noted in the Washington Post: “It will not cover everyone. It will not control costs. It will worsen the budget outlook. It will lead to higher taxes. It will disrupt how, or whether, companies provide insurance for their workers.”
Below is a more information on the amendment as well as the US Chamber’s key vote letter in opposition. Much more is available on the toolkit: http://www.uschamber.com/chambers/healthcare
Information provided by the US Chamber of Commerce.
Reid Bill Even Worse After Manager’s Amendment
Early on Saturday morning, December 19th, Senator Reid released his “manager’s amendment,” a nearly 400 page addition to the already more than 2000 page bill. The amendment was voted on before there was time to vet it and discern the probable effects of its provisions. Senators who voted for cloture on Sunday night did not have time to first analyze the provisions within, many of which make the bill even worse – in spite of the fact that 8 Democrat Senators promised they would oppose if they did not have 72 hours to review a bill.
- The “free choice” provisions will lead to employees “cashing out” their employer health benefit contributions, threatening the viability of employer-sponsored health plans due to adverse risks.
- The amendment increases the FICA payroll surtax for “high income” employees that will disproportionally hit small business owners and S-corps.
- The “minimum loss ratio” (MLR) requirement, which will apply even to grandfathered plans, forces plans to operate under strict guidelines or give rebates to enrollees. The CBO stated that a MLR ratio of 90% would amount to a complete government takeover of health care, so the bill sponsors ducked just under this at 85%.
- A study to deter companies from self-insuring was added to the bill. An earlier proposal banned many companies from self-insuring, and this study lays the groundwork for a later bill to do so.
- New limitations and mandates apply to self-insured, grandfathered, group health plans. This will force employers to change their plans, and will lead to higher costs for employees.
- The bill contains a massive unfunded mandate forcing states to expand their Medicaid programs to millions of people. Some states would be so devastated by this, the bill redistributes additional funds to them, including Massachusetts and Vermont, and an infinite federal guarantee to pay for every newly-eligible Medicaid patient in Nebraska. Residents of other states will be taxed to subsidize the giveaways to these three states.
- The amendment does not remove CLASS Act government-run long-term care entitlement, even though 7 Democrat Senators wrote to Senator Reid opposing it.
- While the amendment does provide some clarity as to defining a full time worker, slightly expands small business tax credits, allows more flexible waiting periods before mandating coverage or penalties, and offers grants for small business wellness programs, none of these changes come close to offsetting the costs this bill will load on to employers.
- The amended bill will still contain all of the nearly $500 billion in dangerous new taxes (which 5 Democrats have voted in the past to remove or reduce) and more than $400 billion in cuts to Medicare (which Senators Webb and Nelson voted to remove or reduce).
Overall, the Reid amendment adds even more confusion, government interference, and threats to the employer sponsored system into the Senate health bill. The Senate should reject H.R. 3590 and begin anew to craft bipartisan, meaningful health reform legislation that addresses the concerns expressed by the U. S. Chamber and the broader business community.
