Another big step in the march for health care reform. The Senate has released its version of the health care reform legislation. What does it mean for young people? Well, for starters, the Senate bill will require insurers to permit children to stay on family policies until age 26 (the House bill allows this through the age of 26). There is a public option to help make the insurance market more competitive and affordable, subsidies to help low-income people pay for insurance, and critical insurance reforms that will cap out-of-pocket expenses and prevent other insurance company abuses.
There are some warts on this thing. The bill maintains so-called “young invincible” plans for young and low-income people that really are insurance in name only. These plans are really “insurance in name only” that target young people with low premiums but offer very little coverage and excessive out-of-pocket expenses. These barebones plans give you very little – like some preventive screenings and full benefits only after you have covered very high deductibles (which is up to $5,950). They don’t cover things like doctor’s visits, emergency room care, OBGYN visits, prescription drugs, or mental health services. The bill would also restore funding for “abstinence only” education (which the American Medical Association and common sense have told us doesn’t work). So, we’ll be watching this closely and working to make the bill better as it makes its way through the Senate.
Speaking of making its way through the Senate, there are a number of procedural steps that need to happen before there is a final vote. First, the Senate must pass a “motion to proceed” that will allow them to consider and amend the bill. That requires 60 votes to overcome any filibuster that opponents would use to stop the process. Then there will be lots and lots of amendments considered for a couple of weeks. And once all of the amending is done, the Senate will need to overcome another filibuster – again with 60 votes – in order to take a final up-or-down vote on the bill (which will take 51 votes). Got it? Good. Quiz on Friday.
Here are a couple of charts that compare the House and Senate bills from the Washington Post and the New York Times. More later as conditions warrant.
UPDATE: Our friends at Campus Progress have posted the good, bad, and ugly over on their blog. Check it out here.
