As summer heats up
so does the health care debate
so does the health care debate
Senate Health Committee Passes Reform Bill
July 15, 2009
by Barbara Kram, Editor
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Wednesday the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee passed its health care reform bill, the Affordable Health Choices Act. The vote was along party lines with Republicans opposed on fiscal and other grounds. The bill included many amendments from the minority side, but Republicans voiced complaints that their provisions were relegated to amendments.
The legislation is a landmark by any measure, aimed at reducing health costs, protecting patients' choice of doctors and providing quality, affordable care. The bill's approach is based on the existing employer-based American health model. One estimate, by the Congressional Budget Office is that the provisions in the bill will cost under $615 billion over 10 years, considered a reasonable sum relative to other estimates. The Senate finance committee it still working on its version of a bill for health care reform.
"I could not be prouder of our Committee. We have done the hard work that the American people sent us here to do. We have considered hundreds of proposals. Where we have been able to reach principled compromise, we have done so. Where we have not been able to resolve our differences, we have treated those with whom we disagree with respect and patience," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, Committee Chairman.
A leading industry group expressed reservations about some aspects of the bill.
"We commend Sen. Kennedy and the HELP committee for their efforts to advance health care reform. Today's vote is a historic step forward in the effort to provide universal coverage to all Americans and to improve the quality and affordability of health care," said David Nexon, senior executive vice president of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), in a press statement. "We continue to have some concerns about certain provisions such as the comparative effectiveness research (CER) language in the legislation. AdvaMed supports the use of CER to advance quality patient care and to guide clinical decision making but the research process should be transparent, involve all stakeholders, and clearly be focused on finding what works best for patients."
Another industry concern is that decision-making will become centralized for important choices about coverage for certain therapies.
Read all the details about the Senate bill:
http://help.senate.gov/Maj_press/2009_07_15_b.pdf
Read about the House Bill:
House Committee Bill Introduced
https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9652/
Please share your views below
The legislation is a landmark by any measure, aimed at reducing health costs, protecting patients' choice of doctors and providing quality, affordable care. The bill's approach is based on the existing employer-based American health model. One estimate, by the Congressional Budget Office is that the provisions in the bill will cost under $615 billion over 10 years, considered a reasonable sum relative to other estimates. The Senate finance committee it still working on its version of a bill for health care reform.
"I could not be prouder of our Committee. We have done the hard work that the American people sent us here to do. We have considered hundreds of proposals. Where we have been able to reach principled compromise, we have done so. Where we have not been able to resolve our differences, we have treated those with whom we disagree with respect and patience," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, Committee Chairman.
A leading industry group expressed reservations about some aspects of the bill.
"We commend Sen. Kennedy and the HELP committee for their efforts to advance health care reform. Today's vote is a historic step forward in the effort to provide universal coverage to all Americans and to improve the quality and affordability of health care," said David Nexon, senior executive vice president of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), in a press statement. "We continue to have some concerns about certain provisions such as the comparative effectiveness research (CER) language in the legislation. AdvaMed supports the use of CER to advance quality patient care and to guide clinical decision making but the research process should be transparent, involve all stakeholders, and clearly be focused on finding what works best for patients."
Another industry concern is that decision-making will become centralized for important choices about coverage for certain therapies.
Read all the details about the Senate bill:
http://help.senate.gov/Maj_press/2009_07_15_b.pdf
Read about the House Bill:
House Committee Bill Introduced
https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9652/
Please share your views below