In the past week, Administration, industry, and Congressional work have continued on health reform.

President Obama stated that the Congressional Budget Office issued a more complete review of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee's legislation, concluding that the bill will cost less and cover more Americans than in the original estimate. "When merged with the Senate Finance Committee's companion pieces," the President said, "the Senate will be prepared to vote for health reform legislation that does not add to the deficit, reduces health care costs and covers 97% of Americans." The President went on to commend the legislation for including the principles he supports, such as prohibitions on insurance companies' refusing coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, affordable coverage in cases of job loss, moving or illness, a public health insurance option, and measures to improve quality of patient care, safety for patients, and preventive health care.

In a statement this week, the president said, "I am pleased by the progress we're making on health care reform and still believe, as I've said before, that one of the best ways to bring down costs, provide more choices, and assure quality is a public option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest. I look forward to a final product that achieves these very important goals."
However, HELP Committee Ranking Member Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) interprets the CBO report differently. "No matter how they spin it, the Kennedy bill still costs too much and leaves 34 million Americans without health care coverage. This bill doesn't come close to achieving our goal of reducing health care costs and helping everyone get the care they need," Senator Enzi said in a press release. The senator has specific reservations concerning the expansion of Medicare, and a tax on employers who do not offer health insurance. He suggests that most provisions in the bill be discarded before voting, and the Senate instead consider the provisions being negotiated by the Finance Committee.

Meanwhile, on the organizational front, the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) has issued a statement commending the Obama Administration its commitment to the provision of long-term services and supports. The AAHSA referenced a letter from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to the Senate HELP Committee expressing the Obama administration's support for the including Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act in health care reform. The Secretary says the CLASS act is an "innovative voluntary program that will provide benefits to people who need them," that President Obama endorsed while a senator and still supports because of the expanded resources that would be available to individuals and families to purchase long-term services and supports, enabling them to remain in their own homes and communities.

"Long-term services and supports is the health care issue nobody wants to deal with and everybody will face," said Larry Minnix, AAHSA's president and CEO. "The administration's support of the CLASS provision of the HELP Committee bill is an important step in providing support to people with disabilities - young and old - who want the choice to stay at home, which will help people avoid Medicaid unnecessarily."

A letter from the CBO report to Senate HELP Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-MA) can be accessed here: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/104xx/doc10431/07-02-HELPltr.pdf

The HELP Committee's legislation can be accessed here: http://help.senate.gov/BAI09A84_xml.pdf Committee mark-ups of the bill can also be accessed.

Adapted in part from press releases by the White House, AAHSA, and Senator Mike Enzi.

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