Tax News

CCH (cch.taxgroup.com) reports:

  The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on July 15 passed a $615-billion health care reform bill, leaving the heavy lifting, on how to pay for it, up to the Senate Finance Committee. Talks between Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and key members continue, but they have yet to forge agreement on the most acceptable way to raise revenue and fill an estimated $320-billion gap that remains after all reforms are in place and the final cost nears $1 trillion.

  Following early morning talks between Democratic members of the Finance Committee, Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., reasserted that most of the bill would be paid for through cutting costs and not through raising revenue. Schumer said members had spent much of the meeting discussing the need to bring insurance companies into the equation and have them commit to savings in the range of $75 billion to $100 billion, which would resemble similar agreements recently reached between the White House and hospitals and pharmaceutical companies.

  The HELP Committee's Affordable Health Choices Bill, approved 13-10 along strict partisan lines, provides a public insurance option and a pay-or-play mandate for most employers that would require them to provide health insurance for their employees or face a stiff penalty. The sweeping reform reportedly would cover 97 percent of the currently estimated 46-million uninsured and place greater emphasis on preventative care and wellness programs. The marathon markup stretched over 13 working days and saw Democrats approve over 160 Republican amendments.

  When the Senate Finance Committee produces a mark, lawmakers will still face another difficult hurdle, melding the HELP bill with the Finance Committee's final product. That task may prove more difficult than crafting a bipartisan Finance Committee bill, according to several lawmakers, and pressure is mounting. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he wants to take up a health care reform bill on the Senate floor by the week beginning July 27.

White House Response

  President Obama put Congress on notice that he wants the House and Senate to pass health care reform bills before the August recess. "We are going to be continually talking about this for the next two to three weeks until we've got a bill out of the Senate and we've got a bill out of the House," Obama asserted.

  Following passage of the Senate HELP Committee's health care bill, Obama praised the action taken so far by House and Senate Democrats and said both proposals "will offer stability and security to Americans who have coverage today, and affordable options for Americans who don't." House leaders unveiled their reform plan on July 14 (TAXDAY, 2009/07/15, C.1).

  The president, in remarks in the Rose Garden with members of the American Nurses Association, maintained that the status quo on health care is unsustainable and threatens the stability of families, businesses and government. He praised the House and Senate measures for including a health insurance exchange and a public health insurance option.

  In his statements about the House and Senate health care proposals, Obama has not commented on the tax provisions. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, at a press briefing on July 15, noted that the president has refrained from commenting on any tax-cut proposals beyond his own because he wants to watch the legislative process as it unfolds. The president has proposed limiting certain deductions taken by upper income taxpayers but the proposal has not been well-received in Congress.

  By Jeff Carlson and Paula Cruickshank, CCH News Staff

HELP Committee Press Release: In Historic Vote, HELP Committee Approves the Affordable Health Choices Act

SFC Press Release: SFC Republican Tax Counsels Q&A on House Surtax

White House Press Release: Statement by the President on the Health Care Reform Legislation Passed Today by the Senate HELP Committee