America's Healthy Future Act
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
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The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported today on the costs it sees associated with America's Healthy Future Act -- the health care reform proposal developed by the Senate Finance Committee. The numbers seem to indicate the bill itself might have a future on Capitol Hill. Examine those numbers below along with the legislation's timeline.
The Costs
The CBO's preliminary analysis of America's Healthy Future Act produced the following numbers:
| America's Health Futures Act of 2009 CBO Analysis |
- Costs $829 billion over 10 years. |
- Cuts deficit by $81 billion. |
- Drops number of nonelderly uninsured Americans 29 million over 10 years. |
- Includes $201 billion in revenues from tax on high-premium insurance plans. |
The Timeline
The current draft of America's Health Future Act includes the following date horizons for specific provisions in the legislation:
| America's Health Futures Act of 2009 Timeline |
- NOW = High risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions would be created. |
- In 2 YEARS = Small businesses get tax credits to provide employee health insurance. |
- In 4 YEARS = Health insurance exchanges will be operating and low income Americans will get tax credits to buy insurance in the exchanges. |
- In 5 YEARS = Medicaid expands, and individuals who do not buy health insurance will get a tax penalty. |
Want to talk about America's Healthy Future Act?
Then add your comments Stephanie Dhue's latest health care reform blog: Politics Shaped the Timeline in Senate's Health Reform Plan.
Related NBR Stories & Links
- 09-24-09: PBS Special Report - Health Care Reform
- 09-24-09: AETNA CEO Ronald Williams on the Baucus Plan (VIDEO)
- 09-22-09: Senate Finance Committee Reworks Health Care Bill (VIDEO)
- 09-17-09: The Health Care Reform Struggle (VIDEO)
External Links/Articles*
- "America's Healthy Future Act of 2009" (PDF)
This links to the latest draft of the legislation available on the Senate Finance Committee website. - CBO's Preliminary Analysis of America's Healthy Future Act (PDF)
This links to the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) preliminary analysis of the legislation. The analysis comes in the form of a letter written to Senator Max Baucus, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, which developed the legislation.
*Clicking these external links will take you off the NBR web site on PBS.org. NBR has no affiliation with these sites.
