H.R.3200

Title: To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Rep Dingell, John D. [MI-15] (introduced 7/14/2009) Cosponsors (9)

Latest Major Action: 10/14/2009 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 168.

House Reports: 111-299 Part 1, 111-299 Part 2, 111-299 Part 3SUMMARY AS OF:

7/14/2009--Introduced.

America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 - Sets forth provisions governing health insurance plans and issuers, including: (1) exempting grandfathered health insurance coverage from requirements of this Act; (2) prohibiting preexisting condition exclusions; (3) providing for guaranteed coverage to all individuals and employers and automatic renewal of coverage; (4) prohibiting premium variances, except for reasons of age, area, or family enrollment; and (5) prohibiting rescission of health insurance coverage without clear and convincing evidence of fraud.

Requires qualified health benefits plans to provide essential benefits. Prohibits an essential benefits package from imposing any annual or lifetime coverage limits. Lists required covered services, including hospitalization, prescription drugs, mental health services, preventive services, maternity care, and children's dental, vision, and hearing services and equipment. Limits annual out-of-pocket expenses to $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family.

Establishes the Health Choices Administration as an independent agency to be headed by a Health Choices Commissioner. Establishes the Health Insurance Exchange within the Health Choices Administration in order to provide individuals and employers access to health insurance coverage choices, including a public health insurance option. Requires the Commissioner to: (1) contract with entities to offer health benefit plans through the Exchange to eligible individuals; and (2) establish a risk-pooling mechanism for Exchange-participating health plans.

Provides for an affordability premium credit and an affordability cost-sharing credit for low-income individuals and families participating in the Exchange.

Requires employers to offer health benefits coverage to employees and make specified contributions towards such coverage or make contributions to the Exchange for employees obtaining coverage through the Exchange. Exempts businesses with payrolls below $250,000 from such requirement.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on: (1) an individual without coverage under a health benefits plan; and (2) an employer that fails to satisfy health coverage participation requirements for an employee. Imposes a surtax on individual modified adjusted gross income exceeding $350,000.

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise provisions relating to payment, coverage, and access, including to: (1) reduce payments to hospitals to account for excess readmissions; (2) limit cost-sharing for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries; (3) reduce the coverage gap under Medicare Part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program); (4) provide for increased payment for primary health care services; and (5) prohibit cost-sharing for covered preventive services.

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide for the development of quality measures for the delivery of health care services in the United States.

Establishes a Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, financed by a tax on accident and health insurance policies, to conduct and support health care services effectiveness research.

Sets forth provisions to reduce health care fraud.

Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to: (1) expand Medicaid eligibility for low-income individuals and families; (2) require coverage of additional preventive services; and (3) increase payments for primary care services.

Sets forth provisions relating to the health workforce, including: (1) addressing health care workforce needs through loan repayment and training; (2) establishing the Public Health Workforce Corps; (3) addressing health care workforce diversity; and (4) establishing the Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment.

Sets forth provisions to: (1) provide for prevention and wellness activities; (2) establish the Center for Quality Improvement; (3) establish the position of the Assistant Secretary for Health Information; (4) revise the 340B drug discount program (a program limiting the cost of covered outpatient drugs to certain federal grantees); (5) establish a school-based health care program; and (6) establish a national medical device registry.

what a crock of ...

lets see what this bill will actually do:

Paragraph 1:

(2) prohibiting preexisting condition exclusions; (3) providing for guaranteed coverage to all individuals and employers and automatic renewal of coverage;

RESULT - everyone is going to see a massive cost increase because companies will no longer be able to underwrite policies

Paragraph 2:

- Prohibits an essential benefits package from imposing any annual or lifetime coverage limits

- Limits annual out-of-pocket expenses to $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family.

RESULT - Massive cost increase for all insureds because insurance companies will no longer be able to limit their risk exposure and prevents individuals from selecting a lower-cost policy with higher out of pocket costs.

Paragraph 3:

- Establishes the Health Choices Administration as an independent agency

- including a public health insurance option

RESULT: another new government agency that will suck our tax dollars away and now we will have medicare for all. lets see, most doctors in my town will not accept new clients if they are on medicare and several have "fired" any client that is on medicare because medicare will not pay enough and requires way too much paperwork and is really slow to pay. I will sleep well knowing that I have insurance I wont be able to use.

Paragraph 5

- Provides for an affordability premium credit and an affordability cost-sharing credit

RESULT: more FREE money handouts.

Paragraph 6

-Requires employers to offer health benefits

- Requires employers and make specified contributions

RESULT: more government regulation of private industry and prevents employers from using benefit plans as a way to hire and keep top employees

PAragraph 7

- impose a tax on an individual without coverage

- impose a tax on employer

- Imposes a surtax on individual modified adjusted gross income exceeding $350,000.

RESULT: more taxes for everyone!

Paragraph 8

God only knows what this means

Paragraph 9

more government oversight =====> more taxes to pay for it

Paragraph 10

Establishes a Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research

RESULT: another new government agency to suck our tax dollars away

Paragraph 11

more government regulation and oversight

Paragraph 12

expand Medicaid ====> more tax dollars

Paragraph 13

establishing the Public Health Workforce Corps

addressing health care workforce diversity

establishing the Advisory Committee on

RESULT: yet more government agencies sucking tax dollars away and more forced diversity (lets fill positions with less qualified individuals due to the race, sex, sexual pref. etc.)

PAragraph 14

establish the Center

establish the position of the Assistant Secretary for Health Information

establish a school-based health care program

RESULT: more government agencies sucking money and having more control over our personal decisions

So, what we get is guaranteed coverage at higher costs with programs that doctors wont except with massive new government oversight and new government agencies that will require massive new taxes to pay for it and for those that chose to not take the government option, will will have to pay a tax on health insurance policies

WHAT A BUNCH OF #$%#$%@#$@#%@^

yeah i was listening to Levin when i found out. i am now officially depressed. what a bunch of BS

I'm a conservative but I remain open to a re-vamp of the insurance co's game rules. Not convinced this can be done, the whole issue is very confusing.

I DO NOT favor the so-called 'public option'; I DO NOT favor the idea that one economic class subsidize another; and, I am pretty firmly convinced that whatever gets passed (if it does) by congress will become a mistake when viewed in retrospect.

Finally, I cannot understand how in hell it takes 2000 pages to accomplish this.

3: Levin? lmao.

I agree that our health care delivery model is messed up but this sure is not going to "fix" anything. Just going to make things worse and more expensive.

My gosh, why so cynical? If the Dems and Obama say that this will drop insurance costs, then by god, it will. Where’s your faith? Hope and change, baby. Greatly increasing the costs to insurance companies will by all means drop the cost of premiums. It’s basic demo-nomics. And we all know that every employer is evil and greedy with unlimited profits to spend on health care for their employees. The uninsured are selfish, and just want to hoard their money for luxuries like food, housing and clothing. It’s about time someone makes them forgo these luxuries in order to buy mandated insurance.

I wonder if I can get a hold of some of what the folks who wrote this bill where smoking?

^You forgot....tax the rich!

Time to slam this bill through. We got 40 years to fix it if it isn't quite perfect.

lol^

Like we fixed the Great Society!

HD, you ever get up in this neck of the woods, you better let me buy you a beer--or at least a glass of Perrier

Where's your neck of the woods...anything is possible. Some things are far more probable, however!

quit hate'n fuzz. at least our people make sence

11: Again! lmao.

Fuzz is easily entertained. Maddow and Olberman, et al, are just SOOOO much more unbiased, objective and right.

what will be really great is if the proposed minimum wage bill passes too. its fun to get squeezed from two directions at once.

HD, I'm in Cali, right at the Oregon border.

I understand last months Nat Geo had some info

Are you serious?

Sincerely,

Nancy Pelosi