House Health reform Bill: GOP Moves

At the request of US house Speaker Newt Gingrich, deputy chief whip Dennis Hastert is coordinating different versions of bills to deal with gaps in health insurance cover, to coordinate them into a bill similar to the Senate's bipartisan Kassebaum-Kennedy bill. But, says Rep Hastert, the Republicans are planning extra provisions on malpractice and anti-trust law so "health care providers can get together, share facilities and hold down costs," plus medical savings accounts and health insurance tax deductions for the self-employed, and to have the bill out of the House by end-March.

It is felt these extra provisions will harm the bill's chances of getting through Congress in a form acceptable to the President, who endorsed the basic bill in his January State of the Union message. Rep Hastert denied Democratic claims that the GOP wants to sabotage the bill. Health insurance lobbyists who met with Rep Hastert support the Kassebaum-Kennedy bill in part because they see it as a way to boost confidence in the private insurance system. As an incremental and reasonable step to provide coverage for the uninsured, they feel it should not have amendments that would jeopardize its passage.

many Republicans want tax incentives for medical savings accounts, and no bill will get out of the House without this, said a Hastert aide. House Republicans also want allowable tax deductions for amounts paid by the self-employed for health insurance raised to 50% from 30%; the budget bill vetoed by the President in December contained such a provision.