Your exclusive source for all Medicare and Medicaid information with emphasis on the critical issue of payment, the CCH Medicare and Medicaid Guide offers comprehensive, full-text reporting of federal Medicare and Medicaid law and regulation provisions and summary reporting of state Medicaid programs. It provides complex reimbursement, prospective payment, eligibility and coverage rules for health care professionals and suppliers of health services, plus federal laws and regulations, manuals, and forms.
Learn More »The "Affordable Health Care for America Act" (H.R. 3962), released on Oct. 29, would establish a mandate for most legal residents of the U.S. to obtain health insurance, set up insurance exchanges and expand Medicaid eligibility to help people obtain insurance, and reduce the future rate of growth of the Medicare program. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) the 1,990-page bill would reduce the projected federal budget deficit by $108 billion over 10 years (a copy of the legislation is available at ¶52,723). The legislation has a projected net cost of $894 billion over 10 years -- $1.055 billion in new federal subsidies and related spending, offset by $167 billion in new penalties from individuals and employers related to the non-purchase or non-provision of health insurance.
The legislation updates and merges three bills approved by House committees in July, with the most significant changes coming in the form of changes in the payment structure of a government-run insurance option, allowing individuals to retain COBRA for a limited period, creating a high-risk insurance pool and barring insurers from canceling policies.
The measure raises revenue by imposing a 5.4-percent surtax on individuals with incomes over $500,000 and $1 million for married couples. The provision is expected to raise $460 billion. House leadership dropped earlier plans to impose a surtax on lower income thresholds of $280,000 for individuals and $350,000 for married couples, which would have raised $543 billion. The change and subsequent drop in revenue led lawmakers to add new revenue-raisers, including a corporate information-reporting provision that requires employers to inform the IRS of third-party payments and would raise an estimated $17 billion.
Lawmakers also added a new 2.5-percent surtax on the sale of some medical devices, which is estimated to raise $20 billion. A new $2,500 limit on employee contributions to health savings accounts is expected to raise approximately $13 billion.
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Medicare and Medicaid GuideOffers comprehensive, full-text reporting of federal Medicare and Medicaid law and regulation provisions and summary reporting of state Medicaid programs. Learn More » |
