Senate Finance Committee Holds Second Roundtable on Health Care Reform

Today, May 5, 2009, the Senate Finance Committee held the second of three planned roundtable discussions on health care reform. The topic today was “Expanding Health Care Coverage.”

While there was agreement that the individual market needs reform and that all individuals should have health care coverage, there was no agreement about how these things should be accomplished.

There was some discussion of whether a public plan should be part of reform. Those opposed to a public plan expressed concern about whether there could be a level playing field for private plans and whether a public plan could effectively coordinate care and serve those with chronic illnesses. Those in favor of the public plan option stated that they believed such a plan could be fair and that the same set of rules could be designed to apply to both public and private plans.

Expansion of existing public programs was also discussed. Expansion of Medicaid to at least 100% of the federal poverty level was supported by many of the witnesses, including those opposed to a public plan. Senator Hatch noted that in his view, such an expansion, as well as a Medicare buy-in component, equated to a public plan. He expressed concerns about crowd out, additional stresses on these programs, as well as increased costs.

There was some discussion of long term care and the need to have the reformed system reflect the desires of individuals to receive services in their homes rather than in institutions. Senator Kerry mentioned his sponsorship of the Empowered at Home Act while Senator Cantwell talked about the efficiencies that could be realized if states have incentives to focus more on providing home care.

Other topics of discussion included: Small business and its ability to offer insurance to its employees; the importance of including oral health care in health plans, and addressed cost and provision of end of life care.

The list of witnesses and links to their written statements are available on the Senate Finance Committee’s website at:

http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearing050509.html