Health reform inches closer to fruition

With last Friday's 31 to 28 vote by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in favor of the America's Affordable Health Choices Act, President Barack Obama's promise to reform healthcare in the U.S. seems more within reach now than ever before.

Healthcare Finance News reports that the bill, which will go to a full house vote after it eventually is merged with a version passed by the House committees of Ways and Means, Education and Labor, calls for an end to discrimination based on pre-existing conditions or gender. It also aims to lower overall costs and improve the quality of care.

While the House's version of the bill is set to cost $1 trillion over 10 years, it comes completely paid for and "deficit neutral" according to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), who cast the final vote last week. The article notes that tax adjustments to Americans earning more than $350 million per year would pay for the bill, on top of Medicare and Medicaid cuts.

To learn more:
- read this Healthcare Finance News article