Following the release of America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (HR 3200) on July 14, two of the three House committees of jurisdiction moved quickly to mark up the legislation in full committee and proceed to a committee vote, according to a statement released by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), Alexandria, Va. The House Committee on Ways and Means and the House Education and Labor Committee passed HR 3200 by votes of 23 to 18 and 26 to 22, respectively. The third committee, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, started its markup last week and continued on Monday, but the Committee’s Chair Henry Waxman (D- Calif), has postponed markup to negotiate concerns with moderate Democrats, says the statement.
Details of the legislation are available in APTA’s July 20 health care reform update and podcast in the Health Care Reform Resource Center.
Also last week, The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) reported out its health care reform package, the Affordable Health Choices Act, which includes a health insurance exchange with a public plan option, prevention initiatives, and investments in workforce and health information technology, says APTA. The Senate HELP Committee bill scored at under $615 billion over 10 years. The bill will have to be combined with the Senate Finance Committee’s legislation to produce the overall reform bill in the Senate, says APTA. However, the Senate Finance Committee has seen limited legislative action. The committee is in continued negotiations with an objective to produce a bipartisan proposal that can be enacted into law, according to APTA.
[Source: APTA]
