It had to happen sooner or later. After all the Sunday talk show appearances, committee hearings, newspaper op-ed pieces, and campaign promises, Congress eventually had to put a proposal for health care reform in writing and share it with the public. That milestone arrived today when the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee released its 615-page health care bill. I’ll begin perusing it over the next few days (reading draft legislation is my twisted idea of fun), but I did note that it contains an assumption that Medicaid will be expanded to people with incomes up to 150% of poverty. That’s about $16,000 a year. But currently, a lot of states cap eligibility at 100% FPG, which is about $11,000 a year. Boosting the income cap by 50% would make Medicaid available to tens of thousands of people who are still barely getting by but earn too much to qualify for Medicaid currently.
It’s important to remember that this is just one bill from one committee. The particulars of a final bill will evolve over the next few months and the debate should prove fascinating and, assuming it gets signed into law, historic.
