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Show MAY 13, 1994 DIALOGUE ON ¢ HEALTH INTERMOUNTAIN HEAL To CARE CARE What’s New in National Health Care Reform Legislation? Education and Labor, chaired by Rep. William some significant reform legislation this fall. Ford (D-Mich.). B The Senate Committee on Labor & Human Resources, STEVE KOHLERT SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT chaired by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). B® The Senate Committee on —_ INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTH CARE Finance, chaired by Sen. Daniel P Moynihan (D-N.Y.). Ultimately, a bill will emerge from the House or the Senate (or both). A joint n our previous column, we discussed how health care organizations ate scrambling to adapt to changing market conditions. Elected officials and other policy-makers are also engaged in a scramble: to pass legislation changing CURRENT PROPOSALS Several reform proposals have been considered by lawmakers in the last few months. At this point in the process, nothing is set in stone. Everything is in motion, and virtually no proposal is categorically dead or alive yet. We can really only alliances. Many fear these alliances would burden our health care system with even more red tape and bureaucratic inefficiency. Other elements of the White House package appear to live—in their original form and in alternative plans. At the heart of the debate is the such a proposal is championed by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wa.). On the other end of the spectrum is the more anti-regulatory notion embodied in the Nickles-Heritage ® plan promoted by Sen. Don Nickles sens (R-Okla.) and Rep. DIFFERING VISIONS aati neag TNS ENE Cliff Stearns (R- Fla.). This plan requires individuals to buy health insurance, institutes insurance reforms, and influences the market through tax incentives, but it otherwise leaves the health care marketplace relatively unregulated. the incentives and rules of Several other proposals, including the Clinton plan, are somewhere in between. Currently, the prevailing mood in Congress seems to be that the White House proposal is excessively regulatory. If Congress has definitely rejected any point of view, it is the view that there is no the game in American health care. Much has changed since last fall, when President Clinton announced his pro- posal for reform. This IHC Dialogue column is an update on recent national legislative efforts—the details of which change almost daily. problem with our current health care system. Americans have made it clear that the status quo of our nation’ health care system is unacceptable and that at least some change must occur. In the coming months, THE PROCESS The White House and most members of Congress wish to see comprehensive health care reform legislation passed during 1994. Bills can be put together either in the House or the Senate. Five committees are the sites of most of IHC Dialogue will continue to report on developing the deal-making that will lead reform legislation. If you have ‘a question related to health to the ultimate legislation: @ The House Ways and care, please call or write. - Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Dan ¢ Rostenkowski (D- IIL). An important subcommittee on health is chaired by Rep. Fortney “Pete” Congressional com- NOTHING Ky TN Stark (D-Calif.). @ The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, chaired by Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.). @ The House Committee on STON mittee will undoubtedly be necessary to resolve the differences between the two houses. After passage by the Senate and the House, the final bill will be sent to the president. _ Most observers still believe Congress will pass speak of specific proposals as being currently in or out of classic difference of vision vogue. in America. Some believe more government involvement is necessary to achieve (See chart.) For example, some ele- ments of the White House package seem definitely doomed. Most legislators now tend to teject the president’ proposal that most Americans purchase their health insurance through mandatory purchasing over the role of government social goals; some believe less government is better. On one end of the spectrum is the proposal that the U.S. should adopt a single-payer, government-administered, Canadian-style health system; THC DIALOGUE ON HEALTH CARE 36 South State Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 1-800-889-3337 ra IHC INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTH CARE |