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March 19, 2010 :NWLP 3/16/10 10:28 AM Page 3 Health insurance reform bill moves closer to fruition Democratic leaders in Congress said a final vote on major health insur- ance legislation could take place within a week or so, though exact de- tails of what they’d be voting on were not yet publicly available when this publication went to press. Broad outlines were clear, how- ever. The bill would require all unin- sured Americans to buy health insur- ance or face a tax penalty. Subsidies would help lower-income individuals pay for the insurance. Insurance com- panies would not be allowed to refuse new customers or boot old customers just because they were sick — prac- tices they use now in the market for individual insurance. Insurance would be sold at standardized benefit levels in a government-run exchange, to make it easier for individuals to de- cide among different insurance offer- ings. The cheapest health insurance policies would pay 60 percent of a pa- tient’s medical costs. The most expen- sive employer-provided insurance plans would have a 40 percent excise tax imposed on them above a certain level. Meanwhile, insurers would have to spend at least 80 percent of the money they collect in premiums on medical claims, and couldn’t impose lifetime coverage limits. Dependents could stay on their parents’ plans until age 26. Small businesses would get a tax credit if they insure employees. The bill would also expand Medi- caid, the government health insurance program for the poor, to cover every- Working Families Party to meet March 30 The Working Families Party, an Oregon third party backed by several unions, will hold its first meeting of the year at 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 30, at McMe- namin's Kennedy School, 5736 NE 33rd Ave., Portland. Participants will discuss the party’s plans, including a campaign for a state- owned bank, a voter registration drive, and this years’ electoral strategy now that the Oregon Legislature has approved a version of the “fusion” voting the party campaigned for. Working Families Party has sought the right to use its ballot line to “cross-endorse” candidates of other parties. Last year, the Legislature moved to list all party endorsements next to a candidate’s name beginning with this year’s November general election. Activists believe the change will raise the profile of minor parties like the Working Families Party, which takes positions on bread- and-butter economic issues but remains neutral on divisive social issues. A social and dancing will follow the business meeting. one below a certain low income level. It would increase Medicare prescrip- tion drug coverage and close the drug coverage “donut hole” — the middle portion of the prescription drug plan in which seniors currently pay 100 percent of drug costs. It would eliminate Medicare Ad- vantage, the pri- vatized spinoff of Medicare that has proven more expensive than regular Medicare. And it would raise the Medicare payroll tax on high-income taxpayers, and start collecting it on in- vestment income, not just wage in- come. The final version is expected to in- clude a provision introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) that requires construction contractors with five or more employees or over $250,000 in payroll to provide employee health coverage or pay an annual penalty starting in 2014. The penalty would be $95 per employee in year one, $375 year two, and $750 after that. The measure, applauded by construction unions, would lessen the bid cost ad- vantage of contractors that don’t pro- vide health insurance. One thing that won’t be in the final version, Democratic leaders have as- sured, is the public option, a govern- ment-provided health insurance offer- ing that would have competed with private insurance companies. At the request of top Democrats, last fall unions backed a na- tionwide cam- paign to de- mand the public option be included in the bill. But in- surance com- panies opposed it because competition from a public insurance option would have cut into their profit. The legislation also does not end the ban on Medicare bargaining for better prices from drug companies, or the ban on individuals importing pre- scription drugs from countries where governments keep prices low. Leaders of organized labor earlier objected strongly to the excise tax on high-premium employer-paid health plans, part of the Senate bill. They predicted that to avoid the tax, insur- ers would lower the cost of premiums by cutting benefits and charging higher co-payments and deductibles. Labor leaders said the threshold was set so low that it would penalize the most expensive union-negotiated Most elements of the legislation won’t take effect until 2014 or later. plans. President Barack Obama met with labor leaders Jan. 11 in the White House, and later announced a com- promise excise tax proposal intended to be the final version. Beginning in 2018, the amount of health insurance premiums above $28,200 per family would be taxed at 40 percent; the threshold would rise each year at the Consumer Price Index, plus 1 percent. Vision and dental coverage would not be counted toward meeting the thresh- old. Some high-cost states would have a higher threshold, as would plans of- fered to workers in hazardous profes- sions. The earlier Senate version started the tax in 2013 at a threshold $23,000. Most elements of the legislation won’t take effect until 2014 or later. The House passed a version of the bill Nov. 7, and the Senate passed its version Dec. 24. As of press time, Democratic leaders were meeting be- hind closed doors to determine which features of the bills would go back to each chamber for a final vote. ...Walmart (From Page 1) year; so would a family of four with in- come under $40,792. Basically, any full-time worker earning less than $9.63 an hour can get food stamps, and part-time low-wage workers are even more likely to qualify. Witt sought the information in order to build a case that decent employers are those that pay a living wage and provide health insurance, while those that don’t are a burden to society. Ulti- mately, the information could bolster arguments for a “pay-or-play” em- ployer mandate to provide health in- surance, another idea Witt has pressed for. The complete reports, including the top-50 lists, are available online at: nwlaborpress.org/2010/0319/3-19- 10DHS.html. (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. 4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150, Portland, Ore. 97213 Telephone: (503) 288-3311 Editor: Michael Gutwig Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non- profit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils including the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Ore- gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union members. Group rates available to trade union organizations. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150, PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 MARCH 19, 2010 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 3
