With a Spending Deal in Hand, Lawmakers Now Turn to the Details

[formerlurker]

The budget agreement also takes aim at two provisions of the new health care law. It would cut more than $2 billion set aside for the creation of private nonprofit health insurance cooperatives.

It also eliminates a program that would have allowed hundreds of thousands of lower-income workers to opt out of employer-sponsored health plans and use the employer’s contribution to buy coverage on their own, through new insurance exchanges.

Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, the architect of this provision, lamented its demise.

“Publicly,” Mr. Wyden said, “both parties say they are champions of choice and competition and making health insurance more affordable for everyone. But then behind closed doors they kill a program that does exactly that. This seems like a victory for special interests.”

Many employers had objected to the Wyden provision, saying it would increase their costs by allowing younger and healthier entry-level employees to opt out of employer-sponsored plans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/us/11budget.html

I am not familiar with either of these provisions, however on the limited info provided here I would question why non-profits can't already do this on their own.   They certainly don't need the feds funding $2 billion for them to get off their ass and collaborate with other non-profits to get a better deal on health insurance as a group. 

The second item where employers must provide a voucher for their employees to get health insurance elsewhere?   No way.   That is nothing that resembles offering choices.    You are severely limiting the choices of employers to offer insurance as their risk pool with the exodus of young healthy workers would preclude anything affordable or even good.

[docstew]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/us/11budget.html

I am not familiar with either of these provisions, however on the limited info provided here I would question why non-profits can't already do this on their own.   They certainly don't need the feds funding $2 billion for them to get off their ass and collaborate with other non-profits to get a better deal on health insurance as a group. 

The second item where employers must provide a voucher for their employees to get health insurance elsewhere?   No way.   That is nothing that resembles offering choices.    You are severely limiting the choices of employers to offer insurance as their risk pool with the exodus of young healthy workers would preclude anything affordable or even good.

Plus, by forcing employers to provide that voucher, they can nail down a dollar value on that portion of the employee's overall compensation package and tax them on it as income.

[formerlurker]

Plus, by forcing employers to provide that voucher, they can nail down a dollar value on that portion of the employee's overall compensation package and tax them on it as income.

Jeez, I didn't even think of that -- wow what a back door way to tax the hell out of the middle class.

[JohnnyReb]

Did I hear correctly that they only cut $38 billion from the budget.

That's a big cut only to idiots that can't do math...DUmmies.

Peanuts, drop in the bucket........ETA: That drop in the bucket will evaporate before it hits the bottom of the bucket.