Congress Weighs Broad Changes in Health Care Legislation

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Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are considering broad health-care changes that include aid to families earning up to $88,000 to help pay for insurance, a requirement that all must carry coverage, and for employers to offer coverage to full-time workers or pay a percentage of their payroll to the government, the Associated Press reported.

While a document from the House's Energy and Commerce Committee that was obtained by the AP does not include any cost estimates, outside experts have said the plans could run from $1.2 trillion to as high as $1.7 trillion over 10 years as Congress tries to meet the Obama administration's goal of a health-care overhaul by the end of July, the news service reported.

President Barack Obama has proposed a downpayment of $634 billion over 10 years to pay for expanding coverage and has said he'll hold hospitals, doctors, drug makers and other health-care providers to their recent offer of $2 trillion in savings over that 10-year period, the AP said.

In addition, the House plan would set up an insurance purchasing pool, or an "exchange," open only to companies with fewer than 10 workers, to make coverage more affordable for individuals and small businesses. The plan also seeks creation of a new government insurance plan to compete with private companies, likely run by the Health and Human Services department, and financed by premium payments, not taxpayer dollars, the AP said.