Health Care Reform Update: House Discussion Draft - July 2, 2009

On June 19th, the three committees within the House of Representatives that have jurisdiction over health care reform – the Ways and Means Committee, the Education and Labor Committee, and the Energy and Commerce Committee released a "discussion draft" of health care reform legislation in the form of an 852-page bill.  The House bill includes many provisions that are similar to the provisions that are found in the Senate HELP Committee bill, on which we published a summary June 16, 2009 (available at http://www.groom.com/resources-401.html).  However, the House bill goes into much greater detail on the public plan option and the employer "pay or play" mandate and also includes new provisions, not found in the Senate bill, related to consumer protections and remedies.

A summary of the major provisions that would impact employer health plans is attached.