The Baucus Bill

Chairman Baucus deserves to be commended for his steadfast efforts to develop health reform legislation that has the potential to gain strong majority support in the United States Senate.  Health reform – an issue that affects our nation’s long-term prosperity and the well-being of every American – needs to be bipartisan and avoid ideological extremes that divide the country rather than uniting us.  Chairman Baucus has committed to work with Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and that is an effort that must continue.

The Baucus bill takes some very positive steps toward improving our nation’s health care system.  It addressed the uninsured by bringing everyone into the system, proposing essential insurance market reforms and providing subsidies and tax credits to Americans of limited means.  The bill makes critical delivery and payment reforms, aligning dollars with healthcare quality and incentivizing coordinated care.  It calls for significant investments in prevention and wellness.

As President Obama noted in his recent address to Congress, there is broad agreement on 80 percent of the components needed for meaningful health reform.  We believe Chairman Baucus has captured those shared objectives in his legislation.  The Baucus bill should represent the starting point for Congress’s continuing work on health reform.