WASHINGTON, Oct 11, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. special interests have been
chipping away at cost containment aspects of proposed healthcare reform
measures, analysts say.
Only two ideas originally floated by the Obama administration to help slow the
skyrocketing costs of healthcare remain: a scaled-back tax on gold-plated
"Cadillac" private health insurance policies and a non-partisan Medicare
budget-cutting commission, and both are under furious assault by lobbyists, The
New York Times reported Sunday.
Earlier proposals to help offset healthcare reform costs by dropping the income
tax exemption for employer-paid health insurance, allowing government to
negotiate Medicare drug prices and creating a "public option" government insurer
to muscle to fee payments lower have all been eliminated under pressure from
private insurers, businesses and labor groups, the newspaper said.
The "Cadillac" tax is also opposed by labor and business lobbyists, prompting
157 House Democrats -- a majority of the party -- to sign a letter to Speaker
Nancy Pelosi denouncing the idea.
Meanwhile, the proposal for the Medicare commission, which is meant to side-step
interest group pressure, has itself been modified to include caps on how much
health industry groups would have to lose under government payment reductions,
the Times said.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International