Hot-button provisions in the Senate health Bill, such as the public option, cost controls and subsidies to expand coverage continue to get a lot of attention, while some interesting details have gone with little notice.
Kaiser Health News reports on some of these bill provisions, including requirements for "reasonable" time off at work for nursing mothers, $400 million for sex education and "adult preparation" to help teens transition to adulthood. It also would clamp down on nonprofit Blue Cross Blue Shield plans that behave like their for-profit cousins by revoking their favorable tax status if their overhead tops 15 percent. Medicare would boost payments for bone density scans under the legislation, and would require some limits on what uninsured people have to pay for emergency room care (Carey, Galewitz, and McGinley, 11/30).
The Hill reports on "seven key issues" that warrant attention: "Senators will be asked to cast their votes on numerous amendments as they begin a debate to reshape the country's healthcare system. Some amendments will be designed to improve the bill, some to satisfy a special interest or pet peeve. Still others will be presented as poison pill." The Hill's list includes: the public option, abortion, a tax on so-called "Cadillac" health plans, prescription drugs, affordability, insurance exchanges and Medicare cuts. "Because these cuts are essential to financing the rest of the bill, however, they're here to stay - though some could be scaled back. The deep cuts to private Medicare Advantage plans, for instance, could be mitigated to assuage senators from states with large senior populations" (Young, 11/29).
The New York Times reports that plastic surgeons, and some of their patients, are outraged by a 5 percent tax on cosmetic surgeries proposed in the legislation. The tax would not apply to cosmetic surgeries that are already tax deductible, including those to correct deformities. Surgeons "say they are being singled out because of an outdated perception that people who have cosmetic procedures are well-to-do" (McKinley, 11/29).