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Congress Moves Closer to Health Care Bill

December 9, 2009 8:31 AM EST
Democrats say that they are close to pushing through the Obama administration's health care bill through the senate after clearing one major hurdle.

Democrats have agreed to leave behind a full-blown government-run health care option for a plan that would expand Medicare to the uninsured Americans over the age of 55 starting in 2011.

"We've overcome a real problem that we had," Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in announcing which he referred to as a "broad agreement" Tuesday night.

The larger government involvement would potentially kick in if large insurance companies declined to participate in the national plan. There is a possibility for the set up of a federal office to oversee the new plan, or possibly personnel office run on a state-by-state basis.

The White House responded to the report quickly with a statement from spokesman Reid Cherlin. "Senators are making great progress and we're pleased that they're working together to find common ground toward options that increase choice and competition," Cherlin said.

The potential 10-year, close to $1 trillion dollar legislation will potentially provide desperately needed healthcare coverage to the millions of uninsured Americans. The bill will make it easier for small businesses and those without government or employer backed coverage to acquire healthcare.

In addition, the insurance company practice of not allowing coverage to those people with pre-existing medical conditions would be disallowed.

Reid said that the government wants action on the health bill to be done by Christmas; however there are still roadblock lying in the weeks ahead. A debate on the importation of prescription drugs from Canada and other countries to keep the cost of the legislation down could hold up progress. Also the plan that has enjoyed widespread public support is being opposed by the pharmaceutical industry.

The Food and Drug administration issued a statement saying that it would difficult to govern the quality of imported prescription drugs that are imported from other countries.

The plan is at risk of losing support of key congressional backers due to the failure of the amendment offered Tuesday to take a tougher stand on abortion restrictions.

The news is expected to impact managed care companies like CIGNA (NYSE: CI), Health Net (NYSE: HNT), UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH), Aetna (NYSE: AET), Humana (NYSE: HUM), WellPoint (NYSE: WLP), and Coventry (NYSE: CVH). Shares of many are higher in pre-open trading today.

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