Advocacy alert: Health insurance reform

Abstract

The Senate unanimously passed health insurance reform legislation on April 23. The differences between the Senate bill, S. 1028, and the House version, H.R. 3103, will be worked out in conference committee later this summer. The House and Senate bills would: • Restrict the use of pre-existing condition exclusion clauses in health insurance contracts; pregnant women and newborns are exempt from all preexisting condition exclusion clauses. • Make health insurance more portable as an individual changes jobs. Differences include the following: • The Senate bill increases the tax deduction for health insurance for the self-employed to 80 percent by 2006; the House bill increase is 50 percent by 2003; • The House bill includes medical savings accounts (MSAs); the Senate bill does not; • Medical liability reforms are not included in the Senate bill, but are in the House version; • A provision in the Senate bill requires parity for mental and physical health care benefits; the House has no such provision.