Two moderate Democrats are offering a bill aimed at President Joe Biden’s goal to create a government-backed “public option” health plan and expand Obamacare subsidies.
Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Michael Bennet of Colorado introduced “Medicare-X Choice” on Wednesday.
“We think the bill we’re introducing is the closest match to what came from the Biden campaign,” Kaine told reporters, the Washington Post reported.
The bill, first introduced in October 2017, now includes an expansion of marketplace tax subsidies to ensure people don’t pay more than 8.5% of their income on monthly premiums. It would also eliminate a subsidy cap for people earning 400% of the federal poverty level or more.
The bill proposes a a public option plan be sold on the marketplaces alongside private coverage. Kaine, Bennet and Biden are among moderate Democrats who want to fill in coverage gaps with incremental reforms rather than a sweeping Medicare-for-all overhaul.
“In our view, this bill helps finish the work of Obamacare. It gives the American people a choice,” Bennet said, the Post reported.
The bill faces a likely fight in the Senate, the Post reported.
Kaine and Bennet want Medicare-X to hitch a ride on a reconciliation bill, the Post reported. But Congress can only pass one of these bills a year and is using last year’s vehicle to accomplish coronavirus relief, the Post reported.
Two more budget reconciliation bills will be available during the current Congress — and Kaine and Bennet say they’ve revamped Medicare-X with an eye toward them.
But it’s not clear all the elements of Medicare-X could go into a budget reconciliation bill, which can only include provisions directly related to federal spending, the Post reported.
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