Health Care Price Tag Drops

Americans’ health care bill may not reach the Senate floor before the Fourth of July weekend, as some had originally hoped, but at least we have a price tag: Senate Finance committee Chairman Max Baucus said on Thursday that "We have options that would enable us to write a $1 trillion bill fully paid for.” Senators spent the week trimming almost $600 billion in costs from the bill. According to Politico, “Democratic Senate Finance staff said bill would still cover 97 percent of Americans. The bill is likely to include a mandate on individuals to purchase insurance, a requirement that employers offer coverage or subsidize the costs of a plan in a new health-care "exchange," and the creation of nonprofit insurance cooperative to compete with private insurers.”