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How do we pay for health care reform?

Steve Henn Jul 13, 2009
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How do we pay for health care reform?

Steve Henn Jul 13, 2009
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TEXT OF STORY

Stacey Vanek-Smith: Also brewing on Capitol Hill, Health Care reform. The House is set to release its version of health care reform soon. Of course, “reform” means different things to different people, and as Marketplace’s Steve Henn reports, working out exactly what the health care overhaul will look like is taking some time.

Steve Henn: The House’s health care bill was supposed to come out early last week. Then Wednesday, then Thursday . . . and well, here we are.

But Karen Davenport from the Center for American Progress says the delays are not necessarily a sign of trouble:

Karen Davenport: I think what we’re seeing is members grappling with the question that no one really had to face squarely until the last couple weeks, which is “How do we pay for health care reform?”

Turns out that’s tough. Moderates in the House are worried it could cost too much. And in the Senate, Democrats are fighting amongst themselves about whether to tax health benefits in order to raise the money they need.

And time is not on their side:

Davenport: If they are going to have a bi-partisan bill, I think that they need to make progress between now and August recess.

That means both the House and Senate need to put concrete plans on the table — and they have 25 days to get there.

In Washington, I’m Steve Henn for Marketplace.

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