Here are details of the House Democrats' healthcare overhaul bill. Two House committees -- Ways and Means, and Education and Labor -- finished their portions of the $1.5-trillion, 10-year bill on Friday. A third committee, Energy and Commerce, is aiming to complete the legislation by Wednesday:
Who's covered: About 94% of nonelderly residents (those not covered by Medicare, which kicks in at age 65) would be covered -- compared with 81% today. Nearly half of the 17 million nonelderly residents who remain uninsured would be illegal immigrants.
Cost: About $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
How it's paid for: Revenue-raisers include $544 billion over the next decade from new income taxes on single people making more than $280,000 a year and couples making more than $350,000; $37 billion in business tax increases; about $500 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid; and about $200 billion from penalties paid by individuals and employers who don't obtain coverage.
Requirements for individuals: Individuals must have insurance, enforced through tax penalties, with hardship waivers. The penalty is 2.5% of income.
Requirements for employers: Employers must provide insurance to their employees or pay a penalty of 8% of payroll. Companies with payroll of less than $250,000 annually are exempt. Employers could apply for a two-year exemption from the mandate if they can prove that the requirements would result in job losses that would hurt their communities.
Subsidies: Individuals and families with annual incomes of as much as 400% of the poverty level (which is $88,000 for a family of four) would get sliding-scale subsidies to help them buy coverage. The subsidies would begin in 2013.
How you choose your health insurance: Through a new health insurance exchange open to individuals and small employers; it could be expanded to large employers over time. States could choose to operate their own exchanges in place of the national exchange if they follow federal rules.
Benefit package: A committee would recommend an essential benefits package that would include preventive services, mental health services, oral heath and vision for children. Out-of-pocket costs would be capped. The new benefit package would be the basic package offered in the exchange and over time would become the minimum-quality standard for employer plans. Insurers wouldn't be able to deny coverage based on preexisting conditions.
Government-run plan: A new public plan available through the insurance exchanges would be set up and run by the secretary of Health and Human Services. On average, it would pay Medicare rates plus 5% to doctors.
Changes to Medicaid: The federal-state insurance program for the poor would be expanded starting in 2013 to cover all nonelderly individuals with incomes of as much as 133% of the federal poverty level (which is $14,404).
Sources: AP research, Congressional Budget Office, House Ways and Means Committee
