Word: baucus
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...Baucus, Senator Max • bipartisanship is achieved by with health-care-reform bill hated on both sides of the aisle but, unsurprisingly, loved by the health-care industry that has given so much money to the campaigns...
...much awaited sweeping health-reform legislation comes under heavy fire from both the left and the right, Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus is doing his best to keep his game face on. In an interview with TIME.com, he said the reaction he has gotten "feels like it's about right, because this is something that can pass ... It's a sense of inevitability that [the bill] is pretty close to the mark here." But after a stormy closed-door session with his fellow Finance Committee Democrats, Baucus is sounding open to making some changes, even before he bangs...
...Baucus acknowledges the criticism he is getting from within his own party. "My assumption is, the other person's view probably has more than a grain of truth," he says. The chairman told TIME.com that he hopes to iron out some of those differences in the coming days. Specifically, Baucus is talking to Democratic members of his committee about addressing one of their chief complaints about the bill - that it won't do enough to make insurance affordable for the middle class. That's a crucial question, because the legislation would, for the first time, impose a requirement that virtually...
...help doesn't go far enough - especially in comparison with the version that the House is working on, which would provide assistance to those earning up to 400% of the poverty level (or a family of four making up to $88,000). "We're working to address that concern," Baucus said, adding that one idea "very much on the table" is to increase the refundable tax credits for those purchasing insurance. That, however, would most likely increase the overall price tag for the measure, which in its current form would cost $774 billion over the next decade, according to estimates...
...Baucus expressed some flexibility with regard to his proposal to impose a 35% excise tax on insurers who sell "gold-plated" insurance policies - a levy insurance companies say they would be forced to pass on to their customers. Under the bill as it is currently written, that tax would kick in on plans that cost more than $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for families. Health-policy experts say an excise tax could help curb health spending overall by discouraging the purchase of lavish plans that lead to overuse of the health-care system. The levy would also raise...