By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A health care reform bill being passed? Don’t hold your breath: This floor debate is likely to extend to Christmas and beyond.

Early last month the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of a health care reform bill (H.R. 3962). Just last week the Senate voted 60-39 to clear the way for consideration of historic legislation to overhaul the nation’s health care system.
The bill now moves to the Senate floor for debate.

According to economist Robert Reischauer, it may take three years before the uninsured get medical coverage.

“There’s going to be a period of great expectations and very modest deliveries,” said Reischauer, who’s also president of the Urban Institute public policy center. “There’s many pros and cons with either bill.”

According to him, the Senate bill would cover 94 percent of eligible Americans under age 65; under the House Bill, it’s 96 percent. “That’s a major improvement over the 83 percent now covered, but the safety net would have holes,” Reischauer said.

Some 16 million eligible people would remain uninsured under the Senate bill and 12 million under the House bill, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). That’s not counting illegal immigrants, who would not be eligible for government assistance under either bill.

Both bills would require Americans to get health insurance or face fines. “Under either bill the aid is substantial for lower-income households, but drops off rapidly for the middle class,” Reischauer said.

Under the House bill, a family of four headed by a 45-year-old making $44,000 a year would pay roughly $2,400 in premiums, or $200 a month. A similar family making $66,000 would pay about $6,580 in premiums, or about $550 a month.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, both bills would forbid insurers from denying coverage to people in poor health or charging them more.

Older people are concerned about what happens to Medicare. Even though cuts in Medicare payments to hospitals and other providers are paying for much of the cost of covering the uninsured, benefits under traditional Medicare aren’t reduced.

But those who have signed up for private insurance plans through Medicare Advantage could lose extra benefits, according to the CBO.

Both bills offer cheaper prescription drugs to those who fall into the “doughnut hole” – the Medicare coverage gap.