National health reform is still moving along, though where it is going to end up still reamins to be seen. Here is a quick update on both the House and Senate side as to where the two proposals stand......
House: The House has merged the three committee proposals that were passed this summer and the total price tag of the compiled House bill is close to $1 trillion dollars, according to the Congressional Budget Office. There are still some sticky issues in the House proposal that are being worked out and a floor vote is expected this Saturday, November 7th. Some key rural health provisions are not included in the House bill and it is unlikey that there will be many (if any) floor amendments offered. This means the Senate is the key focus of adding any rural health provisions. Some of these provisions include: improving reimbursement for Rural Health Clinics, allowing Critical Access Hospitals more flexibility with their bed count (currently capped at 25 occupied beds per day), and allowing CRNAs to be reimbursed at cost through Medicare.
For a complete list of the rural health amendments that are hoping to be addressed on the floor of the Senate, please visit the National Rural Health Association Health Reform page.
Senate: The Senate has compiled both proposals that were passed this summer/fall and have sent their bill to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO will analyze the bill and provide a price tag to the proposed reforms. It is still unknown when the Senate will have a floor vote on their reform bill and there is talk it may be pushed into 2010.
Keep checking back regularly for updates!
