Senate Drops Plan to Expand Medicare; Medical Device Tax Delayed Until 2013
BY LAUREN UZDIENSKI, DECEMBER 15, 2009
The Senate reversed a plan introduced last week to expand Medicare to allow patients to join at 55. If effected, the plan would have provided additional insurance options to patients who may have had difficulty obtaining coverage elsewhere, helping to offset the Senate's decision not to proceed with a public insurance option. However, as the Wall Street Journal reports, Sen. Joseph Lieberman's (I-CT) objections to Medicare expansion threatened to derail the entire bill, and the Democrats decided at a caucus last night to drop that portion of the legislation.
Following the caucus, Democrats are said to be nearing the 60 votes needed to overcome Republican opposition in a vote.
The Senate also offered up an amendment that would delay the implementation of the annual device fee (which will cost $20 billion over ten years) until 2013, bringing it in line with the start date of the 2.5% device tax passed in the House version of the bill. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune quoted AdvaMed President and CEO Stephen Ubl as saying the 2013 date would "give companies time to prepare for the tax, avoid putting an additional burden on the industry during difficult economic times and make the timing of the tax more consistent with the timing of expanded coverage."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says he wants the chamber to vote by Christmas, with negotiations between the Senate and House versions of the bill to take place in January.
