Key details of health overhaul bill
November 7, 2009 - 8:56 pm
The House health care bill passed tonight would:
-- Require most Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a fine.
-- Expand health care coverage to 36 million more people over the next decade.
-- Require employers with payrolls above $500,000 to provide insurance to their employees or pay a fine.
-- Prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions.
-- End premium disparities between men and women.
-- Impose a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge on income above $500,000 annually for individuals and above $1 million annually for households.
-- Establish a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers beginning in 2013.
-- Cost $1.2 billion over 10 years.
-- Cut Medicare spending by more than $400 billion over 10 years.