A bipartisan accord to fund the federal government until Jan. 15 and raise the government’s debt ceiling until Feb. 7, was reached by leaders in the U.S. Senate on Oct. 16, but the final agreement did virtually nothing to change the health care reform law.
The only part of the compromise affecting health care reform was income verification of individuals before they obtain federal premium subsidies to buy coverage in state-based health insurance exchanges.
Demands to change the reform law that were not included in the compromise agreement include: (1) a postponement of the individual mandate; (2) An expansion of exceptions to contraceptive coverage; (3) a suspension of the $63 per year per life payment for transitional reinsurance support; (4) a provision cutting health subsidies for congressional officials; and (5) the new excise tax on medical devices. The movement started as an attempt to defund Obamacare as part of the government spending bill. Successive attempts by Republicans were countered by Democrats in both houses of Congress and President Obama, who issued veto threats.
Republican House Majority leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said his side had “fought the good fight” over Obamacare, but allowing the government to reopen on Thursday would enable his team to “fight another day” in the future to reduce the size of government and balance the budget. He directed members of his caucus to vote for the Senate agreement.
Pundits observed that the GOP made a strategic blunder holding the economy hostage to extract changes in the health care reform law. They said Obamacare is currently embarrassing itself through the non-performance of exchange websites; therefore, the law would have collapsed under its own weight and it might fail of its own accord.
The agreement could be voted on by the House and Senate as soon as the night of Oct. 16.
For more information on the health care reform law, see The New Health Care Reform Law: What Employers Need to Know.