What's in the House bill

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Sunday, November 8, 2009

The measure includes:

-- An individual mandate that would require people to buy health insurance.

-- An employer mandate that would require companies to cover their employees, though small businesses would be exempted.

-- Funding to create insurance exchanges to serve people who don't have employer coverage.

-- A government insurance option to compete with private plans on the exchange.

-- Subsidies to help households earning up to $88,000 in annual income for a family of four purchase coverage.

-- A historic Medicaid expansion that would provide free health care to all Americans with incomes below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

-- Up to $400 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts, including to a Medicare Advantage managed-care program that serves nearly 11 million seniors.

-- A surcharge on taxpayers who earn more than $500,000 a year, or $1 million a year for families.

-- A crackdown on the insurance industry, including bans on lifetime limits, premium disparity based on health status and sex, and coverage denials based on preexisting conditions. The bill also would end a federal antitrust exemption that has for decades protected firms from federal investigations.