=Baucus' bill would allow insurance companies to charge up to five times more for premiums based on age. A proposal approved by three committees in the House would only allow companies to vary premiums on a 2-to-1 ratio for age.
By Patrick Yoest
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday questioned whether a Senate health-care proposal was affordable for the middle class and expressed concerns about its effect on the elderly.
Pelosi, at her weekly press conference, welcomed health-care legislation released by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., as a step forward. But she also drew distinction between and House legislation and reiterated her own preference for a public health insurance option.
"What is in the Senate bill right now...does not have affordability for the middle class," Pelosi said, but added "we're just seeing the first blush of the Senate bill."
Additionally, Pelosi said House health-care legislation "is stronger for seniors than the Senate bill is."
"We hope that we can persuade them to our point of view," she said.
Baucus' bill would allow insurance companies to charge up to five times more for premiums based on age. A proposal approved by three committees in the House would only allow companies to vary premiums on a 2-to-1 ratio for age.
Pelosi also told reporters that "I fully support a public option and that "a public option will be in the bill that passes the House of Representatives." The Baucus bill does not contain a public option.
Still, she said she saw agreement between House and Senate versions of "about 80 to 85% of the bill."
Pelosi largely demurred on questions of when the House would reconcile versions of health-care legislation approved by the three committees, saying only that a House vote would be scheduled to align with U.S. President Barack Obama's goal of passing a health-care bill by the end of the year.
When asked if the House would pass a bill before the Senate, she said, "I can't say whether we'll be before them."
She also spoke about Obama's decision to shelve a Bush administration plan to build an Eastern European missile-defense shield. Pelosi called the move "brilliant" and "a giant step forward."
"The fact that they have reevaluated the threat, that they have taken into consideration what...advanced technologies are now, what this means to our relationship in [the North Atlantic Treaty Organization] and what this means in our bilateral relationship with Russia is very, very important," Pelosi said.
-By Patrick Yoest, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-3554; patrick.yoest@dowjones.com
Baucus' bill would allow insurance companies to charge up to five times more for premiums based on age. A proposal approved by three committees in the House would only allow companies to vary premiums on a 2-to-1 ratio for age.
-- Edited by mike of the mountain on Thursday 17th of September 2009 03:29:58 PM
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