Monday 26 October 2009

USA - Senate Approves Health Reform Bill

The US Senate Finance Committee approved the health reform bill with a 14-9 majority on 13th October 2009.

The bill, drawn up by chairman Senator Max Baucus, proposes a ten-year US$829 billion plan to reduce health costs and provide affordable health insurance, but does not include a government-run, universal health insurance scheme.

The bill will now go through a compromise process with the bill approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pensions (HELP) Committee in July 2009, before receiving a full vote on the Senate floor.

The Finance panel is the last of five Congressional committees to put forward health reform proposals.

Further reading - An in-depth analysis of the US pharmaceutical market, including some background information on the healthcare system and reform plans, is available from Espicom: The Pharmaceutical Market: USA (published September 2009)

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