2009-11-02 On October 29, the "Affordable Health Care for America Act" (H.R. 3962) was introduced in the House, where Democratic leadership had been working since July on the difficult task of combining the three health care reform bills passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, House Education and Labor Committee, and House Ways and Means Committee. The bill includes a public plan option that would use negotiated rates for provider reimbursement; insurance exchanges; an individual mandate; tax credits for taxpayers earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level and obtaining insurance through an exchange; a income surtax of 5.4% that would apply to individuals earning more than $500,000 and married couples earning more than $1 million; a $2,500 cap on flexible spending accounts, indexed for inflation; and a surtax on medical device sales. Unlike the Senate bill, it would not tax high-value health plans. Employers whose yearly payrolls exceed $500,000 would be required to provide health insurance to employees or pay into the exchange. A minimum level of employer-provided coverage is in part defined as the employer paying 72.5% of the premium for individual coverage and 65% for family coverage. The House is expected to vote on the bill before Veteran's Day, though that timetable is subject to change in the next weeks.

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