Landmark health care bill passes out of committee - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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The expanded coverage would be funded by new or higher taxez onhealth insurers, hospitals and Medicaid managed care under House Bill 2116, which passed out of the Housde Revenue Committee by a 6-4 vote on By raising more than $150 millioh per year, the state would be eligible for $500 million in unclaimed federal funds. Under the compromise measure, far fewer adults will be insured thanthe 100,00 0 that proponents of expanded health care originallg targeted. Hospitals, which now pay a tax of .
63 can expect a fourfold tax hike in the coming The hospital tax will be indexed to increasefd reimbursements that they can expect to receive whenthe state’ss Medicaid population grows, with the aim of creating a revenud neutral impact on hospitals. Healtg plans and insurers will also pay a 1 percenyt tax on commercialinsurance premiums. Opponents to the largely negotiated in closed meetings between Legislators and health careindustry groups, callef it a back room “The real losers from the Democrats’ predatory premiumj tax of 1 percent of grossx premiums are the employees of small to mediu m sized businesses, who are the very people most likely to lose their coverage because of the rapidly rising costd of health insurance,” said Rep.
Ron R-Grants Pass in a news release. But hospital which had loudly criticized earlier versions of the applauded the measure that left committeson Thursday. “This is a great day for the uninsurerdin Oregon,” said Andy Van Pelt, spokesma for the and Health Systems. “Hospitals came togethe r with legislative leaders to forgs a solution that gets us startes on covering more Oregoniansz than wedo today.
” Now the full Housde takes up the The Legislature hopes to adjourn by the end of