Senate Panel to Work on Health Overhaul Next Week, Dodd Says

By Laura Litvan

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- The Senate health committee will begin work June 16 on a plan to revamp the U.S. health-care system, said Senator Chris Dodd, who plans to manage the bill for ailing panel chairman Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.

Draft legislation to be released later today will largely track a Kennedy proposal that circulated last week, Dodd told reporters today. He said it will make clear that proposals Republicans are balking at -- creation of a government-run program to cover some of the nation’s 46 million uninsured and an employer health-coverage mandate -- are only options as Democrats and Republicans seek compromises.

Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said the committee will work on the bill for two weeks in an effort to meet President Barack Obama’s call for completion of Senate and House health-care proposals by the end of July. Dodd said he discussed strategy with Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, for about three hours over the weekend at Kennedy’s home in Massachusetts.

“I have every hope that he’ll be back here and be part of this debate,” Dodd said. Kennedy has a history of crafting bipartisan agreements on landmark legislation.

Kennedy’s plan would require everyone to have health insurance, penalize those who don’t buy it, provide coverage subsidies for lower-income Americans and bar insurers from limiting coverage.

Employer Mandate

All employers would be required to supply health insurance for workers or contribute to the cost of other coverage. Kennedy also would create a government-run health plan to compete with private insurers, an Obama priority that is opposed by Republicans.

It would direct the secretary of Health and Human Services to run the public plan. The program would pay doctors and hospitals 10 percent more than they would get under Medicare.

Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said that, as he “coordinates” the health-care debate in coming weeks, other members of the banking panel will take on added duties there. Dodd said legislation addressing new regulations of the financial services sector will likely move in the second half of the year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net ;

Last Updated: June 9, 2009 12:17 EDT

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