The compromise health care reform legislation, released last week by the House majority leadership is scheduled for floor debate on Saturday, November 7, 2009. HR 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, retains many of the features for small businesses and the self-employed that were included in the original House bill. These include (1) larger insurance risk pools, (2) group-like policy underwriting and rating rules for individual policies, and (3) individual and small employer tax credits for the purchase of health coverage. The bill includes new provisions approved by each of the three policy committees that first considered the original House bill, HR 3200. Among these changes is a much broader exclusion for small businesses than had first been proposed from a requirement that employers provide health insurance benefits to their workforce. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) now estimates that 86 percent of small employers would not be required to provide health insurance coverage to its salaried employees. For those small employers who want to provide coverage, a small business tax credit is provided to eligible firms.

A House Republican alternative health bill will be offered as an alternative to HR 3962 during the House debate on Saturday morning. A more modest bill, the Republican alternative does not make the same changes the House bill makes to insurance underwriting and rating rules, providing individuals with "group-like" access to coverage.

The Senate leadership has yet to release a final merged version of its two health bills, S. 1679 and S. 1796. Multiple alternative bills have been submitted to the CBO for "scoring", i.e assessment of the final cost and impact of each alternative.

In a letter sent to the full House and a statement submitted to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee, NAR indicated it's support for the bill's underwriting and rating reforms but also indicated changes which are necessary to address the needs of the self-employed and small employer community.

The text of each of the House and Senate bills, as well as copies of NAR's letter and statement and the reform debate, are available below.

www.realtor.org/healthreform