A Summary of the Health Care Bill

Since it's difficult to figure out what exactly Congress has been debating for the last year, here's a brief summary I've compiled about the House and Senate versions of the health care bill. The numbers here are very rough and rounded (and probably just wrong in some cases), but they are more intended as heuristics for what the bills hope to accomplish. Much is compiled from wikipedia, and this Washington Post article.

Insurance Mandate
House bill: 2.5% tax increase for people who do not have health insurance

Senate bill: 2% tax (or $750, whichever is greater)

Both bills have a schedule of subsidies to offset the costs for people making up to 400% of the poverty line, or about $90,000 for a family of four.

Employer Mandate
House: Small business with payrolls less than $500,000 are exempt, and businesses with payrolls less than $750,000 have reduced contribution requirements.

Senate: Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees are exempt. For other businesses, there is a mandate to provide coverage or (in most cases) a pay a $750 per employee fine.

Medicaid Expansion
Both bills expand Medicaid by about 15 million people, or about 30% of the existing Medicaid program (this is the major cost-driver of the bills).

Revenue Generation
House: A "surtax" of 5.4% on individual tax liability on about the richest 0.5% of people and families (this probably ends up being between a 1% and 2% tax increase).

Senate: A 1% tax increase on the richest 1% of people and families, combined with selected cuts in Medicare.

Insurance Company Regulation:
Regulations are myriad and complex, including prohibitions on refusing coverage, prohibitions on dropping coverage, minimum standards, etc.