In a letter to President Obama on Wednesday, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), House Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller (D-Calif.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) wrote that they would work together to bring health care overhaul legislation to the House floor by the August congressional recess, the AP/Kansas City Star reports. The letter states, "As chairs of these committees and veterans of past health reform debates, we have agreed to coordinate our efforts," adding, "Our intention is to bring similar legislation before our committees and to work from a harmonized approach to ensure success" (Werner, AP/Kansas City Star, 3/11).

On Wednesday, the Ways and Means panel approved a "views and estimates" letter to the House Budget Committee describing legislation that would "expand health insurance coverage, improve the quality of care and reduce overall growth in health care system costs" (Wayne, CQ Today, 3/11). A spokesperson for Obama said the president "looks forward to working with House leaders and congressional partners from both parties to pass health reform this year." Senate leaders have announced a similar timeline to bring a comprehensive health reform bill to the floor (AP/Kansas City Star, 3/11).

However, CQ Today reports that the "Senate probably will not be able to move as quickly as the House" on an overhaul bill, and it is "unclear whether the bill writing process in the Senate will be as coordinated as the three House chairmen have pledged to write theirs." Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who are expected to lead the Senate efforts on health reform, are "working in concert," according to a spokesperson for Kennedy (CQ Today, 3/11).

The letter from the House committee chairs is available online.

Hatch
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) at a Wednesday conference sponsored by the health insurance industry said that Republicans will not let Democrats shape health care reform any way they please, warning that including too much government control in the legislation would lead to "warfare." He said, "2009 is the perfect year to begin to move toward a world-class health care system," adding, "Our economic crisis is not an impediment but rather a reason to accomplish this important reform." He said a bipartisan overhaul plan would need to overhaul Medicare and Medicaid, rein in rising costs, provide U.S. residents with portable insurance and place and emphasis on preventive care. Hatch also spoke of his opposition to individual coverage requirements but added that "we are going to look at everything." He said, "It is going to take some rare and important compromises to put this together" (Canham, Salt Lake Tribune, 3/11).

Employers
In related news, Baucus on Wednesday spoke before the National Business Group on Health about his plan to require that all employers provide health insurance for workers or else pay into a national health coverage fund. Baucus in November 2008 released a white paper detailing his plans for comprehensive health care legislation. The employer requirement would provide tax subsidies on a sliding scale for businesses to purchase health insurance and would exempt smaller companies that cannot afford it. He said, "My vision for reform is one of shared responsibility. I hope that you will agree."

However, reaction to the proposal "range[d] from resistance to vehement opposition," CongressDaily reports. Business groups believe such a rule would force them to eliminate jobs. Helen Darling, president of NBGH, said, "We're opposed to an employer mandate" and "believe there should be individual responsibility." She also said the mandate is the "worst possible solution." National Retail Federation Vice President and employee benefits counsel Neil Trautwein said, "I can well appreciate the chairman's sentiments, but that's just going to recreate the battle that sunk Clinton health care in '93 and '94," adding that the mandate would "blow up the reform process."

Baucus also noted that an important detail still to be worked out is the minimum benefit employers would be required to provide. Randel Johnson, vice president of labor, immigration and employee benefits for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said, "Once Congress starts to define what the minimum benefit is, it's kind of hard to see where it would stop." However, Baucus asked that the groups "[w]ait until we can see all parts of the puzzle" (Edney, CongressDaily, 3/12).

Taxes
The Washington Post on Thursday examined how Baucus has "repeatedly advocated" altering the tax exemption for employer-sponsored health insurance, "arguing that it makes sense to fund the health care changes by sucking cash out of the existing system." Economists and tax analysts "have long argued" that the exemption "disproportionately benefits wealthier workers" and that it encourages people to sign up for the most exhaustive coverage plans offered, which "mask the true cost of health care and contribute to skyrocketing costs," according to the Post. Many lobbyists and others participating in the health care overhaul debate say that "they see few other places to go for the kind of money that will be needed" to implement Obama's proposed changes, the Post reports.

However, according to the Post, the proposal "has not proven politically popular." The Obama administration has "been careful not to endorse the idea," but he "hasn't slammed the door on it, either," the Post reports. White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag this week said changing the exemption was among ideas that "most firmly should remain on the table." In addition, a bipartisan group of 13 senators has signed onto a plan that includes a tax on employer-sponsored benefits (Montgomery, Washington Post, 3/12).

Broadcast Coverage

• CNN's "Larry King Live" on Wednesday included an interview with former President Clinton, in which he discusses his concerns with the U.S. health care system. The segment also featured CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta, who was sitting in for King (Gupta, "Larry King Live," CNN, 3/11). A transcript of the segment is available online.
  
  
• CNN's "Newsroom" on Wednesday examined Obama's proposal to bar insurers from rejecting applicants with pre-existing medical conditions (Gupta, "Newsroom," CNN, 3/11). A transcript of the segment is available online.
  
  
• NPR's "Fresh Air from WHYY" on Wednesday included an interview with Princeton University James Madison Professor of Economics and Public Affairs Uwe Reinhardt concerning the "hidden cost of the health care bureaucracy" ("Fresh Air from WHYY" [1], NPR, 3/11). In addition, NPR's "Fresh Air from WHYY" on Wednesday included an interview with Time Magazine correspondent Karen Tumulty, who spoke about how many people do not realize that their health insurance is insufficient until they become ill ("Fresh Air from WHYY" [2], NPR, 3/11).