On Sept. 16, Senator Baucus (D-MT), Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, released a deeply flawed health care reform bill that fails to meet the most basic promise of health care reform, and threatens to shift more costs to employees represented by labor unions.
In addition to imposing an excise tax on certain so-called "high-cost" health plans, the proposed legislation will force cuts in benefits and cause more cost shifting to workers.
The bill also fails to include a public option as included in the House bills. Instead, it would establish state and regionally based co-ops. These small, non-profit insurance plans will have very little market clout and no ability to drive changes in the market that will lead to lower costs overall.
