House Version Of Health Care Reform Out Now, Includes 8 Percent Payroll Tax

Via the New York Times's The Caucus blog, comes news that the House version of health care reform has been released. There's a link on that blog to the very large pdf of the proposed legislation, which would of course have to be reconciled with any Senate bill.

The Times notes:

"The House proposal unveiled on Friday was a decidedly progressive measure, which reflected many of the ideas championed by the White House, including such initiatives as the creation of public insurance plan, which Republicans have said they will never support.

"In the Senate, lawmakers have been working on a number of potential compromise proposals, including the creation of nonprofit health care cooperatives that could compete with private insurers but would be regulated rather than controlled by the federal government.

"The House proposal also included a requirement that employers either provide health insurance or pay a fee equal to 8 percent of their payroll. The House chairmen said that the 8 percent figure, along with virtually every other aspect of the draft legislation, was negotiable and intended as a starting point for deliberations.

"But Republicans have voiced opposition to imposing any such requirement on employers, arguing that it would effectively lead to the elimination of jobs."

While the 8 percent figure may represent one approach to keeping businesses from dumping their employees onto the public option in the plan, I need to know a lot more about how all of this will work. Funding programs by imposing a new payroll tax on businesses during a deep recession may not be a great idea. I remain to be convinced at any rate.