The Healthy Americans Act (HAA), also known as the Wyden-Bennett Act, is a Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 bill

Bill (proposed law)

A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....

 that proposes to improve health care in the United States

Health care in the United States

Health care in the United States is provided by many separate legal entities. Health care facilities are largely owned and operated by the private sector...

 by transitioning away from how currently employers typically purchase their employees' health insurance for them, to having individuals purchase their own. This reform aims to make the cost of health insurance more transparent to consumers, with the intended consequence being that this would increase market pressures to drive health insurance costs down. The proposal creates a universal health care

Universal health care

Universal health care is a term referring to organized health care systems built around the principle of universal coverage for all members of society, combining mechanisms for health financing and service provision.-History:...

 system that would be paid for by both public and private contributions. It would establish Healthy Americans Private Insurance Plans (HAPIs) and require those who do not already have health insurance coverage, and who do not oppose health insurance on religious grounds, to enroll themselves and their children in a HAPI.

Other key provisions include:

• Making employer-provided insurance portable by converting the current tax exclusion for health benefits into a tax deduction
  Tax deduction
  Income tax systems generally allow a tax deduction, i.e., a reduction of the income subject to tax, for various items, especially expenses incurred to produce income. Often these deductions are subject to limitations or conditions...
  
   for individuals; for example, the deduction that a typical family of four would receive would be $19,000 nearly 50% more than the $13,000 they spent on health care;
• The establishment or identification of a "State Health Help Agency" in each U.S. state government which would administer the HAPI plans in each state, help its citizens evaluate the options available, oversee enrollment, and help with the transition from Medicaid
  Medicaid
  Medicaid is the United States health program for certain people and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and is managed by the states. People served by Medicaid are U.S. citizens or legal permanent...
  
   and CHIP
  State Children's Health Insurance Program
  The State Children's Health Insurance Program – later known more simply as the Children's Health Insurance Program – is a program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides matching funds to states for health insurance to families with children...
  
  , among other responsibilities;
• The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and State Children's Health Insurance Program
  State Children's Health Insurance Program
  The State Children's Health Insurance Program – later known more simply as the Children's Health Insurance Program – is a program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides matching funds to states for health insurance to families with children...
  
   would be replaced;
• Medicaid
  Medicaid
  Medicaid is the United States health program for certain people and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and is managed by the states. People served by Medicaid are U.S. citizens or legal permanent...
  
   participants are transitioned out of that program (the bill's co-sponsor, Senator Ron Wyden
  Ron Wyden
  Ronald Lee "Ron" Wyden is the senior U.S. Senator for Oregon, serving since 1996, and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1996....
  
   (D
  Democratic Party (United States)
  The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
  
  -Oregon
  Oregon
  Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
  
  ), calls Medicaid a "caste system...that is unfair" to the poor and to taxpayers).

It was introduced in January 2007

110th United States Congress

The One Hundred Tenth United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the second term of President George W. Bush. It was composed of the Senate and the House of...

  and re-introduced in February 2009

111th United States Congress

The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of...

 , each time with over a dozen co-sponsors from both major parties.

Senators Ron Wyden

Ron Wyden

Ronald Lee "Ron" Wyden is the senior U.S. Senator for Oregon, serving since 1996, and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1996....

 (D-Oregon) and Robert F. Bennett

Robert Foster Bennett

Robert Foster "Bob" Bennett is a former United States Senator from Utah and a member of the Republican Party. In 2006, Bennett was tapped to serve on the Senate Republican Leadership Team as Counsel to the Minority Leader, United States Senator Mitch McConnell...

 (R

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

-Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

), the bill's two sponsors, asked the Congressional Budget Office

Congressional Budget Office

The Congressional Budget Office is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides economic data to Congress....

 (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation

United States Congress Joint Committee on Taxation

The Joint Committee on Taxation is a Committee of the U.S. Congress established under the Internal Revenue Code at .-Structure:The Joint Committee is composed of ten Members: five from the Senate Finance Committee and five from the House Ways and Means Committee.The Joint Committee is chaired on a...

 (JCT) to provide a preliminary analysis of a version of the Healthy Americans Act. In a letter dated May 1, 2008, CBO and JCT provided a preliminary conclusion that the proposal would be "roughly budget-neutral in 2014." The letter cautioned, however, that this did not constitute a formal estimate.

Elements of the bill

According to a preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office

Congressional Budget Office

The Congressional Budget Office is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides economic data to Congress....

 in May 2008, the bill includes the following elements:

1. Administration of the program is by new state-sponsored "Health Help Agencies" (HHA). States must establish these organizations, which will approve health plans from private insurers, provide for enrollment in plans, and act as a conduit for premium payments from the federal government to individual insurance carriers.
2. All citizens and permanent residents would be required to pay for coverage as part of their federal tax liability. Payment would be made via tax withholding by employers. Individuals would effectively pay the federal government, which would channel the funds to the appropriate HHA and from there to the insurers. Employers would no longer provide basic coverage in most cases.
3. Taxpayers would have a large healthcare standard deduction, which would increase with inflation. This would help taxpayers pay the tax liability that has now replaced insurance premiums. This essentially replaces the tax exclusion for health care benefits presently paid by employers. Certain low-income taxpayers would be eligible for premium assistance.
4. The size of the standard deduction for 2009 would range from $6,000 for individuals to $15,210 for couples with children, with incremental amounts for additional children. As a standard deduction, this reduces the income reported as subject to tax. However, this deduction would phase out for higher-income taxpayers, reducing to zero for couples earning over $250,000.
5. Mandates that employers provide salary and wages increases over a two year period essentially equal to the amount paid previously for basic healthcare insurance premiums, as employers no longer have to provide basic healthcare coverage.
6. Employers pay a new tax equal to between 3 percent and 26 percent of the national average premium for the minimum benefits package for each employee, depending on their firm size and amount of gross revenues per employee.
7. The basic plan would be equal to the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, with some exceptions. For example, Medicare and military healthcare recipients would be outside the scope of this bill.
8. Premiums can vary only to reflect geography and smoking status.
9. Individuals can have more expensive (i.e., non-basic) coverage plans paid directly to insurers.
10. Certain individuals would be phased out of the Medicaid program, via participation in their state's HHA.

CBO analysis of the bill

Although the U.S. Congressional Budget Office

Congressional Budget Office

The Congressional Budget Office is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides economic data to Congress....

 has not completed a comprehensive analysis of bill as of August 2009, it did a preliminary analysis published in May 2008 that included the following:
Wyden has argued that "The Healthy Americans Act would guarantee every American universal, affordable, comprehensive, portable, high-quality, private health coverage that is as good or better than Members of Congress have today. The Act includes tough cost containment measures — and would save Americans $1.45 trillion over the next decade."

Findings

The bill's priorities are reflected in its list of congressional findings:

1. Americans want affordable, guaranteed private health coverage that makes them healthier and can never be taken away.
2. American health care provides primarily `sick care' and does not do enough to prevent chronic illnesses like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. This results in significantly higher health costs for all Americans.
3. Staying as healthy as possible often requires an individual to change behavior and assume more personal responsibility for his or her health.
4. Personal responsibility for one's health should include purchasing one's own private health care coverage.
5. To accompany this new focus on staying healthy and personal responsibility, our government must guarantee that all Americans receive private affordable health coverage that can never be taken away.
6. Financing this guarantee should be a shared responsibility between individuals, the Government, and employers.
7. The $2.2 trillion spent annually on American health care must be spent more effectively in order to meet this guarantee.
8. This guarantee must include easier access to understandable information about the quality, cost, and effectiveness of health care provider
   Health care provider
   A health care provider is an individual or an institution that provides preventive, curative, promotional or rehabilitative health care services in a systematic way to individuals, families or communities....
   
   s, products, and services.
9. The fact that businesses in the United States compete globally against businesses whose governments pay for health care, coupled with the aging of the American population
   Demographics of the United States
   As of today's date, the United States has a total resident population of , making it the third most populous country in the world. It is a very urbanized population, with 82% residing in cities and suburbs as of 2008 . This leaves vast expanses of the country nearly uninhabited...
   
    and the explosive growth of preventable health problems, makes the status quo in American health care unacceptable.

Sections of the bill

The 2009 bill includes the following sections:

• Sec. 101. Guarantee of Healthy Americans Private Insurance coverage.
• Sec. 102. Individual responsibility to enroll in a Healthy Americans Private Insurance plan.
• Sec. 103. Guaranteeing you can keep the coverage you have.
• Sec. 104. Coordination of supplemental coverage under the Medicaid program to HAPI plan coverage for nondisabled, nonelderly adult individuals.
• Sec. 111. Healthy Americans Private Insurance Plans.
• Sec. 112. Specific coverage requirements.
• Sec. 113. Updating Healthy Americans Private Insurance plan requirements.
• Sec. 121. Eligibility for premium subsidies.
• Sec. 122. Eligibility for personal responsibility contribution subsidies.
• Sec. 123. Definitions and special rules.
• Sec. 131. Requirements for wellness programs.
• Sec. 201. General goal and authorization of appropriations for HAPI plan coverage for children.
• Sec. 202. Coordination of supplemental coverage under the Medicaid program with HAPI plan coverage for children.
• Sec. 211. Inclusion of providers under HAPI plans.
• Sec. 212. Use of, and grants for, school-based health centers.
• Sec. 301. Coordination of supplemental coverage under the Medicaid program for elderly and disabled individuals.
• Sec. 311. New, automatic Medicaid option for State Choices for Long-Term Care Program.
• Sec. 312. Simpler and more affordable long-term care insurance coverage.
• Sec. 401. Authority to adjust amount of Medicare part B premium to reward positive health behavior.
• Sec. 411. Primary care services management payment.
• Sec. 421. Chronic care disease management.
• Sec. 422. Chronic Care Education Centers.
• Sec. 431. Process for individuals entering the Medicare coverage gap to switch to a plan that provides coverage in the gap.
• Sec. 441. Improving quality in hospitals for all patients.
• Sec. 451. Patient empowerment and following a patient's health care wishes.
• Sec. 452. Permitting hospice beneficiaries to receive curative care
  Curative care
  Curative care or curative medicine is the kind of health care traditionally oriented towards seeking a cure for an existent disease or medical condition...
  
  .
• Sec. 453. Providing beneficiaries with information regarding end-of-life care clearinghouse.
• Sec. 454. Clearinghouse.
• Sec. 461. Additional cost information.
• Sec. 462. Reducing Medicare paperwork and regulatory burdens.

• Sec. 501. Establishment.
• Sec. 502. Responsibilities and authorities.
• Sec. 503. Appropriations for Transition to State Health Help Agencies.
• Sec. 601. Individual responsibility to ensure HAPI plan coverage.
• Sec. 611. Health care responsibility payments.
• Sec. 612. Distribution of individual responsibility payments to HHAs.
• Sec. 621. Insurer responsibilities.
• Sec. 631. State responsibilities.
• Sec. 632. Empowering states to innovate through waivers.
• Sec. 641. Federal guarantee of access to coverage.
• Sec. 651. Appropriation for subsidy payments.
• Sec. 652. Recapture of Medicare and 90 percent of Medicaid Federal DSH
  Disproportionate share hospital
  The United States government provides special funding to hospitals who treat significant populations of indigent patients through the Disproportionate Share Hospital programs...
  
   funds to strengthen Medicare and ensure continued support for public health programs.
• Sec. 661. Limited employee income and payroll tax exclusion for employer shared responsibility payments, historic retiree health contributions, and transitional coverage contributions.
• Sec. 662. Exclusion for limited employer-provided health care fringe benefits.
• Sec. 663. Limited employer deduction for employer shared responsibility payments, historic retiree health contributions, and other health care expenses.
• Sec. 664. Health care standard deduction.
• Sec. 665. Modification of other tax incentives to complement Healthy Americans program.
• Sec. 671. Clarification of ERISA applicability to employer-sponsored HAPI plans.
• Sec. 672. Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan.
• Sec. 673. Medicaid and CHIP.
• Sec. 701. One time disallowance of deduction for advertising and promotional expenses for certain prescription pharmaceuticals.
• Sec. 702. Enhanced new drug
  New drug application
  The New Drug Application is the vehicle in the United States through which drug sponsors formally propose that the Food and Drug Administration approve a new pharmaceutical for sale and marketing...
  
   and device
  Medical device
  A medical device is a product which is used for medical purposes in patients, in diagnosis, therapy or surgery . Whereas medicinal products achieve their principal action by pharmacological, metabolic or immunological means. Medical devices act by other means like physical, mechanical, thermal,...
  
   approval.
• Sec. 703. Medical schools and finding what works in health care.
• Sec. 704. Finding affordable health care providers nearby.
• Sec. 711. Individual medical records.
• Sec. 712. Bonus payment for medical malpractice reform.
• Sec. 713. Prioritizing health care employment and training activities.
• Sec. 801. Cost-containment results of the Healthy Americans Act.

Comparison with Obama's proposals

Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 campaigned in favor of universal health coverage

Healthcare policies of candidates in the United States presidential election, 2008

-Barack Obama:On January 24, 2007 Obama spoke about his position on health care at Families USA, a health care advocacy group. Obama said, "The time has come for universal health care in America . ....

 as early as January 2007. A year later, Obama was differentiating his health care proposal from that of his main rival

Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2008

New York junior Senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton had expressed interest in the 2008 United States presidential election since at least October 2002, drawing media speculation on whether she would become a candidate. No woman has ever won the nomination of a major party in the...

, Hillary Clinton, by saying "he and [Hillary] Clinton have a philosophical disagreement over her proposal to require Americans to purchase health insurance or face a penalty from the government." By July 2008, Obama was saying he would "lower the country's health care costs enough to "bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family" based on investments in electronic medical record

Electronic medical record

An electronic medical record is a computerized medical record created in an organization that delivers care, such as a hospital or physician's office...

s, a reduction in administrative costs, and an improvement in prevention programs and management of chronic diseases

Chronic (medicine)

A chronic disease is a disease or other human health condition that is persistent or long-lasting in nature. The term chronic is usually applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Common chronic diseases include asthma, cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.In medicine, the...

.

After Obama became president-elect

United States presidential election, 2008

The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...

, Wyden and Bennett and the bill's cosponsors wrote a letter to him on November 20, 2008, recommending seven goals for health care reform

Health care reform in the United States

Health care reform in the United States has a long history, of which the most recent results were two federal statutes enacted in 2010: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , signed March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 , which amended the PPACA and...

 legislation, goals reflected in HAA:

1. Ensure that all Americans have health care coverage;
2. Make sure health care coverage is affordable and portable;
3. Implement strong private insurance market reforms;
4. Modernize federal tax rules for health coverage;
5. Promote improved disease prevention and wellness activities, as well as better management of chronic illnesses;
6. Make health care prices and choices more transparent so that consumers and providers can make the best choices for their health and health care dollars; and
7. Improve the quality and value of health care services.

Wyden characterized HAA as "harness[ing] the Democratic desire to get everyone covered to the Republican interest in markets and consumer choice

Consumer driven health care

Defined narrowly, consumer-driven health care refers to third tier health insurance plans that allow members to use personal health savings accounts , Health Reimbursement Accounts , or similar medical payment products to pay routine health care expenses directly, while a high-deductible health...

" and one that had a reasonable chance of getting 70 votes in the U.S. Senate.

Employer-based system

In a July 1, 2009 interview, Obama said he agreed "with '90 percent' of Wyden's thinking" but called HAA "radical"; according to The Oregonian

The Oregonian

The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...

:

The president said his discussions with Wyden are similar to those with people who advocate a single-payer system. In theory, those plans work, he said. "The problem is, we have evolved partly by accident into an employer-based system." A "radical restructuring" would meet "significant political resistance," Obama said, and "families who are currently relatively satisfied with their insurance but are worried about rising costs ... would get real nervous about a wholesale change."

In the July 27, 2009 issue of Newsweek

Newsweek

Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...

, Jacob Weisberg

Jacob Weisberg

Jacob Weisberg is an American political journalist, serving as editor-in-chief of Slate Group, a division of The Washington Post Company. Weisberg is also a Newsweek columnist. He served as the editor of Slate magazine for six years, until stepping down in June 2008...

 lamented that HAA is "going nowhere" and commented on the existing employer-based health care system:

Senate committee alternatives

In November 2008, The Hill

The Hill (newspaper)

The Hill, a subsidiary of News Communications Inc., is a newspaper published in Washington, D.C. since 1994.Its first editor was Martin Tolchin, a veteran correspondent in the Washington bureau of The New York Times....

pointed out that the Act, despite its two-year head start and its cosponsors from both parties, was in competition with the (then-)undrafted proposals in the works from Senator Max Baucus

Max Baucus

Max Sieben Baucus is the senior United States Senator from Montana and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1978, as of 2010 he is the longest-serving Senator from Montana, and the fifth longest-serving U.S...

 (D-Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

), chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance

United States Senate Committee on Finance

The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generally, and those relating to the insular possessions; bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection...

, and Ted Kennedy

Ted Kennedy

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...

 (D-Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

), chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions generally considers matters relating to health, education, labor, and pensions...

.

In June 2009, just after the CBO announced that the then-current draft of the bill from Baucus' Finance Committee would increase the federal budget deficit by $1.6 trillion during its first decade and would leave millions of people uninsured, the Wall Street Journal characterized the "less-radical" HAA as "Wyden's Third Way" and pointed out some key differences between the majority's proposal and HAA:
David Brooks

David Brooks (journalist)

David Brooks is a Canadian-born political and cultural commentator who considers himself a moderate and writes for the New York Times...

 of The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

provided evidence of the political impediments to HAA, citing an incident witnessed during a May 12, 2009 hearing during which the Senate Finance Committee heard from a "vast majority" of over a dozen experts from the right and the left who "agreed that ending the tax exemption on employer-provided health benefits should be part of a reform package"; according to Brooks, Wyden pointed out to those in attendance that HAA repeals the exemption and provides universal coverage", a comment provoking what Brooks characterized as an "exasperated" look that made it clear that the idea wasn't going to part of his committees legislative drafts. Brooks pointed out that "senators don’t run things[, c]hairmen and their staffs run things"; he acknowledged there are "brewing efforts to incorporate a few Wyden-Bennett ideas" but pointed out the "stiff resistance to the aspects that fundamentally change incentives", resistance originating in "committee staffs [that] don’t like the approach because it’s not what they’ve been thinking about."

Debate about the bill

According to an analysis published by FactCheck

FactCheck

FactCheck.org is a non-partisan, nonprofit website that describes itself as a consumer advocate' for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics." It is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University...

 in May 2009, radio advertisements run by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is the second- or third-largest labor union in the United States and one of the fastest-growing, representing over 1.4 million employees, primarily in local and state government and in the health care industry. AFSCME is part of the...

, the United Food and Commercial Workers

United Food and Commercial Workers

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in many industries, including agriculture, health care, meatpacking, poultry and food processing, manufacturing, textile, G4S Security, chemical...

, and the National Education Association

National Education Association

The National Education Association is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become...

 told only "half the story". The ads correctly noted that HAA would tax health benefits, but they did not point out that HAA also requires employers to give as wages the money they were spending on their employee's heath care. The tax owed on that increase in wages is accompanied by a new tax deduction for everyone earning less than $125,000 a year ($250,000 for couples). The new deduction starts at $6,025 per individual, and decreases in stages until the $125,000/$250,000 income caps are met. FactCheck cites a Lewin Group analysis that said "all families that are currently insured (the target of the labor ad) and have income of less than $150,000 a year would see net savings under Wyden’s plan."

Sponsors and co-sponsors

The following table lists the sponsors and co-sponsors of the legislation and notes whether they are members of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee

United States Senate Committee on Finance

The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generally, and those relating to the insular possessions; bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection...

, the committee to which the bill has been referred

Commit (motion)

The motion to commit , in parliamentary procedure, is used to refer another motion—usually a main motion -- to a committee.-Explanation and Use:...

. |-
!Senator >

Party

State

2007

2009

>- ||Ron Wyden Ron Wyden Ronald Lee "Ron" Wyden is the senior U.S. Senator for Oregon, serving since 1996, and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1996....

D

OR

>- ||Bob Bennett

R

UT

>- ||Lamar Alexander Lamar Alexander Andrew Lamar Alexander is the senior United States Senator from Tennessee and Conference Chair of the Republican Party. He was previously the 45th Governor of Tennessee from 1979 to 1987, United States Secretary of Education from 1991 to 1993 under President George H. W...

R

TN

>- ||Maria Cantwell Maria Cantwell Maria E. Cantwell is the junior United States Senator from the state of Washington and a member of the Democratic Party....

D

WA

>- ||Thomas R. Carper Thomas R. Carper Thomas Richard "Tom" Carper is the senior United States Senator from Delaware and a member of the Democratic Party. He was previously the 71st Governor of Delaware and a United States Representative....

D

DE

>- ||Norm Coleman Norm Coleman Norman Bertram Coleman, Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. Coleman was elected in 2002 and served in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Before becoming a senator, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002...

R

MN

Lost his Senate seat United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2008 The 2008 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 4, 2008. After a legal battle lasting over eight months, Al Franken from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party defeated Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in one of the closest elections in the history of the Senate...  to Al Franken Al Franken Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party.... >- ||Bob Corker Bob Corker Robert Phillips "Bob" Corker, Jr. is the junior United States Senator from Tennessee. Before his election to the Senate in 2006, he served as mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee from 2001 to 2005. Corker was a businessman prior to holding public office.-Early life and family:Born in Orangeburg, South...

R

TN

>- ||Mike Crapo Mike Crapo Michael Dean "Mike" Crapo is the senior United States Senator from the state of Idaho and a member of the Republican Party.Born in the city of Idaho Falls, Crapo is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Harvard Law School. He practiced law in his home city throughout the 1980s, while...

R

ID

>- ||Lindsey Graham Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham is the senior U.S. Senator from South Carolina and a member of the Republican Party. Previously he served as the U.S. Representative for .-Early life, education and career:...

R

SC

>- ||Chuck Grassley Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest "Chuck" Grassley is the senior United States Senator from Iowa . A member of Republican Party, he previously served in the served in the United States House of Representatives and the Iowa state legislature...

R

IA

>- ||Judd Gregg Judd Gregg Judd Alan Gregg is a former Governor of New Hampshire and former United States Senator from New Hampshire, who served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. He is a member of the Republican Party and was a businessman and attorney in Nashua before entering politics...

R

NH

>- ||Daniel Inouye Daniel Inouye Daniel Ken "Dan" Inouye is the senior United States Senator from Hawaii, a member of the Democratic Party, and the President pro tempore of the United States Senate making him the highest-ranking Asian American politician in American history. Inouye is the chairman of the United States Senate...

D

HI

>- ||Ted Kaufman Ted Kaufman Edward E. "Ted" Kaufman is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Delaware from 2009 to 2010. Since 2010, he has chaired the Congressional Oversight Panel in the United States federal government; he is the second person to hold that post, succeeding inaugural holder...

D

DE

>- ||Mary Landrieu Mary Landrieu Mary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana and a member of the Democratic Party.Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...

D

LA

>- ||Joe Lieberman Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...

I

CT

>- ||Trent Lott Trent Lott Chester Trent Lott, Sr. , is a former United States Senator from Mississippi and has served in numerous leadership positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate....

R

MS

Resigned in 2007 United States Senate special election in Mississippi, 2008 The 2008 United States Senate special election in Mississippi was held on November 4, 2008. This election is held on the same day of Thad Cochran's re-election bid in the United States Senate election in Mississippi, 2008. The rules of this special election is that the winner will serve rest of... >- ||Jeff Merkley Jeff Merkley Jeffrey Alan "Jeff" Merkley is the junior United States Senator from Oregon. A member of the Democratic Party, Merkley was a five-term member of the Oregon Legislative Assembly representing House District 47, located in eastern Multnomah County within the Portland city limits...

D

OR

Elected in 2008 United States Senate election in Oregon, 2008 The 2008 United States Senate election in Oregon was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Gordon Smith decided to seek re-election. Smith was the only Republican Senator from the west coast and the only Republican holding statewide office in Oregon... >- ||Bill Nelson Bill Nelson Clarence William "Bill" Nelson is the senior United States Senator from the state of Florida and a member of the Democratic Party. He is a former U.S. Representative and former Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner of Florida...

D

FL

>- ||Gordon Smith

R

OR

Lost in 2008 United States Senate election in Oregon, 2008 The 2008 United States Senate election in Oregon was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Gordon Smith decided to seek re-election. Smith was the only Republican Senator from the west coast and the only Republican holding statewide office in Oregon... >- ||Arlen Specter Arlen Specter Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...

R, D

PA

>- ||Debbie Stabenow Debbie Stabenow Deborah Ann Greer "Debbie" Stabenow is the junior United States Senator from Michigan and a member of the Democratic Party. Before her election to the U.S. Senate, she was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Michigan's 8th congressional district from 1997 to 2001...

D

MI

Member of Finance Committee

According to Ezra Klein

Ezra Klein

Ezra Klein is a liberal American blogger and columnist for The Washington Post, columnist for Bloomberg, a columnist for Newsweek, and a contributor to MSNBC...

 of The Washington Post

The Washington Post

The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

, the list of HAA Republican supporters is deceptive: "The plan has a lot more fake support than it has real support. If every Republican who has co-sponsored [HAA] would commit to voting for it, the plan might pass. But they haven't." Nevertheless, numerous Senate Republicans reiterated their support for Wyden-Bennett in a 2009 op-ed.

External links

• The Healthy Americans Act from Wyden's official Senate website
• Text of S. 334 (2007) on the Library of Congress
  Library of Congress
  The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
  
   "Thomas" website
• Text of S. 391 (2009) on the Library of Congress "Thomas" website
• Summary of S. 334 by the Congressional Research Service
  Congressional Research Service
  The Congressional Research Service , known as "Congress's think tank", is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a...
  
  
• Summary of S. 391 by the Congressional Research Service
• Stand Tall for America: Health Care Reform, from a "Wyden for Senator"-sponsored website
• September 2008 Report on Wyden-Bennett from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
  The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a non-profit think tank that describes itself as a "policy organization ... working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals."The Center examines the short- and...