End of July--Health Reform still moving

As the week comes to an end and policy makers head out of Washington for their 5 week recess, a few interesting items to note.

It appears that the Rep. Waxman and the House committee he chairs have garnered the political support for their bill and will pass it out of committee. This opens the way for a unified bill to be voted on by congress in September. Also gives members of the house plenty to discuss at home. One key issue is to make premium concessions to families with incomes at or below $88,000--this has been agreed to and is a new benchmark to note in the impact of reform to the average American.

Meanwhile, it appears the bi-partisan efforts from the Senate Finance committee are still being hashed out. It is widely believed that this bill will be the "one to watch". With the Senate vote next week on the Supreme Court nominee, the chances that this bill gets released are diminishing--though reports say a draft may be put forth.

Finally, more pointed attacks are being made against insurance companies. Watch for ads against the insurance industry in the next month. Though we are often frustrated with insurance companies ourselves, we often hear claims made about insurance companies which are sometimes not 100% accurate. As a rule, we feel the companies that we conduct business with provide a high level of benefit and adhere to the guidelines within their policies. We have added a link to the right of our blog that BCBS of NC has put together stating their thoughts on good health reform. As other perspectives are developed we will put those forth as well.