Health Affairs Blog-HR 3962, the Affordable Health Care for Americans Act

by Timothy Jost

HR 3962, the Affordable Health Care for Americans Act, hit the House floor with a thud Thursday morning at 1990 pages, almost double the size of the bill we last saw before the Energy and Commerce hearings at the end of July. The bill incorporates, of course, amendments from the House jurisdictional committees, but also ideas from the Senate Finance bill and some new initiatives as well. In addition, far more than earlier congressional versions of health reform legislation, the new bill includes important initiatives that will impact the American public quickly, an important consideration both substantively and politically.

The intent of this post is to describe what is in the bill and the longer-term politics and policies that the bill’s contents represent. The politics de jour of the bill are being amply covered by the media and will be given less attention here.

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