Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 4872 - Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

(Senate)

The Administration strongly supports enactment of H.R. 4872, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. Combined with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, this legislation makes significant improvements that will help to give American families and small business owners more control of their own health care. Together, they make important changes - ending the worst practices of insurance companies; giving uninsured individuals and small business owners the same kind of choice of private health insurance that Members of Congress have; and bringing down the cost of health care for families and businesses while also reducing Federal budget deficits.

These bills provide the necessary health reforms that the Administration seeks - affordable, quality care within reach for the tens of millions of Americans who do not have it today by providing the largest middle class tax cuts for health care in history, reducing premium costs and out-of-pocket expenses, and prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage to the millions of Americans with pre-existing medical conditions. These bills also make critical improvements for Medicare beneficiaries including closing the coverage gap in the Medicare drug benefit known as the "donut hole." They also bring new stability and security for the hundreds of millions who already have insurance by reining in the worst insurance industry abuses and putting in place reforms that increase transparency, improve the quality of care, and contain health care costs. They contribute to transforming the health care system to make health care more accessible and affordable for the American people. H.R. 4872 also includes provisions that would eliminate wasteful subsidies for student loan lenders and invest these savings to: fortify the Pell Grant program and increase Pell Grants for millions of students; strengthen community colleges; strengthen Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other Minority-Serving Institutions; and allow students to cap student loan payments at affordable levels. The education provisions are estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to reduce the deficit. The Administration urges quick action on this landmark reform.