Obamacare Battle Begins

The first draft of Obamacare is out. It includes a public option for healthcare, but does mandate that everyone have insurance in one form or another.

The Senate committee chaired by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) began circulating draft language Friday of a health care reform bill that would create a public insurance option to compete with private insurers.

The bill also proposes requiring individuals to own insurance, mandating businesses to provide insurance or pay a fee to the government, creating state insurance marketplaces where people can compare and buy plans, and providing subsidies for low-income individuals to buy coverage. The bill comes from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The contours of the draft legislation, which did not include specific dollar figures or numbers, match up with the outline of a bill that first leaked last week. As expected, the bill contains some of the more liberal options that the Senate will consider.

Kennedy spokesman Anthony Coley said the 171-page bill was “a draft of a draft.”

I'm going to check out the draft this weekend, and see what I come up with.