The New Starting Point Looks Suspiciously Like The Last End Point

When it comes to Obama's new health care proposal.

 Like the Senate version, Mr. Obama’s bill does not include a so-called public option, a government-backed insurance plan to compete with the private sector.

And the bill offers the Senate’s less restrictive language on abortion; it does not include the so-called “Stupak amendment,” which would bar insurers from offering abortion coverage to anyone buying a policy with a federal subsidy. The absence of the Stupak provision, named for Representative Bart Stupak, the conservative Michigan Democrat, could complicate matters for Mr. Obama in the House, where conservatives, led by Mr. Stupak, are adamant that the provision be included.

Mr. Obama largely adopted the Senate’s approach to paying for the legislation, including a proposed increase in the Medicare payroll tax for individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and for couples earning more than $250,000.

He opted for the Senate’s proposal to create state-based insurance exchanges, or marketplaces, rather than a single national exchange as proposed by the House. Many House Democrats worry that state exchanges would create uneven results by allowing states with lax insurance regulations to continue a hands-off approach.

And Mr. Obama adopted the Senate’s proposal to set a uniform eligibility threshold for Medicaid at 133 percent of the federal poverty level. The House had proposed setting eligibility at 150 percent of the poverty level. 

So if I'm reading this right, the Obama plan is the Senate plan minus the Cornhusker Kickback plus the excise tax exemption for everyone and not just unions, but also minus the Stupak Amendment.

Igor Volsky over at the Wonk Room charts the three versions.  The Obama plan does take some of the better parts of the House bill (closes the donut hole in Medicare) but improves on the Senate bill provisions.  It really is a compromise between the two versions with the addition of what Obama wanted to see done.

Still, it's a starting point.  It really is an improvement over the Senate bill, too.  We'll see.