Health care reform will be finalized this year

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- If President Obama has his way, health care reform will be finalized this year. Key Senate and House committees are planning to mark up legislation in June, and the House is aiming to vote on the issue by August.
And while the specifics of how to fix the nation's health care system are far from final, the debate over how to pull it off will turn on a key question: How to pay for it.
The total cost of overhauling health care is estimated at over $1 trillion, and the administration has made it clear that it doesn't want the overhaul to add to the already giant federal budget deficit.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., one of the leading legislative players on the issue, last week laid out the likely elements in any health reform package. He also identified some of the main options for how to pay for it.
A system overhaul will guarantee coverage for most of the 47 million people currently uninsured, Baucus said at a Kaiser Family Foundation forum. And there's a good chance that a government-funded public health plan option will be added to the mix of plans offered by private insurers, Baucus said.
The final legislation is also expected to lay out requirements for minimum benefits; prohibitions against denying someone coverage due to a pre-existing condition; and guarantees for affordable, quality health care, he said.
House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., another key player, echoed what Baucus outlined at a National Coalition on Health Care conference on Wednesday.
In terms of reimbursing doctors and hospitals, the focus for insurers is likely to shift from paying for the volume of services provided to reimbursements based on positive health our outcomes.

further details : money.cnn.com/2009/05/28/news/emy/health_reform_payfor_options/?postversion=2009052804cono