Backgrounder: Key differences in Senate, House versions of healthcare bill

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved a landmark healthcare reform bill, a key step toward a healthcare overhaul.

Before the bill could be signed into law, the Senate version still has to be reconciled with that of the House of the Representatives, which was passed last month.

Following are key differences between the two versions.

COST:

-- The Senate bill would cost 871 billion U.S. dollars over a decade, reducing the deficit by 132 billion dollars, and possibly an additional reduction of as much as 1.3 trillion dollars over the second decade.

-- The House bill costs 1.1 trillion dollars over a decade, surpassing Obama's spending cap of 900 billion dollars on healthcare.

PUBLIC OPTION

-- The Senate bill does not include a public option. Instead, the Office of Personnel Management, which supervises health plans for federal workers, would oversee national plans offered in the health insurance exchanges.

-- The House bill creates a government-run insurance program that offers plans in competition with the private market. The government would negotiate rates with healthcare providers.

INDIVIDUAL REQUIREMENTS

-- The Senate bill requires most people to have health insurance or pay a penalty, which starts at 95 dollars in 2014 and reaches 750 dollars two years later. It extends coverage to 94 percent of Americans.

-- The House bill requires most people to get health insurance or pay a penalty of up to 2.5 percent of their income. It extends coverage to 96 percent of Americans.

EMPLOYER REQUIREMENTS

-- The Senate bill does not require employers to provide health insurance. The bill would charge companies with over 50 employees a penalty for any employee whose health insurance the government ends up subsidizing.

-- The House bill requires employers to contribute to health insurance for employees. But businesses with payrolls under 500,000 dollars are exempted. Such businesses account for about 86percent of all American enterprises.

HELP FOR INDIVIDUALS AND SMALL BUSINESSES

-- The Senate bill sets up health insurance exchanges to help those newly required to get insurance shop around. Exchanges would open in 2014, a year after the House plan.

-- The House bill also creates "insurance exchanges," and until exchanges are set up, the bill immediately offers assistance to those who have been uninsured for several months or denied a policy because of pre-existing conditions.