Health Legislation Ready In Six Weeks, Say Senate Leaders

Health care reform legislation will be ready for mark-up in early June, say Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA), chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee and Senate HELP Committee, respectively, in a joint letter sent to the President. Highlights of the letter, sent April 20, include:

Both committees plan to mark-up legislation in early June. Our intention is for that legislation to be very similar, and to reflect a shared approach to reform, so that the measures that our two committees report can be quickly merged into a single bill for consideration on the Senate floor.

We must act to contain the growth of health care costs to ensure our economic stability; to help American businesses deal with the health care challenge; and to make sure that we are getting our money’s worth. With your continued leadership and commitment, and working together, we remain certain that our goal of enacting comprehensive health care reform can be accomplished with the urgency that the American people rightly demand.

What do you think about this promise? Will the legislation be ready by June? Share your thoughts below.