Senate leaders from both parties have begun developing a plan to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling that includes only minor alterations to the healthcare reform law's implementation, according to a report from The Washington Post.
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other lawmakers are working on a measure that doesn't include provisions House conservatives have pushed for, such as a one-year delay for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act individual mandate, according to the report.
The Senate plan would reopen the government through Jan. 15 and allow for normal borrowing until early or mid-February, according to the report. Congress must raise the country's $16.7 trillion debt ceiling by Oct. 17 or face a default on its credit.
The in-progress Senate plan will likely include stricter income verification requirements for people receiving subsidies to purchase health insurance under the reform law. It might also repeal a $63 per person transitional reinsurance fee for fully insured and self-insured group health plans. Discussions concerning the proposal are ongoing, according to the report.
House GOP leaders have responded to news of the Senate's plan by introducing their own similar but more conservative proposal, which would repeal the PPACA medical device tax and prohibit health insurance subsidies for federal lawmakers, according to the report. House lawmakers plan to vote on the measure today.
The federal government shut down after House Republicans and the Senate failed to pass a spending resolution earlier this month. House Republicans demanded that any spending bill include a provision to defund the PPACA, but the Democrat-led Senate and President Obama refused to consider any measure that would halt the law's implementation.
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Bipartisan Group Calls for Funding Bill Repealing Medical Device Tax