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Congress nixes health care reform voucher provision

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WASHINGTON—The House and Senate have given final approval to appropriations legislation that includes the removal of a provision in the health care reform law requiring employers to give low-paid employees company-paid vouchers to purchase coverage in state health insurance exchanges.

The Senate Thursday approved the spending-cuts bill by an 81-19 vote and sent it to President Obama for his signature. The measure, H.R. 1473, passed the House earlier Thursday in a 260-167 vote.

The health care reform voucher provision was originally inserted in the health care reform measure by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., as the legislation was working its way through Congress.

Under that provision, employers in some cases would have been required to give lower-income employees company-paid vouchers to purchase coverage in state health insurance exchanges. The value of the vouchers would have to be equal to what the employer would pay were the employee enrolled in whichever of its plans offers the largest employer premium contribution.

Employers would have had to offer the vouchers to employees with household incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty level and whose premium contributions for the plan in which they were enrolled was between 8% and 9.8% of their household income.

The provision, which was to take effect in 2014, would have had a huge and costly impact on employers with large numbers of low-paid workers—such as retailers—who are required to pay a high percentage of the premium.