Answer by Ottoman Umpire
The version that passed does not appear to contain those provisions.
In the House's "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009," the Health Choices Commissioner was originally conceived as such [1]:
The Health Choices Commissioner will decide what services health insurance must cover, and under what conditions. These choice (“standards”) will apply to both employer-sponsored insurance and insurance purchased through the Health Insurance Exchange, which will be operated by the Health Choices Administration. There will be no other legal way to buy health insurance. There will, however, be a “Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman” to provide you with “assistance” in “choosing a qualified health benefits plan in which to enroll” – from among the plan or plans the Commissioner has already chosen, of course.
By October, the position had been water down to more of a negotiating role.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that passed in 2010 eliminated the public option [2]. This would have been another likely control point.
The text of the law is here [3].
Source
[1] http://blog.heritage.org/2009/07/29/who-will-make-your-health-care-choices/
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/health/policy/15lieberman.html
[3] http://housedocs.house.gov/energycommerce/ppacacon.pdf
Ottoman Umpire: Sorry I couldn't have been more helpful. If there's anything I've missed, I welcome the correction.
Join Ricochet or Sign In to add your comment.