HAI has learned House Democrats are considering a tax on insurance company profits as one way to pay for healthcare according to statements made on Thursday, October 8 by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California).

The tax would help make up a $100 billion shortfall that would result from raising a healthcare surtax so it only hits individual Americans making more than $500,000 per year and families with more than $1 million in income. It appears that House leaders are no longer considering an excise tax on high-value insurance plans.

Details of how much money could be raised by a tax on insurance company profits and how the tax would be imposed have not been determined.

Democrats have been meeting through the day today to finalize ways to pay for the House health bill after sending three versions of the public insurance option to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for scoring. One of those plans would pay providers based on Medicare rates, while two others would require the Health and Human Services secretary to negotiate rates directly.

According to Congressional Quarterly, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, (D-California), the Congressional Progressive Caucus could not support a public option with "triggered" Medicare rates, in which the lower rates would kick in if negotiated rates did not push down healthcare costs after a period of time. "The House will have the votes" for a Medicare-based public option, she said.