Health Care Reform from Conception to Final Passage

Timeline of the Finance Committee’s Work to Reform America’s Health Care System

 *Red dates indicate major milestones.
Feb. 13, 2007 Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) outlines the principles for health care reform before the National Health Policy Conference.
(Read Baucus’s Statement)
May 6, 2008 Finance Committee Hearing: Seizing the New Opportunity for Health Reform.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read the News Release)
June 3, 2008 Finance Committee Hearing: Rising Costs, Low Quality in Health Care: The Necessity for Reform.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read the News Release)
June 10, 2008 Finance Committee Hearing: 47 Million & Counting: Why the Health Care Marketplace is Broken.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read Baucus’s Statement)
June 16, 2008 Baucus hosts the “Prepare for Launch Health Reform Summit” in Washington, DC.
(Read Baucus’s Statement)
June 17, 2008 Finance Committee Hearing: Crisis in the Future: Long Run Deficits and Debt.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read Baucus’s Statement)
July 17, 2008 Finance Committee Hearing: The Right Care at the Right Time: Leveraging Innovation to Improve Health Care Quality for All Americans.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read the News Release)
July 31, 2008 Finance Committee Hearing: Health Benefits in the Tax Code: The Right Incentives.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read Baucus’s Statement)
Sept. 9, 2008 Finance Committee Hearing: Improving Health Care Quality: An Integral Step toward Health Reform.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read the News Release)
Sept. 16, 2008 Finance Committee Hearing: Aligning Incentives: The Case for Delivery System Reform.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read the News Release)
Sept. 23, 2008 Finance Committee Hearing: Covering the Uninsured:  Making Health Insurance Markets Work.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read the News Release)
Sept. 29, 2008 Baucus assembles the first meeting of the Montana Healthcare Reform Advisory Council.
Oct. 14 – 28, 2008 Baucus holds eight listening session meetings with his constituents across Montana.
Oct. 21, 2008 Finance Committee Field Hearing at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, MT: High Health Care Costs: A State Perspective
(Watch the Hearing)
Nov. 12, 2008 Baucus publishes his “Call to Action” white paper, a blueprint for health care reform. The Washington Post called Baucus’s white paper, “striking in both its timing and scope…Rarely, if ever, has a lawmaker with his clout moved so early -- eight days after the election of a new president -- to press for such an enormous undertaking.”
(Read Chairman Baucus's Health Care Reform White Paper)
Nov. 19, 2008 Finance Committee Hearing: Health Care Reform: An Economic Perspective.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read the News Release)
Feb. 25, 2009 Finance Committee Hearing: Scoring Health Care Reform: CBO’s Budget Options.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read Baucus’s Statement)
March 5, 2009 Baucus attends the White House Forum on Health Reform.
March 10, 2009 Finance Committee Hearing: The President’s Fiscal Year 2010 Health Care Proposals.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read the News Release)
March 12, 2009 Finance Committee Hearing: Workforce Issues in Health Care Reform: Assessing the Present and Preparing for the Future.
(Watch the Hearing) (Read the News Release)
April 20, 2009 Baucus and Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) send a letter to President Obama urging swift action on health care reform.
(Read the News Release and Letter)
April 21, 2009 Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) hold the first Finance Committee Roundtable: “Reforming America’s Health Care Delivery System.”  This was the first in a series of three roundtables, which brought health policy and industry experts together to discuss the development of health care reform legislation.
(Watch the Roundtable) (Read the News Release)
April 28, 2009 Baucus and Grassley release detailed policy options for reforming America’s health care delivery system. This was the first of three sets of policy options released publicly for members of Congress and the American people to review.  The New York Times reported, “In setting forth detailed ''policy options'' and inviting public comment, Mr. Baucus and Mr. Grassley set a precedent for openness.”
(Read the News Release) (Read the Policy Options)
April 29, 2009 Finance Committee Members discuss the policy options for reforming America’s health care delivery system.
(Read the Policy Options)
May 5, 2009 Baucus and Grassley hold the second Finance Committee Roundtable: “Expanding Health Care Coverage."
(Watch the Roundtable) (Read the News Release)
May 6, 2009 Baucus and Grassley meet with President Obama and Vice President Biden at the White House to discuss health care reform.
May 11, 2009 Baucus and Grassley publish their second set of detailed policy options, focused on expanding health care coverage.
(Read the News Release) (Read the Policy Options)
May 12, 2009 Baucus and Grassley hold the third Finance Committee Roundtable: "Financing Comprehensive Health Care Reform."
(Watch the Roundtable) (Read the News Release)
May 14, 2009 Finance Committee Members discuss the policy options for expanding health care coverage.
(Read the Policy Options) 
May 18, 2009 Baucus and Grassley publish their third set of detailed policy options, focused on financing health care reform.
(Read the News Release) (Read the Policy Options)
May 20, 2009 Finance Committee Members discuss the policy options for financing health care reform.
(Read the Policy Options) 
June 17, 2009 Three Democratic and three Republican Finance Committee Members hold the first of 31 bipartisan meetings to discuss the development of a health care reform bill.  Over the course of the next three months, this group, Baucus, Grassley, Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), met for more than 60 hours and the bipartisan principles they discussed became the foundation of the health care reform law.
 
June 18, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
June 23, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
June 24, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
June 25, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 7, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 8, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 9, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 15, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 16, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 20, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 21, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 22, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 23, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 27, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 28, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 29, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
July 30, 2009 Two bipartisan meetings to discuss health care reform.
Aug. 3, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
Aug. 4, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
Aug. 5, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
Aug. 6, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
Aug. 6, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
Aug. 20, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
Sept. 4, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
Sept. 8, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
Sept. 9, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
Sept. 10, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
Sept. 11, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
Sept. 14, 2009 Bipartisan meeting to discuss health care reform.
Aug. 24, 2009 President Obama visits Belgrade, Montana with Baucus to discuss health care reform with Montanans.
Sept. 16, 2009 Baucus releases his Chairman’s Mark of the Finance Committee health care reform bill, The America’s Healthy Future Act, for the American people and members of Congress to review.
(Read the News Release) (Read the Chairman’s Mark)
Sept. 22, 2009 Baucus releases his Modified Chairman’s Mark of the America’s Healthy Future Act, which incorporates a number of amendments submitted by Finance Committee Members on both sides of the aisle.
(Read News Release) (Read Modified Chairman’s Mark)
Sept. 22-
Oct. 13, 2009		 The Finance Committee holds a seven-day Markup to debate the America’s Healthy Future Act, the longest Finance Committee Markup in 22 years.
(Read Baucus’s Statement)
Oct. 13, 2009 The Finance Committee votes to approve the America’s Healthy Future Act with a bipartisan vote of 14 to 9.
(Read the News Release) (Read the America’s Healthy Future Act)
Nov. 19, 2009 Baucus, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) release the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which will eventually become the health care reform law.  Baucus worked with his colleagues to merge the Finance Committee health care reform bill with the bill passed by the Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and together the two committees brought one bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to the Senate floor for debate.
(Read Baucus’s Statement)
Nov. 30-
Dec. 24, 2009		 Baucus plays a critical role as a leader of debate on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on the Senate Floor.
(Read Baucus’s Floor Statements)
Dec. 24, 2009 The Senate passes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with a vote of 60 to 39.
(Read the News Release) (Read Baucus’s Statement)
(Read the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act)
Feb. 25, 2010 Baucus attends the bipartisan health care reform summit hosted by President Obama at the White House.
(Read Baucus’s Statement)
March 21, 2010 The House of Representatives passes the Senate-passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act along with the health care reform improvements bill.
(Read the News Release)
March 23, 2010 President Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care reform becomes law.
(Read the News Release) (Read the Health Care Reform Law)
(Learn More about Health Care Reform)
March 23 - 25, 2010 Baucus plays a critical role as a leader of debate of the health care reform improvements bill, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, on the Senate Floor.
(Read Baucus’s Statement)
March 25, 2010 The Senate passes the health care reform improvements bill by a vote of 56 to 43.
(Read the News Release) (Read the Health Care Improvements Law)
March 30, 2010 President Obama signs the health care reform improvements bill into law.

Learn More about Health Care Reform