Bipartisan Health Care Package Coming Thursday

(The Hill) Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) says he plans to release a draft of a bipartisan package of bills to lower health care costs on Thursday. Alexander has been working on the package with Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) the panels top Democrat as the pair try to find areas of agreement where both parties can take action on health care. After the failure of the Alexander-Murray bill to shore up ObamaCare last year the new package is steering clear of the controversial health care law to focus on other areas where Alexander thinks there is more of a chance of passing bipartisan legislation. Those areas include protecting patients from getting massive surprise" medical bills when they get care from a doctor outside of their insurance network during emergencies. Alexander said Tuesday the package would address discounts that drug companies give on their drugs known as rebates and transparency."