By Mark Memmott
NPR's Julie Rovner reports that House Republicans are putting together legislation to overhaul health care that does not reduce spending on Medicare or raise taxes. She filed this report for NPR's next newscast:
NPR obtained a draft of the House Republican bill, which leaders caution is still a work in progress. Many of the pieces are familiar ones -- they're bills passed by earlier GOP-led Houses, but never enacted. They include making it easier for small businesses to band together to buy insurance; allowing insurance companies to sell policies across state lines, and limiting damage awards in medical malpractice lawsuits. The bill also includes strict limits on abortion funding and a ban on benefits to illegal immigrants.
There are a few elements that overlap those in the Democrats' health bill, including eliminating insurance companies' ability to impose annual or lifetime limits on benefits.
The House bill is expected to come to the floor for debate by the end of this week.
The NPR Health Blog will have much more.
Update at 1:45 p.m. ET: NPR's April Fulton now has a post up on the Health Blog.
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