Some of the difference in the healthcare bill (the Senate bill) approved in the House of Representative on Mach 21st and signed into law by President Obama on March 23, and the reconciliation bill to be approved by the U.S. Senate, are stated below:  

Health Insurance Mandate (Individuals): The approved bill mandates all Americans to get health insurance or pay a penalty of $495 in 2015 and $750 in 2016. Under the reconciliation bill, those refusing to purchase health coverage would pay a lesser fine of $325 and $695 respectively. Under the Senate bill the fine represents the lesser of 2 percent of an individual’s salary and under the reconciliation bill the lesser of 2.5 percent. 

Health Insurance Mandate (Employers): Under the Senate bill, if an employer with more than 50 employees doesn’t offer coverage, he or she must pay a penalty fee of $750 for every full-time employee he or she hires. The reconciliation bill amends that fee to $2,000, but effective after the first 30 employees. 

Expands Drug Coverage for Seniors: The reconciliation bill offers seniors on Medicare increased coverage for prescribed drugs, than was approved under the Senate bill. 

Increase Taxes on the Wealthy: The reconciliation bills places an additional 3.8 percent Medicare tax on unearned incomes like dividends on investments earned by the wealthy. This is in addition to a higher Medicare payroll tax levied under the Senate bill on people earning over $200,000 annually and families earning over $250,000. However, although the reconciliation bill still supports a tax on high-end (Cadillac) insurance plans, to appease trade unions who complained that the tax would be a burden on some of their members, it raises the income threshold on which the tax would become effective and delays the implementation of the tax from 2016 to 2018. 

Increase Taxes on Health Industry Companies: The reconciliation bill proposes increasing fees paid by some medical manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and health insurance companies over the life of the bill. These fees are higher than those proposed in the Senate bill. 

Expands National Coverage: Approval of the reconciliation bill, means that 32 million uninsured Americans will be covered the new health reforms. The goal is that by 2019, 95 percent of Americans, excluding illegal immigrants, would have health insurance. 

Increase Student Loans and Grants: Although not a direct health benefit, savings realized under healthcare reform would provide colleges with more access to loans and grants. The reconciliation bill includes the provision approved in the original House healthcare bill to reform the students loan program for college students. The bill proposes an end of government subsidies to the student loan guarantee agency Sallie Mae (SLM Corp.). Instead, college students would get their loans directly from the federal government. The funds saved from the subsidies would be used to expand Pell Grants to students who pass a financial needs test.