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Congress Rolls Out a Health Care Reform Bill
Published by Pamela Gentry on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 5:14 pm.By Pamela Gentry, Senior Pollitical Analyst
Oct. 29, 2009 – The Democrats stepped out boldly Thursday with the announcement by the Majority House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of an $894 billion health care package.
On the steps of the U.S. Capitol Pelosi unveiled a plan surrounded by her colleagues laying out a health care system which would provide tens of millions of Americans access to affordable insurance.
Dems estimate the bill would provide coverage to more than 35 million Americans, cut more that $150 billion from the Medicare Advantage plan over the next ten years without cuts to Medicare benefits.
Michigan Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) who has been a staunch supporter of the public option said the bill would be “the greatest humanitarian need this country confronts, and the greatest economic problem.”
Dingell added, “The only citizens who will have to worry about their participation in Medicare being cut are the insurance companies.”
Pelosi told reporters, “We have listened to the American people,” We are putting forth a bill that reflects our best values and addresses our greatest challenges.”
The bill could reach the floor as early as next week, giving every member a chance to read the bill before the vote is scheduled.
It’s not likely it will get much support from the other side of the aisle. Republican Minority leader Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) responded quickly calling the bill “costly and unsustainable.” Boehner maintains the Democrats worked on the bill behind closed doors and designed it to appease the liberal arm of the party.
The White House was quick to heap praise on the bill, releasing a statement from President Obama calling the bill “another critical milestone in the effort to reform our health care system.”
“The House legislation includes critical reforms to the insurance industry, so that Americans will no longer have to worry that they will be denied coverage, or that their coverage will be dropped or watered down when they need it most,” the statement said.
More importantly the president also praised the public option in this legislation. “I’m also pleased that the bill includes a public option offered in an exchange. As I’ve said throughout this process, a public option that competes with private insurers is the best way to ensure choice and competition that are so badly needed in today’s market. And the House bill clearly meets two of the fundamental criteria I have set out: it is fully paid for and will reduce the deficit in the long term,” Obama said.
If this bill makes it through the House there is no way to predict how it will look when it emerges from conference with the Senate version, the Senate version does not have the public option.
Recent polls indicate the American public is showing more support for the government run insurance option to compete with private insurers. Pelosi and the majority of Democrats thinks it’s the only way to hold cost down. Republicans maintain the public option will drive private insurance companies out of the market.
They could both be right, bad insurance companies will go away, good ones will be competitive and the public option will provide an affordable option for individuals, small business and the unemployed.
There will always be war. There will always be those who aggravate within others a sense of trouble in order to promote the solution that they already have their mind made up about. There will always be disagreements; therefore, there will always be turmoil.
We are struggling for and reaching for critical reforms to the insurance industry, so that Americans will no longer have to worry that they will be denied coverage. I gave praise to President Obama and his Adminstration for the blood, sweat, and tears they had to endure to accompish this reconstruction of this HealthCare Reform, where so many Presidents before him failed. Another feather in President Obama’s cap.
[...] Congress Rolls Out a Health Care Reform Bill | Pamela on Politics … [...]
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Congressional Health Care Plan
Could Be Disastrous
For the 46 Million Uncovered !
By Greg Jones
National Director
Blacks4Barack
The primary reason for the need for health care reform was always to furnish access to much needed health care to the 46 million hard working uninsured Americans who currently struggle through life without the basic right to adequate health care. With an average of 44,000 deaths per year due to the lack of health care coverage, the uninsured await in hopeful anticipation that our politicians will do the right thing, enabling the millions to no longer be forced to visit make-shift free clinics originally designed to serve in third world countries (attached pics). Unfortunately though, our politicians are heading down a health reform course which is getting farther and farther away from it’s intent.
In fact, a quick review of the Congressional Health Care Bill recently presented exposes the fact that the millions currently in need could actually end up in worse shape than they are now if this bill was to pass. Although the bill does expand the number of individuals eligible for Medicaid to the 150% poverty level -which is approximately $16,200 for a single individual, for all who earn above that dollar limit the plan will force or mandate that every American buys insurance on their own (if it is not furnished by their employer) or be penalized. The penalty will be in the form of a tax penalty equal to 2.5% of their annual income. In other words, the very people who health reform is supposed to help will be fined for being too poor to afford this great health care coverage ! It’s like a penalty for being poor. And they still won’t have coverage.
For months we’ve been hearing about how health reform will become so ‘affordable’ through the creation of a strong, robust public option. But now as we review the Congressional Plan we see that they have turned away from the robust plan to a much weaker plan guaranteed to have higher premium costs, some warn even possibly a cost higher than the current private insurers. The 47 million hard working Americans are living without coverage for one basic reason: they can’t afford it. If they could they would have it. So now, the bright idea from Congress is to create a new high priced, unaffordable form of coverage, but this time CHARGE people a fine who can’t afford to buy it. THIS IS PATHETIC ! Even sadder, the plan as it sits now is actually budgeting or planning on millions of Americans to NOT be able to afford it, resorting to paying the fines/penalties, which is evident by the Congressional Plan already counting on $167 billion dollars being generated IN FINES which they boast when applied to the total 10 year cost of the plan, these fines/penalties will help keep the total costs under $884 Billion.
So our brilliant politicians are banking on generating billions in penalty money from the very millions of people that health reform is supposed to help. Not making sure they are covered and have the right to health care, but using the plan’s unaffordability combined with the mandate as a way to make money! What ? So under this brilliant, unaffordable plan we will end up with millions who are still unable to receive needed health care, who will now be considered ‘lawbreakers’ who will then be forced to pay a penalty that will go toward making coverage more affordable for the more affluent who CAN afford the high premiums. THIS IS PATHETIC and evident that our politicians are coming up with every scheme possible to serve the insurance cartel while telling the Americans in need to ‘kiss off’.
If our politicians were sincere about making health care accessible to all they would first of all, demand a strong, robust public option (actually single-payer is the best as we all know but they’ll never do that) so that the rates would TRULY be affordable. Then they would make the rate that the 46 million pay for premiums be on a sliding scale. To say that a person earning $16,200 is in poverty therefore eligible for Medicaid, but a person earning $16,250 CAN afford the high premiums and when they don’t we’ll penalize/charge them, is absolutely anti-American, asinine and in no way can call itself health care reform. Under this plan it would actually be better if no reform was done at all !
We’re hearing in the media about how a surtax will be paid by individuals earning $500,000 per year or 1 million per couple to contribute to this health plan’s cost, but it is disgusting how neither the media nor our great politicians are exposing how this plan will actually tax the poor-the very people in need of health care reform-by way of penalties for being too poor to afford the coverage !
While the politicians brag about history in the making, make certain that we all know exactly what they’re bragging about. As they say, the devil is in the details. And for those who say things like ‘this plan is a step in the right direction’ or ‘progress takes time’…you obviously HAVE coverage and are NOT one of the 46 million struggling each day to NOT become one of the 44,000 who DIE each year; the very group that reform is SUPPOSED to be FOR…not PENALIZE !
Please Share The Truth…
Then Fight…Call…DEMAND !!!
TRUE Health Care For ALL !!!
Greg Jones
http://www.Blacks4Barack.blogspot.com
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