On Wednesday, December 23, 2009 Senate Democrats moved their health care reform bill past a final hurdle towards an historic vote. The vote was 60-39 to prevent a Republican filibuster. If all goes as planned the Senate will vote on Christmas Eve to hand the American people a chance to join other advanced nations of the world that guarantee their citizens access to health care. All this will happen without support from Republicans.
Whether it does will depend on melding the Senate bill with the House health care reform bill passed in November.
The differences between the Senate and House bills will not be easy to reconcile. But if the Congress is successful in melding the two bills, the American health care system will be transformed. Lower income earners who lack employer provided health care will be eligible for government subsidies to purchase health care policies through newly established health insurance exchanges. Health insurers will no longer be able to refuse coverage for preexisting conditions, and they will not be able to drop coverage for people who become ill. Medicaid will be expanded to cover more low income people.
The House bill includes the creation of a public health insurance option to be managed by the government. The Senate bill does not. The bills treat coverage for abortion through health care plans offered through the new insurance exchanges differently, with the House bill more stringent on abortion coverage.
It will be up to a House-Senate conference committee to reconcile the differences.
Comments
Do you even know what you are talking about? I mean, you can't even spell simple words correctly like their, not there. I do not think government should fund abortions, not everyone supports murder. Check out socialist health care plans in other countries, like England. Everyone gets health, but the overall quality increases. I hope you are all very happy with your free aspirin. Also, in a free country should government be able to REQUIRE you to have health care...hmmmm....
"...hand the American people a chance to join other advanced nations of the world that guarantee their citizenes access to health care." Right, like Britain or Canada. You really need to do some research to see what rationing does. It is not a healthcare issue, it is an economic issue. Rationing, as this bill will require, destroys incentives and literally ruins the affected industry. It will be no different with healthcare, except this time the mistake will be measured in poorer health and lives. Britain's system is a wreck, but the endpoint is Soviet-style healthcare, where all but the most rudamentary service is off limits to all but Party members and apparatchiks. You people really need to get a clue.
Simpson, read T. R. Reid's book on other health care systems. None seem to be choked by excessive rationing. But I agree, some method of rationing is always needed, even if it is rationing by the market, which in the case of health care all rich countries have rejected as the way to go.
Angie, yes I noted the mispellings committed in my rush to get the piece out, and I have corrected all that I found.
Thanks guys for the imput, and Happy holidays.
All I can is that I "hope" (I've gotten to hate that word) these fools get a really good night's sleep tonight because I think their constituents are going to hand them a gift they really weren't counting on in 2010! This will definitely be an "historical" decision on their parts but maybe not the kind of history they were expecting. God help us!
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