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House passes health care reform bill
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In a hard-fought victory, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act in a late night vote: 220-215.
After lengthy debates with Republicans over what has been a Democratic goal for decades, representatives approved the $1.1 trillion over 10 years legislation, sending the Act to the Senate next.
“This is our moment to revolutionize health care in this country,” said Representative George Miller, one of the chief architects of the bill.
In order to guarantee the bill’s passage, however, the Democrats were forced to make a major compromise on insurance covering abortions. Abortion-rights advocates within the Democratic Party hope to make changes to the Stupak amendment, named after Rep. Bart Stupak, Democrat from Michigan, who introduced the amendment.
The health care reform, Democrats contend, will extend coverage to 36 million uninsured Americans and will create a government health insurance program. The legislation will also eliminate insurance company policies like not covering pre-existing conditions or dropping coverage for people who become seriously ill.
The President traveled to Capitol Hill earlier on Saturday to lobby Representatives and is being credited with persuading the single Republican vote for the bill. Representative Ahn “Joseph” Cao of Lousiana, in a statement said that he had secured a personal commitment from President Obama on issues pertinent to Louisiana.
“Tonight, I voted to keep taxpayer dollars from funding abortion and to deliver access to affordable health care to the people of Louisianna,” Rep. Cao said following the vote.
“I read the versions of the House bill. I listened to the countless stories of Orleans and Jefferson Parish citizens whose health care costs are exploding – if they are able to obtain health care at all. Louisiannans need real options for primary care, for mental health care, and for expanded health care for seniors and children.”
President Obama was especially pleased with the result from Saturday night’s House vote. The cornerstone of his domestic agenda, President Obama has been pushing for health care reform since taking office in January.
“Tonight, in an historic vote, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would finally make real the promise of quality, affordable health care for the American people,” the President said in a statement released shortly after the passage.
“Now the United States Senate must follow suit and pass its version of the legislation. I am absolutely confident it will, and I look forward to signing comprehensive health insurance reform into law by the end of the year.”
The heated and lengthy floor debates in the House highlight the opposition Majority Leader Harry Reid will face when the fight moves to the Senate. Sen. Reid said Saturday that he expects to get cost estimates for the Senate bill from the Congressional Budget Office in the next couple of days and hopes to bring a bill to the Senate floor “as soon as possible.”
Sen. Reid will be facing an even greater challenge since the Democrats must collect 60 votes to proceed to a final vote, rather than a simple majority. The Senate floor debate, because the Senate rules give more power to individual lawmakers, is likely to last weeks, rather than hours.
The Democratic leadership, however, is committed to delivering a bill for the President to sign by the end of the year, but have acknowledged their initial deadline could slip into 2010.
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