Nov. 7, 2009 -- House Passes Health Care Bill!

Now comes the hard part.....The Senate.
[Edited 11/7/09 21:08pm]

No, that's not the hard part.
The Senate will not be voting on the Houses' bill.
The Senate has its own.
The hard part is merging the two bills into one that will clear both Houses of Congress.


The bill proposes to spend $1.055 trillion to add 36 million Americans to the insurance rolls, largely paid for with a 5.4% surtax on the top 0.3% of earners and cutting Medicare Advantage programs.

It would create an exchange where small businesses and the uninsured could buy coverage, including a government-run public option. The abortion amendment bars anyone who gets federal subsidies from abortion coverage. The public option does not cover any elective abortions.

Under the bill, no insurance company could consider preexisting conditions, out-of-pocket expenses would be capped, there would be no co-pays for preventive care and the so-called "donut hole" would be closed in Medicare prescription drug coverage.

"This is the most important legislation I've voted on in my 21 years in Congress," Bronx Rep. Eliot Engel said.

Republicans argued the measure is too expensive, too tax-heavy, and a threat to jobs and American freedom.

Liberals savaged the anti-abortion provision. "This amendment threatens the health and rights of women to seek a legal procedure," said Westchester Rep. Nita Lowey, calling it "unnecessary and reprehensible."

But pro-choice Democrats voted for the overall measure anyway, helped along by Obama, who implored them to be on the "right side of history" and invoked the shootings at Fort Hood in his emotional appeal.

"He was absolutely inspiring. In a very moving way, he reminded us what sacrifice really is," said Rep. Rob Andrews, a New Jersey Democrat.

"It made a lot of people feel a little less sorry for themselves about their political problems."

A $61 billion GOP substitute bill failed after Democrats mocked it, noting that non-partisan number crunchers found it did little to help people get insurance.

mmcauliff@nydailynews.com



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.co...z0WF4sTJMn

Senate now in healthcare spotlight
Sun Nov 8, 2009 12:12am EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After a narrow win in the House of Representatives, President Barack Obama's fight for a sweeping healthcare overhaul moves to the Senate where it faces a difficult path to approval.

The Senate's version of healthcare reform has been stalled as Democratic leader Harry Reid awaits cost estimates from congressional budget analysts and searches for an approach that can win the 60 votes needed to overcome Republican procedural hurdles.

Eventually, the House and Senate will have to reconcile their separate bills into a single proposal that can be signed by Obama, who has set a now-threatened goal of finishing work by the end of the year.

Here is a look at how the issue might play out as it moves through Congress over the next few weeks:

SENATE BILL

Reid has made his toughest decision in merging the separate bills passed by the Finance and Health panels: He included a national government-run public insurance option, which was part of the Health bill but was not in the Finance measure.

Reid also included a compromise that would allow states to decline to participate, or "opt out," of the government-run program -- an effort to appease moderates, most from conservative Republican-leaning states, who oppose a national public option.

Reid has little margin for error -- Democrats control exactly 60 votes, the number needed to overcome procedural hurdles and pass a bill. Most of the dozen or so Democratic moderates in the Senate remain uncommitted or oppose the public option.
[Edited]
http://www.reuters.com/ar...7N20091108

SUPRMAN said:

TonyVanDam said:

we finally have a health care bill in the works that works, the Republican bill did nothing for anyone that didnt hav insurance, this bill is for every American no matter their welth or social status, this is wat the Spirit of America is all about.

to paraphrase palin:

merge baby, merge!

Just remember Obama 'gave' money to a business and now he wants to contol it...

Well now when he 'gives' us health care he will use that an an excuse to control us.

He has already said he wants to tax sugar! So what is next fried food? Is the hamburger next?

OnlyNDaUsa said:

So you do not believe that obama WILL use this bill to control us? That it will not usher in a new regulations on what we can eat?

OnlyNDaUsa said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

SUPRMAN said:

SUPRMAN said:

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[Edited 11/8/09 10:10am]

BobGeorge909 said:

violetblues said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Bohemian67 said:

Sure I understand your logic, but I really think Bush and Obama are from two different trees. At least the money for the health bill, as opposed to war, is being spent on the people at home. With all the shootouts that happen in America, can one really be "safe" anywhere there?

Bohemian67 said:

They need to get the Stupak Amendment out of it post haste.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

shellyann said:

When I was 19, through NO FAULT of my own. I developed a kidney stone. I was leaving school, needed to work full time, and couldn't balance the two. SInce I was no longer in school My fathers health insurance was dropping me. My coverage ended on June 30. I got this Stone on June 26th, or summin like that. I told the Dr. what was happening in regards to insurance...he hurried the whole process up to get it done and our before the end of the month. The stone was too big to pass. It was larger than the diameter of my ureter.

Fast forward to the 29th, thwe perform the operation to get it out. Un successful. Still ther. Still in LOADS of pain. Another operation could not be done befor the end of the month. They got it out on the 3rd or some shit like that. The cost to me was a full $15,000. Now I'm 19-20 years old. Paying rent, car note, car insurance, utilities...all that jazz. Needless to say. I donb't bhave the dought to pay this shit. Before my life got started, my credit was screwed through not much fault of my own. This started a whole larger ball getting rolling that I'm not even going into right now. Had I just been the resident of a country w/ national health care, this huge ball would have never started rolling.

I'M POSITIVE I am not the only one who, though no fault of their own, had their lives turned around because of a simple medical process that costs them more than they have.

BobGeorge909 said:

shellyann said:

BobGeorge909 said:

violetblues said: