Sunday, November 8, 2009
Handing President Obama a victory, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed landmark health care legislation Saturday night to expand and provide coverage to tens-of-millions of Americans who lack it and place much needed new restrictions on the powerful insurance industry.
Likening the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare in 1965, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi crooned, “Oh, what a night!” President Obama issued a statement saying, “I look forward to signing it into law by the end of the year.” The 220-215 House vote cleared the way for the Senate to begin its debate and vote on the measure.
Here are some key highlights of the legislation that I like:
· Americans will be required to carry insurance
· Federal subsidies will be made to those who can not afford it
· Insurance will be banned from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions
· Insurers would no longer be able to charge higher premiums on the basis of gender or medical history
· The industry would lose its exemption from Federal antitrust restrictions on price fixing and market allocation
· The bill is projected to reduce the Federal deficits by $104 billion over a decade
What I do not like and have concerns about:
· The bill cuts Medicare spending by more than $400 billion over a decade
· No abortion coverage except in cases of incest, rape or when the life of the mother was in danger
· The bill does nothing to close the Medicare Part D donut hole
The legislation passed with only one Republican vote, Rep. Anh ”Joseph” Cao of Louisiana, thus denying House Minority Whip Eric Cantor the unanimous GOP vote he so desperately sought.
From the Left 
I love the idea of the insurance industry losing its exemption from Federal antitrust restrictions on price fixing and market allocation. Had healthcare reform not become an issue, this would’ve never become known. Maybe the donut hole will be closed next year? I sure hope so.
The Dems did good. I’m surprised at how much of this bill is going to improve the quality of life for the American people. I imagine John Boner and Eric Can’t-or are on suicide watch this morning. Good!
It’s about damned time the insurance industry is stopped from discriminating from Americans with pre-existing conditions.
My sister-in-law is a breast cancer survivor, 9 years out from her surgery and cancer free. Yet, when my brother changed jobs and went to work for the county, her coverage was “pended” for 12 months before she was covered. Wellpoint is horrible.
I think this is a good start and I say thank you to the Democrats who fought this long, ugly battle.
Idaho – I’ve heard similar horror stories about Wellpoint. Blue Cross/Blue Shield isn’t much better.
The insurance business is like the tobacco business.
They lie and cheat and steal and they act like a government inside the government. Those days are now over and they have been brought into line.
I think this is a great start – naturally nothing will be final until the Senate passes their bill and the two become one. I agree the abortion restrictions are unfortunate but I’ve always believed “the best is the enemy of the good” – better to have something good that isn’t perfect than to have nothing at all. Medicare wasn’t in its current form when it first passed and I’m sure this will change in the future as well.
One good thing I read in the Times this morning – under this bill members of gay couples who are receiving benefits from their partner’s company will no longer have to be taxed on them, which apparently was the case before (how ridiculous!). Let’s hope the right wing doesn’t notice that bit of fine print!
I see Chairman Cao is up to his old tricks. Call Rush! Call Beck! Purity control!
It’s about bloody time. Almost there.
but…
wait till the senate has to placate king joe and queen olympia….
This bill only has a very weak public option. It needs to be strengthened before this bill represents any kind of real healthcare reform. The more I look into it, the more I think Kucinich was correct in voting against it.
Closing the doughnut hole and doing this bill without cutting Medicare both require money. Where should that money come from? If the answer is taxes, isn’t that wash? You pay taxes and then the gov’t uses them to pay for things you want to buy. Why not cut out the intermediary?
The thing about pre-existing conditions baffles me. You always purchase insurance BEFORE the peril has occurred. I pay for life insurance even though I have no signs of dying soon. If I see some signs, it will be too late to buy life insurance. Why shouldn’t health insurance operate the same way?
I understand the part about not liking your insurance companies. You should shop it immediately. And set aside a little extra beyond your deductible in case the insurance company is a pain at a time when you need them.
Almost none of what I said applies to the poor. I believe in any subsidy for the poor, i.e. people living at or near the federal poverty line. The “overhaul” though seems disgraceful to me. I would love for someone to explain to me what’s good about it, apart from the fact that will help the poor. It seems like almost everyone who demonstrated with me against President Bush taking too much power is now ready to hand over a big chunk of their purchasing power to the control of the federal government.