Flickr:talkradionews
By Erin Lieber
I recently wrote an article entitled “Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness…and health care?”, which posed the question: Is health care a right?
This question becomes even more important now that the House of Representatives has passed their health care reform bill. Here’s a quick snapshot of how it went down: President Obama arrived at Capital Hill to urge members of the House to pass a broad health care reform bill and vote for the biggest change in health policy the U.S. has seen in decades. The bill passed by a narrow margin of 220 votes to 215, with the support of only one Republican, Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana.
The Bill, in current form includes, but is certainly not limited to:
-Creation of insurance exchanges to provide coverage to those not insured by their employers
-Creation of a public option to compete with the private companies on the exchange
-Mandates for individuals to have insurance coverage
-Subsidies for those making less than $88,000 per year to purchase coverage
-Surcharges on taxpayers who earn more than $500,000 or $1,000,000 a year
-Requirements for businesses to cover employees
-Acceptance of preexisting conditions by insurance companies
-$400 billion (at least) in Medicare and Medicaid cuts to pay for the one trillion dollar reform over ten years
What a lot of people don’t realize is that while we know that the bill barely passed, what is encouraging is that only 26% of voters in the House felt it should pass “as is”, without significant change. It is also important to note that what may have pushed the votes over the edge to pass the bill was an inclusion that anyone receiving government subsidies could not use it on abortion related services, therefore garnering some of the conservative vote.
So, what’s next? In the next few weeks we will likely see the Senate struggle with the changes to this bill and the abortion clause. President Obama has suggested he would like to have a bill on his desk by the end of the year. Stay Tuned.
November 10th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Health care in not a ‘right’. There should be a few things left in this country people should actually still have to work for. The people have no faith in the government’s ability to run a dept of motor vehicles not to mention health care. Look at the gov’s ability to recently distribute the swine flu vaccine. The same firms bailed out (with high level political connections) got the doses first while mothers and children at risk were left waiting for hours before being denied the vaccine due to short supply. Take that as a small example of what this administration has in store for you. After all- who is going to pay for their re-election. The two tier class system this will create will be those with connections and money to make things happen (just like before the bill) and then everyone else who will either be too poor in the first place to get access to the best health care providers OR the middle class who will be taxed so much that they will be pushed down the totem pole leaving only the elite who will continue life without a worry in the world.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:09 am
220 to 215 tells me that the plan is not good and still needs alot of work. 3 votes can be easily swayed.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:15 am
There is so much to be said. What this country needs to tax payer revolt. These parasites in Washington are so oblivious to the normal needs that they should really be thrown in Jail. The solution to society’s ills is not tax tax tax….
Those morons are so ignoring the obvious that it sickens me to think of what this country has become much less what it is on the road of becoming. The demoncrats (purposely SIC) are creating a huge welfare state with other peoples’ money. Healthcare reform without tort reform is like taking a bath with dirty water…totally useless. Cutting low Medicare and Medicaid rates only push provider not to accept those as coverage. This is already happening. I could go on and on but will only aggravate my tummy…..
VOTE REPUBLICAN
November 11th, 2009 at 11:49 am
I for one find myself wondering how someone like Nancy Pelosi becomes one of the most powerful people in the world. Be that as it may, the scary thing about this bill is I doubt that most American truly understand what is going on… you know, the 46 million uninsured people that this bill is supposed to help. How could anybody? What is in this 1,987,286,354 page document? How many law makers are getting their pockets lined or their re-election campaigns funded? How many more times will Nancy Pelosi get to take Air Force One to her plastic surgeon? The length of this bill is very concerning.
December 1st, 2009 at 5:28 pm
EFELeJ qsaketblazbz, [url=http://jedhuvuoemed.com/]jedhuvuoemed[/url], [link=http://cqcybfunnhye.com/]cqcybfunnhye[/link], http://vbecgfamtsyo.com/
December 4th, 2009 at 10:44 am
[url=http://uyz2y3fd8v8kubzk.com/]7tngx0bxlzf3ondz[/url]
[link=http://ip63vk7780tvpfae.com/]hisotfvurv8ao710[/link]
5sgeuee1zwt4y0hf
http://bzi3ezryz5b0fsm4.com/