Progress is always incremental, and as progressives, we have to accept that the changes we seek may come in stages.
Such is the case with health care reform.
The Senate is poised to pass the amended bill this week, and then after the holidays a conference committee of House and Senate members will reconcile the bill into a form that hopefully both houses will pass.
But every day I run into people who do not understand the bill and its provisions. Oh, there are those who don't care that they don't understand it, they just want to defeat it. The Waterlooers, I call them.
But most Americans want to understand the bill that the Senate will pass, and when they do, they are for it.
So here are some facts about the Senate bill which was modified with the Manager's Amendment.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill, as presented in the senate, will reduce the deficit by $132 billion over the first 10 years. Further, during the second decade, the bill will continue to reduce the deficit up to one half of one percent of the GDP, or up to $1.3 trillion.
The bill will also increase coverage with up to 94% of all Americans under age 65 covered.
The bill provides for an immediate ban on excluding children with pre-existing conditions from coverage, and for all Americans in 2014.
Health insurers will have to abide by a set of provisions that protect a patient's choice of doctors.
Annual limits on benefits will be restricted beginning in 2010 and completely prohibited by 2014. Lifetime limits are immediately banned (within 6 months).
Health insurance tax credits for small businesses begin in 2010 which make providing insurance benefits more affordable for employers.
Nationwide plans, at least one of which will be non-profit, will be administered by the Office of Personnel Management, the same agency that oversees the health plans for members of congress.
The quality of care for seniors will improve, as additional health care providers are reimbursed for services based on quality not quantity of the services they provide.
More children will be covered under CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program).
Community Health Centers will be expanded providing access to care to where it is most needed.
Funding for rural health care providers will increase.
New programs will be funded for fighting cancer, diabetes, children's heart disease, and the Indian Health System, and will provide support for pregnant teens and victims of domestic violence.
These are not all of the provisions that progressive Americans wanted, but its a start.
And it shows the strength of Harry Reid that he was able to bring this about.
The Year of Moving Forward
At our 4 person wedding reception in DC
11 comments:
Joe, this plan CANNOT be paid for. Taxes will be raised. The deficit WILL NOT be reduced.
I am AMAZED at how you simply watch MSNBC and take whatever they say as the gospel.
There are way too many questions still out there for this thing to be RAMMED THROUGH the way it is.
And it is all about political power, NOT about what is BEST for the American people.
Anonymous,
I have not watched MSNBC for at least a week. I have educated myself by reading the bill, and reading what the CBO and other non-partisan experts have said about it.
You are a Waterlooer, who refuses to educate themselves.
The country will survive in spite of people like you.
Wiat, let me correct that. I have not watched MSNBC in the evenings. I do watch Morning Joe and Dr. Nancy most mornings.
anon...an easy question...i dont know anything about you insurance situation...but just for a moment what if you were in a position that you had no health insurance...had lost your job like many have...worked for an employer that didnt provide it...simply couldnt afford insurance for one reason or another....what would your views be then...just try to imagine for a minute...im just wondering
Lipscomb,
You should know by now that Waterlooers do not answer questions. They do not consider the hardships that others go through, because the less fortunate do not matter to them. They can not consider themselves in those situations because they refuse to see themselves as "less thans" and by admitting that those things could happen to them, it puts them on the same level as others.
Lipscomb,
What about those with laptops, iPhones, and expensive rims on their cars who have to have govt provided healthcare b/c they have NO AMBITION to go get a job or to find their own insurance? IT WILL happen. All across our country.
Again, this administration is more concerned with spending the money of hard working taxpayers to help out those who want a free ride.
You have educated yourself Joe? Really? So then will you acknowldege that this bill will cut Medicare by $500 Billion over ten years to pay for this "reform package" even though millions more seniors will be on Medicare in ten years.
In ten years an additional 22 Million Americans will fall under Medicare, and at the same time this "reform package" will cut $500 Billion out of Medicare.
It's in there Joe. You said you studied it. So how can you possibly agree with such a piece of garbage?
So while, in reality, this plan cannot be successful, Obama and his crew are still chanting YES WE CAN, YES WE CAN.
.....uh....NO - we CAN'T.
I'm leaving the number crunching to the CBO. But I know, both through research and through anecdotal stories that there is enough fraud in medicare to pay for most of this.
What I will admit is that there will have to be tweeks in the system to make adjustments over the years. I don't predict a big rise in taxes, but I say, so what? I'll be willing to pay my fair share to provide health care for the needy. You know why? Because we already do it through inflated premiums that cover the uninsured. Oh yeah, you and Randy forgot about that.
BTW, I hope that in 10 years there will be medicare for all and we will all fall under it. Single payer.
We are being handed a pile of crap, and people like you and Lipscomb are buying it. This plan should be scrapped. It is not going to do anything but drive up taxes and allow benefits to many who really don't need it, all at the expense of our children and grandchildren. Our heathcare will not be better, it will be worse. Our founding fathers were about SMALL GOVERNMENT. This is getting out of hand.
no one was able for a moment to put themselves in the shoes of the unfortunate....im not speaking of deadbeats so dont throw that out. thats all
The strong survive
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