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October 29, 2009
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans Formal Announcement of Obamacare Bill Today
House Dems reach deal on key health care elements
House Democrats reached agreement Wednesday on key elements of a health care bill that would vastly alter America's medical landscape, requiring virtually universal sign-ups and establishing a new government-run insurance option for millions.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans a formal announcement Thursday morning, but details were still being finalized, lawmakers and aides said. Officials said the legislation could be up for a vote on the House floor next week.
The rollout would cap months of arduous negotiations to bridge differences between liberal and moderate Democrats and blend health care overhaul bills passed by three separate committees over the summer. The developments in the House came as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., tried to round up support among moderate Democrats for his bill, which includes a modified government insurance option that states could opt out of.
Reid met Thursday with Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, who faces a potentially tough re-election next year.
The final product in the House, reflecting many of President Barack Obama's priorities, includes new requirements for employers to offer insurance to their workers or face penalties, fines on Americans who don't purchase coverage and subsidies to help lower-income people do so. Insurance companies would face new prohibitions against charging much more to older people or denying coverage to people with health conditions.
The price tag, topping $1 trillion over 10 years, would be paid for by taxing high-income people and cutting some $500 billion in payments to Medicare providers. The legislation would extend health coverage to around 95 percent of Americans.
Plenty of work remains to be done before a bill could land on Obama's desk—and there's still no guarantee that Congress can complete the legislation before year's end, as the president wants.
House leaders hope to finish the bill before Veteran's Day, Nov. 11. The Senate is aiming to start debate sometime in the next several weeks.
Bills passed by the House and Senate would have to be merged before a final product could be sent to Obama, and there are a number of differences between the two chambers that would have to be reconciled. Among them are the different approaches to the public plan. The House does not include the opt-out provision for states, and it has more stringent requirements for employers. The Senate would use a tax on high-value insurance plans to pay for the bill, an approach that the House version doesn't have.
In the end, Pelosi, D-Calif., and other House leaders were unable to round up the necessary votes for their preferred version of the government insurance plan—one that would base payment rates to providers on rates paid by Medicare. Instead, the Health and Human Services secretary would negotiate rates with providers, the approach preferred by moderates and the one that will be featured in the Senate's version.
Democratic leaders still faced disputes over prohibiting taxpayer money for abortions and health care for illegal immigrants, issues they hoped to resolve after the bill's unveiling.
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Good interview with Mike Pence about Obamacare and the democrats doing everything being closed doors and not letting the Republicans know anything about what is in the bill.......................
Wild Thing's comment.........
When Pelosi House democrats release their version of Obamacare . It will be the first time that Republicans have seen the bill.
In the US Senate, Republicans have not seen the Democrat’s health care legislation that was evaluated by the CBO.
Obama and his crowd are "Progressives" they need to be erradicated. They are all Communists plain and simple.
There is no way this is Constitutional !! There is no way the Constitution allows government to force we the people to purchase any product or service.
The only problem is that it is a near certainty that Article III Section 2 of the Constitution will be invoked. The final bill will remove the courts from jurisdiction.
How many times have you read that only a moral people can ensure the survival of our Constitution? Well, the immoral people elected many immoral Congressmen and Senators who lied when they swore to “support and defend.” The end result is immoral law which violates our Natural Rights.
A bill that takes away our freedom in the name of giving us security doesn't deserve to become a law in America.
Posted by Wild Thing at October 29, 2009 04:40 AM
Comments
Kill Pelosi! Lee Harvey Oswald, where are you?
Posted by: SSgt Steve, USMC at October 29, 2009 09:26 AM
Bernie Sanders and Vermont's gift to America, Nancy Pelosi. Communists all!!!
Posted by: Jack at October 29, 2009 11:09 AM
Let's just hope that there is enough opposition to keep these proposed bills from coming together and a final version being passed. Our elected politicians have already decided America will be run by their whims, not by The Constitution.
Posted by: TomR at October 29, 2009 01:00 PM
