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The House will likely vote on their health reform bill tomorrow evening. This will be the first time in our country’s history that a full House of Congress has considered and passed a comprehensive health care bill.
To refresh your memory, the bill being considered in the House:
- Creates an Exchange where individuals and small businesses can purchase health care
- Gives tax credits to those in the Exchange to help them afford coverage
- Includes a national public health insurance option in the Exchange to keep the insurance industry honest and lower prices
- Strengthens employer-based coverage and asks employers to provide good coverage for their employees
- Regulates all insurance plans to outlaw denials for pre-existing conditions, charging more if you’re a woman, and a host of other bad practices
- Strengthens Medicare and fully closes the Medicare Part D donut hole over time
- Provides access to coverage for those uninsured in the interim before the entire program is up and running
For more information, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has an interactive map that will show you how this bill will affect you.
Actors Martin Sheen and Stockard Channing, who have a bit of "experience" with politics, have a message for health reform supporters today:
Click here to call your Representative and urge them to vote YES on this historic occasion.
15 Comments
Watching the hearings on CSpan2, where Rep. Mcgovern made a wonderful response to Rep Virginia Foxx’s claim that more Medicaid patients than uninsured actually went in to use ER; acknowledged her argument against insurance.
The differences between right wingers and decent human beings has never been more remarkable.
One goes to the Hoyer interactive map and clicks on ‘no,I don’t have health insurance’ and ‘no, I’m not employed’ and one gets:
“Purchase Health Insurance through the Exchange
Under the proposed House plan (and we know the Senate’s will be even m ore ‘conservative’) you can choose a ‘quality,affordable’ plan that best fits your needs. You will have a choice between a public health insurance option and a variety of private health insurance plans.
“Affordability” credits will be available for individuals making up to $42,320 and families making up to $88,200 to purchase health insurance through the Exchange, which will include a number of private insurance choices and the public option.
You may enroll in Medicaid if you qualify”
For crying out loud, can’t you see that this is just like the financial ‘bailout’ where taxpayers are screwed in favor of corporate interests????
And doesn’t this: “They cleared one hurdle Friday when liberals supporting a government-run Medicare-for-all system withdrew their demand for a floor vote.” tell you how you are NOT being given the chance to have single payer heard in ANY manner? You think the CBO is now going to score single payer?
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/06/house-health-bill-obama-m_n_348208.html&cp
Now if that and the tabling of the Kucinich Amendment and the Eshoo amendment still being in the bill doesn’t tell everyone how fucked up this legislation is, I don’t know what to think.
YES, Call your Representative and tell them to vote NO until it’s changed to allow for a floor vote on single payer and Kuchinch’s amendment is restored and Eshoo’s removed.
did you link to hcan for your claim re “lower prices” instead of your identical post here so that no one clicking the links will see what a bogus claim that is? well, here’s the post at fdl so that readers can at least make up their own minds:
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/12857
and if the bill makes mandatory health insurance so affordable, why don’t you link to the nov 2 cbo letter? it’s page 4.
here’s an example: family of four making $96,000 will be required to purchase insurance that, for the enrollee reference plan will cost $15,000 in premiums and $5,500 in average cost sharing for a total of $20,500/year. that’s 21.3% of their $96,000.
you think people might like to know what you call affordable?
p.s. jason are you going to respond to my question:
last chance to respond before i write a diary. your choice.
I believe I had mentioned last week that I was no longer interested in responding to these kinds of discussions from you. If you’re looking for an explanation, that would be it.
But I value your input on the site in general, and I know other users feel the same way, so of course, feel free to continue with what you do.
actually i don’t remember you saying that you would not reply to questions from me. would you please give me a link to that statement? and does that apply to the reply you promised me some time ago re language in the bill (if you’ve forgotten, i’d be happy to dig up the link for you).
that’s too bad you are unwilling to respond when challenged. i can only imagine that is because you have no response and, if that is the case, if you have posted something as fact that you can’t justify, then intellectual honesty ought to compel you to respond. on the other hand, if i’m the one who is in error, why not correct me? i would very much appreciate the correction if i’m mistaken about something.
i really really don’t want to post the diary and was hoping it could be avoided. the problem i have is along the lines of the conversation i just had with letsgetitdone and sadly, i guess that makes it my responsibility.
Here’s the comment:
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/11991#comment-91691
It has very little to do with being unwilling to be challenged. Fact is, I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t change your mind or even get you to concede a point on health care, so it’s pointless to fill up the comments with circular, repetitive arguments.
Once health care is passed, I’m sure we’ll have a lot of other things to talk about that will be a lot more interesting and productive. See you in a few months!
thanks for the link. but you are very wrong, as i’ve written before, this isn’t about changing minds at all. people have different opinions all the time and that’s fine, actually that’s good. here’s what i wrote:
i’m not going to stop challenging statements i think are false. it’s your choice of course to ignore me. if i’m wrong, i will hope for correction from some other reader. and if i’m not wrong, your silence, i guess, will have to be assent enough.
i hope people will go to that thread and read it through. here it is again:
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/11991
Yes, you’re free to post what you want within this site’s guidelines, as you do. Don’t make the mistake of understanding my silence as assent, however. My silence is simply a reflection of the quality of this debate.
As I think is clear, I’m trying very hard to be nice about this. I hope it’s not too much to ask for the same from you.
there is no debate. there has been no debate. i realize you have a job to post what your employer tells you to. but i do expect you to be able and willing and able to back up what you post with evidence.
i’m disappointed that is not the case.
faux “nice” is not a game i have any interest in playing.
You’re entitled to your opinion, as am I to mine. We’ve gone around in circles on your objections enough for me, but feel free to continue to raise them if you like. You know why I won’t be answering.
The “Bait and Switch” is really not the “Bait and Switch”? I 100% agree with Black Agenda Report and PNHP
The Left is Weak, I can’t keep saying it. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
The “Yeah, Buts” have won this battle. Read my diary and contact Kieth, Ed, Rachel, etc to put the Kucinich amendment back in the bill since we have given up on HR676 (for now).
there were many bait and switches. see, for example, my comment @4
no actually i don’t. my guess is that you had no justification for, among other things, the unsubstantiated smear of an individual (the cms actuary) you made. and when i challenged you on it, rather than admitting error, you ducked, weaved and eventually made up this bit about going in circles and not wanting to respond when in fact it’s always been about your refusal to justify your smear and other claims with some evidence.
Jason, you don’t have the intellect or the knowledge to respond to Selise or to Kip when they ask you hard questions.