House passes health care bill

[nathanm]

I was already old enough to have a possible pre-existing condition to make paying the premium the correct choice for me.

About the only fortunate thing about the current system is that the pre-existing conditions clause only applies if you knew of the condition before buying the insurance. And group coverage has no pre-existing condition limitation after the first 6 months.

It's really only the self-employed, employees of businesses that do not provide health insurance, and the poor that are so poorly served at the present time. That's why folks like guido crow on about "best health care in the nation." Sure, it is when you have gold plated coverage like I used to. Not so much when a high deductible catastrophic coverage plan runs you $200 a month because you're self-employed.

The system as it stands is completely broken for a third (and more, if you count the underinsured) of our citizens. The plan that came out of the House is by no means perfect, but it's better than anything else we've got going. It's a pretty good bill, all in all. Much better than the turd the Senate will probably push forth. My biggest concern with that is the conference committee keeping the mandate and kicking the public option to the curb, leaving us with the same lack of competition only now with increased insurance company profits!

[Red Arrow]

About the only fortunate thing about the current system is that the pre-existing conditions clause only applies if you knew of the condition before buying the insurance. And group coverage has no pre-existing condition limitation after the first 6 months.

I've had to fill out too many "do you have or have you ever had" forms.

[FOTD]

According to Rachel and Jeff, our little rat fink DINO DAN is taking his marching orders from "the family."

Dan Boren, piss ant C Streeter.


All this matters not because now that it's past the house, the Senate can go crazy.

And for a minute FOTD foolishly thought maybe Pelosi had told DINO DAN to go ahead and vote no because she had enough votes to pass health care anyway and this would insure his re election in his backwards district.

[buckeye]

Oh wait - that's his job: vote as his constituents dictate.

Funny, that last post actually reads something like this:

"Waaaaaah!  WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Maybe if the residents of his district aren't smart enough to vote according to your vagaries, you should go down there and straighten them out.

[cannon_fodder]

I'm not really interested in the House Bill.  It will not survive in tack in any way in the Senate.  So I'll worry about it after the Senate butchers it and save myself some time.

[FOTD]

I'm not really interested in the House Bill.  It will not survive in tack in any way in the Senate.  So I'll worry about it after the Senate butchers it and save myself some time.

Come on....predictions? Will Joe No be the schmoe?

[Townsend]

Come on....predictions? Will Joe No be the schmoe?

prediction:

using much better words than I can summon:

Once the senate finishes it will be  - 

"but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

[we vs us]

prediction:

using much better words than I can summon:

Once the senate finishes it will be  -  

"but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

Or, as Conan so artfully put it, a smile sandwich.

[Townsend]

Or, as Conan so artfully put it, a smile sandwich.

Well that's how they said "smile sandwich" back in the day.

[FOTD]

AP POLL: Tax the rich to pay for health bill

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091117/ap_on_bi_ge/us_ap_poll_health_taxes

"WASHINGTON – When it comes to paying for a health care overhaul, Americans see just one way to go: Tax the rich.
That finding from a new Associated Press poll will be welcome news for House Democrats, who proposed doing just that in their sweeping remake of the U.S. medical system, which passed earlier this month and would extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans.
The poll found participants sour on other ways of paying for the health overhaul that is being considered in Congress, including taxing insurers on high-value coverage packages derided by President Barack Obama and Democrats as "Cadillac plans."
That approach is being weighed in the Senate. It is one of the few proposals in any congressional legislation that analysts say would help reduce the nation's health expenditures, but it has come under fire from organized labor and has little support in the House.
Lawmakers also are looking at levying new taxes on insurance companies, drug companies and medical device makers. But the only approach that got majority support in the AP poll was a tax on upper-income Americans.
The House bill would impose a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge on individuals making more than $500,000 a year and households making more than $1 million.
The poll tested views on an even more punitive taxation scheme that was under consideration earlier, when the tax would have hit people making more than $250,000 a year. Even at that level the poll showed majority support, with 57 percent in favor and 36 percent opposed.
"You know, I mean, why not? If they have that much money, it should be taxed," said Mary Pat Rondthaler, 60, of Menlo Park, Calif. "It isn't the same way that the guy making $21,000 is."
Not everyone agreed.
"They earn their money. And they shouldn't have to pay for somebody else. It doesn't seem fair," said Emerson Wilkins, 62, of Powder Springs, Ga.
The latest survey was conducted by Stanford University with the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Overall, the poll found the public split on Congress' health care plans. In response to some questions, participants said the current system needed to be changed, but they also voiced concerns about the potential impact on their own pocketbooks, preferring to push any new costs onto wealthier Americans.
For example, 77 percent said the cost of health care in the United States was higher than it should be, and 74 percent favored the broad goal of reducing the amount of money paid by patients and their insurers. But 49 percent said any changes made by the government probably would cause them to pay more for health care. Thirty-two percent said it wouldn't change what they pay, and just 12 percent said they would end up paying less.
With lawmakers searching for new revenue sources to pay for their overhaul legislation, upper-income taxes may be increasingly gaining favor.
Legislation passed by Senate committees did not go that route, but now Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has a free hand in merging two committee-passed bills, is considering raising the payroll tax that goes to Medicare on income above $250,000 a year, officials told The Associated Press last week. Current law sets the tax at 1.45 percent of income, an amount matched by employers.
The Senate Finance Committee bill would tax health insurance plans costing more than $8,000 annually for individuals and $21,000 for families, although those numbers could rise. Union members are lined up against that approach because they fear their benefits could be hurt, and the public doesn't like it either, the AP poll found. Fifty-six percent were opposed and only 29 percent in favor.
Other payment methods being contemplated on Capitol Hill also met with disapproval. Participants in the poll didn't support new taxes on medical device makers, drug companies or even insurers — even though they said in response to different questions that drug companies and insurance companies made too much money.
Forty-eight percent in the poll were opposed to new taxes on insurance companies, and 42 percent were in support. Fifty-one percent opposed raising taxes on drug and device makers, while 41 percent supported that approach.
But 72 percent of people polled said insurance companies made too much profit, compared with 23 percent who said they made about the right amount of profit. And 74 percent said drug companies made too much profit, versus 21 percent who said they made about the right amount of profit.
People who told pollsters they generally supported Congress' health care overhaul plan were also more receptive to new taxes to pay for it. Taxing health care companies, drug companies and equipment manufacturers eked out majority support from that group.
The payment approach that met with least approval by far in the poll was borrowing the money and increasing the federal debt, something Obama has repeatedly vowed not to do. Just 6 percent of people polled said they could support that approach, while 88 percent opposed it.
The poll was based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,502 adults from Oct. 29 to Nov. 8. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The interviews were conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media. Stanford University's participation was made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which conducts research on all facets of the health care system."


Looks like Americans are getting educated on health care....

[FOTD]

Lookin' like the Senate will get something done....

[Red Arrow]

Lookin' like the Senate will get something done....

FOTD
Either you are sliding to the right some (fat chance) or I am missing your sarcasm.

[Conan71]

FOTD
Either you are sliding to the right some (fat chance) or I am missing your sarcasm.

In spite of his hedonistic, totally gonzo posts, he's still a realist.  Look, when they have to pay Landreau $100mm to get her vote, even FOTD knows this one is a pile!!! (or smile sandwich if you prefer)

[FOTD]

http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf

Top 14 Health Care Reform Provisions That Take Effect Immediately on January 1, 2010

Amid all the negative rumors and misleading assumptions that are floating around here about what the Affordable Health Care For America Act will or will not do for/to Americans,  some actual facts about what positive changes HCR will enact as of January 1, 2010 should the bill now being debated in the Senate be signed into law by President Obama by the end of the year:


1. BEGINS TO CLOSE THE MEDICARE PART D DONUT HOLE - Reduces the donut hole by $500 and institutes a 50% discount on brand-name drugs, effective January 1. 2010.

2. IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED UNTIL EXCHANGE IS AVAILABLE (INTERIM HIGH-RISK POLL) - Creates a temporary insurance program until the Exchange is available for individuals who have been uninsured for several months or have been denied a policy because of pre-existing conditions.

3. BANS LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE - Prohibits health insurance companies from placing lifetime caps on coverage.

4. ENDS RESCISSIONS - Prohibits insurers from nullifying or rescinding a patient's policy when they file a claim for benefits, except in the case of fraud.

5. EXTENDS COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 27TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENT'S INSURANCE - Requires health plans to allow young people through age 26 to remain n their parents' insurance policy, at the parents' choice.

6. ELIMINATES COST-SHARING FOR PREVENTATIVE SERVICES IN MEDICARE - Eliminates co-payments for preventative services and exempts preventative services from deductibles from the Medicare program.

7. IMPROVES HELP FOR LOW-INCOME MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES - Improves the low-income protection programs in Medicare to assure more individuals are able to access this vital help.

8. PROVIDES NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS IN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE - Prohibits Medicare Advantage plans from charging enrollees higher cost-sharing for services in their private plan than what is charged in traditional Medicare.

9. IMMEDIATE SUNSHINE ON PRICE GOUGING - Discourages excessive price increases by insurance companies through review and disclosure of insurance rate increases.

10. CONTINUITY FOR DISPLACED WORKERS - Allows Americans to keep their COBRA coverage until the Exchange is in place and they can access affordable coverage.

11. CREATES NEW, VOLUNTARY, PUBLIC LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE PROGRAM - Creates a long-term care insurance program to be financed by voluntary payroll deductions to provide benefits to adults who become functionally disabled.

12. HELP FOR EARLY RETIREES - Creates a $10 billion fund to finance a temporary reinsurance program to help offset the costs of expensive health claims for employers that provide health benefits for retirees age 55-64.

13. COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS - Increases funding for Community Health Centers to allow for a doubling of the number of patients seen by the centers over the next 5 years.

14. INCREASING NUMBER OF PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS - Provides new investment in training programs to increase the number of primary doctors, nurses, and public health professionals.


Now. Why are our Senators so indebted to Big Pharma and Big Insurance?
They both have severe conflicts of interest and the poor and the unemployed and the pre existers rank low on Inhofe's and Coburn's priority list. Why do republicans have to lie about the healthcare bill instead of debating it on its merits?

[buckeye]

Because the devilish details in the other 1,199 pages outweigh the sunshine and rainbows on this one.  Of course, the overlords wish us to think that sunshine and rainbows is the full extent...