George Wenschhof
Earlier this morning, the Senate passed their version for health care reform - the vote of 60-39 was again along party lines with no Republican voting for the bill. Democratic Leaders spoke about how Americans will benefit from the passage of this bill.
----
The health care reform debate has highlighted how much polarization exists in politics today - while there have certainly been other times in American history where disagreement between political parties was heightened, this is a new era with 24 hour news and the Internet. The NY Times has a good read here.
----
Health care bills in House and Senate now move to conference committee - prior to being sent to President Obama for signature, the two bills need to be reconciled. Initial indications is this effort will follow the difficult pattern that has existed throughout this process. Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) and Rep. John Dingell (D-NY) both are disappointed there is no public option. Politico.com has more here.
Some have wondered why we don't look at health care as a public utility and regulate it ensuring affordable coverage for all Americans. The President remains hopeful, the bill will be presented to him for signature prior to when he delivers his State of the Union address the end of January. Stay Tuned...
----
Forever the obstructionists, Republicans continue to try whatever means to derail passage of health care reform - Yesterday, they failed in a 60-39 vote to declare the bill unconstitutional due to the mandate Americans must buy some sort of insurance. They claimed the mandate violated the constitution. TheHill.com has more here.
Now the effort is to challenge the deal made with Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson in which his state would receive an exemption on their share of medicaid payments. Republican States Attorney from 11 states held a conference call to determine if they will sue. Politico.com has more here.
----
In case you missed Jim Lehrer of PBS interviewing President Obama, below is some video - The President talks about how he is "getting 95% of what he wanted" in the Senate bill.
----
With the final passage of the health care bill by the Senate this morning, the President and family are now in route to Hawaii - This is the fourth time in the last eighteen months he has visited his home state. The HonoluluAdvertiser.com has a good piece on Obama's ties to Hawaii you can read here.
----
To receive "Daily Updates" from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Daily Democratic Wire 12-24-2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
As a practicing physician, I'm concerned about the erroneous claim that the Senate health reform bill fully eliminates insurance caps. Under the Senate bill, lifetime limits are eliminated for new plans six months after enactment and annual limits are eliminated for new plans beginning in 2014. However, existing – or grandfathered – plans are permanently exempt from these critical reforms and so they’re permitted to impose lifetime and annual limits indefinitely. In comparison, the House bill eliminates lifetime and annual limits for all plans – both new and grandfathered. Our Members of Congress should do the right thing and uphold their promise to eliminate caps by including the House language in the final version of the bill.
Post a Comment