An $896 Billion Heath Care Bill is unveiled by House Democrats

Finally after many months of preparation and changes the House Democrats presented the finalized heath care bill, containing 2,000 pages which now represents a combination of three different versions of the legislation. Passed by the House committees, the $894 billion bill which should be on the books for the next 10 years, is intended to extend insurance coverage to at least 36 million uncovered Americans, which is the claim of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House. That is the initial cost of the bill, but to include Medicare changes, the cost should exceed $1 trillion, according to a recent CNN discovery.
The majority of Americans will now have health insurance, approximately 96%. Subsidization would be provided for poorer Americans along with creating health insurance exchanges. These exchanges would provide an avenue for small groups of individuals to purchase health insurance coverage. Out of pocket expenses will now be capped and insurance companies would no longer be able to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions.
The initial $894 billion to $1 trillion price tag is supposed to save the Federal government at least $30 billion over the next 10 years. Again, this is the claim by the office of Nancy Pelosi.
As expected people with higher incomes, specifically with incomes over $500,000 annually, will have to accept a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge. As an example, a person who makes $750,000 annually would have an income tax surcharge of $33,750. A millionaire would pay a minimum of $45,000 tax surcharge.
Medicare expenses are to be cut by 1.3 percent each year.
As expected, the republicans tore into the bill, and claim that it will not create jobs, but destroy them. Another claim by the conservatives would be that the bill will do little to stop the cost of health care. The response by the republicans was expected, as the words "government takeover" now is spreading throughout the republican ranks, according to Republican representative from Indiana, Mike Pence.
In a worth while claim, the republicans are also concerned about the existing "donut hole" gap of prescription drug coverage. These are costs left uncovered by the Medicare program before coverage for catastrophic issues start. Still, the leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi has openly stated that there are plans to reduce or close this gap.
Also included in the final bill is the Public Option. where providers of health insurance would be able to work out reimbursement rates with the federal government. This is another claim by the Democratic majority, but it is still in debate within the Republican representatives and the conservative Democrats of the House. It is a watered down version of the public option, as to most liberal of Democrats originally wanted a 5% increase over reimbursement rates for providers and hospitals to Medicare rates. The original public option plan did not fly well even with Democrats representing rural areas, and believe that their districts would be shortchanged by such an option. So the proposed pubic option has been modified not to include the 5% increase.
Apparently excluded from the bill that is now created, does not consider a public option that would allow certain states to opt of of the plan if they wanted to. It appears that the hard nosed Democrats are laying it out on the line, as the creation of nonprofit heath care cooperatives is also not included in the bill, a modification that was supported by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat from Nevada.
What are the chances of such a bill becoming law? If moderate House Democrats support it, and a few conservative Democrats tag along, it would be possible to pass such a bill in the House. This could happen with virtually no support from the Republicans. If it happens, it will be a very unpopular move according to many people, especially from the conservative side of the fence. For this bill to actually work favorably for President Obama, it should be voted on in a bi-partisan way. At the present time, it is very uncertain if any Republicans would vote for the health care reform bill presented by the Senate Democrats.
President Obama's approval ratings appear to be dropping partly because of the strong opposition to this bill, but he appears to be willing to sacrifice his popularity in exchange for this bill that he truly believes in. ting conditions.
The initial $894 billion to $1 trillion price tag is supposed to save the Federal government at least $30 billion over the next 10 years. Again, this is the claim by the office of Nancy Pelosi.
As expected people with higher incomes, specifically with incomes over $500,000 annually, will have to accept a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge. As an example, a person who makes $750,000 annually would have an income tax surcharge of $33,750. A millionaire would pay a minimum of $45,000 tax surcharge.
Medicare expenses are to be cut by 1.3 percent each year.
As expected, the republicans tore into the bill, and claim that it will not create jobs, but destroy them. Another claim by the conservatives would be that the bill will do little to stop the cost of health care. The response by the republicans was expected, as the words "government takeover" now is spreading throughout the republican ranks, according to Republican representative from Indiana, Mike Pence.
In a worth while claim, the republicans are also concerned about the existing "donut hole" gap of prescription drug coverage. These are costs left uncovered by the Medicare program before coverage for catastrophic issues start. Still, the leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi has openly stated that there are plans to reduce or close this gap.
Also included in the final bill is the Public Option. where providers of health insurance would be able to work out reimbursement rates with the federal government. This is another claim by the Democratic majority, but it is still in debate within the Republican representatives and the conservative Democrats of the House. It is a watered down version of the public option, as to most liberal of Democrats originally wanted a 5% increase over reimbursement rates for providers and hospitals to Medicare rates. The original public option plan did not fly well even with Democrats representing rural areas, and believe that their districts would be shortchanged by such an option. So the proposed pubic option has been modified not to include the 5% increase.
Apparently excluded from the bill that is now created, does not consider a public option that would allow certain states to opt of of the plan if they wanted to. It appears that the hard nosed Democrats are laying it out on the line, as the creation of nonprofit heath care cooperatives is also not included in the bill, a modification that was supported by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat from Nevada.
What are the chances of such a bill becoming law? If moderate House Democrats support it, and a few conservative Democrats tag along, it would be possible to pass such a bill in the House. This could happen with virtually no support from the Republicans. If it happens, it will be a very unpopular move according to many people, especially from the conservative side of the fence.
President Obama's approval ratings appear to be dropping partly because of the strong opposition to this bill, but he appears to be willing to sacrifice his popularity in exchange for this bill that he truly believes in.