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House Unveils Health Care Bill with Public Option, No Benefits Tax; Vote Sought by Recess
Comprehensive health care reform took a significant step forward this afternoon when House leaders unveiled the final draft of a bill that contains a public health insurance plan option and shared responsibility, including an employer “pay or play” requirement—while not taxing the health care benefits working families receive through their job. A vote could come by the end of July.
The bill closely follows the health care blueprint developed by the House Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees and includes cost containment and insurance market reforms to help stop private insurance industry abuses. For a closer look at the House bill, click here.
Says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) about the bill:
Over the coming weeks, Congress will continue working with President Obama to make health care reform work for middle-class families in America….We have a path to success: lowering costs for consumers and businesses; giving greater choice to Americans, including keeping your current doctor or plan if you like them; improving the quality of your care; putting doctors, not insurance companies, back in charge.
The money spent on providing health care coverage is tax-deductible to the employer, and the employee is not taxed on it. Some 160 million people have health care benefits tied to the workplace. But many congressional Republicans and conservative groups have pushed for a health care benefits tax.
Rather than taxing workers’ benefits provided by employers, the House bill calls for a small tax surcharge on individuals making more than $280,000 a year and married couples with annual incomes over $350,000.
The bill’s introduction comes at a time when the health care industry, including the private health insurance community, is spending $1.4 million a day on lobbying efforts, according to a recent report in the Washington Post.
The House proposal meets President Obama’s goals by controlling runaway health care costs, offering the American people real choices and expanding access to quality health care. It does not ask the American people to pay more for what they already have. In fact, this legislation offers the real promise of improving quality, increasing access and reducing costs, all at the same time.
According to disclosure records, firms spent more than $126 million in the first quarter of 2009 to pay for more than 350 former lawmakers, congressional staffers and executive branch officials to lobby Congress. Many of the firms are trying to block or weaken health care reform, especially provisions supporting a public health plan and pay or play. As the Post says:
The aim of the lobbying blitz is simple: to minimize the damage to insurers, hospitals and other major sectors while maximizing the potential of up to 46 million uninsured Americans as new customers. Although many firms have vowed to help cut costs, major players such as PhRMA [Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America], America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and others remain opposed to the public-insurance option.
At a news conference last week, President Obama said many of the groups that oppose comprehensive health care reform are deliberately sowing fear in the public. He said that while most people support fixing the nation’s broken health are system, “they’re also afraid of the unknown.”
And we have a long history in America of scaring people that they’re going to lose their doctor, they’re going to lose their health care plans, they’re going to be stuck with some bureaucratic government system that’s not responsive to their needs.
And overcoming that fear—fear that is often actively promoted by special interests who profit from the existing system—is a challenge….My biggest job is to explain to the American people why this is so important and give them confidence that we can do better than we’re doing right now.
House leaders hope to have the bill on the floor by the last week of July and a final vote before adjourning July 31 for the August recess. Congress reconvenes Sept. 8.
Henry Waxman, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said, “We cannot go home for a recess unless the House and the Senate” act on health care.
In the Senate, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee continues to work on its version of health care reform that also includes a public health insurance option and a pay or play provision. Last week, committee Democrats defeated an attempt by Republicans to kill the public plan option.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said a public plan would
foster competition in the health insurance industry, promote efficiency in the market, along with innovation and fair competition, and guarantee a wellness and prevention dimension that would save money.
The Finance Committee still is developing its version of health care reform legislation.
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13 Comments
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MEDICAL CARE SHOULD BE THE CHOICE OF EACH AMERICAN
The deciding factor in implementing health care for everybody–LEGALLY–in America, is the Publics voice? Those who want to just follow the same old road, can do so with the profit taking commercial insurance. Those who would be satisfied with a government run health care program, can now start demanding it from the lawmakers. Those who see a Universal health care system, similar to most developed countries in Europe, should start informing every Representative and Senate politician starting today. Rationing in places like England, was caused by the major impact of uncontrolled immigration.
Most American working class can do–without– high premiums, pre-existing condition clauses. deductibles, co-pays that is representative of the wealthy medical care insurers. Whatever pertains to your family, you should start ruffling the indifferent feathers of the people in Washington at 202-224-3121 Just like illegal immigration , we cannot afford anymore to subsidize the business that hire them or the millions of illegal families.
We all need to pick 1 week in August to have a national don’t buy anything strike! We can strike, send our messages to our congressman/women and choose to not see any doctor, buy any prescriptions buy insurance etc.WE NEED A PUBLIC PROGRAM!
We should boycott all purchases for maybe 2 weeks if needed!
Yes, we should strike particularly if the drug and insurance company lobbyists succeed in either removing the Public Option or weakening it to the point of of irrelevancy.
Union members must take the time to educate themselves and think for themselves. I am appalled to see misinformation and propaganda voiced here. Your real enemies are not other workers(even illegal aliens) but the unpunished white collar corporate criminals that have taken over our government and instituted a fascist state(“Fascism should be called corporatism as it is the marriage of state and corporate power”- Mussolini.) When McCarthyism began in the early 1950′s to break the union movement union membership was almost 50%- it is now down to 12% and if our ruling class has it’s way there will be no unions. Control over the news media and even over what is taught in schools means that most Americans are now anti-union and if what remains of union membership(“privileged workers”) is as represented here there will soon be no unions and no social programs.
Great start…
I urge all Union members, Friends, Family, etc. to contact their Congressional Representatives and THANK those who support this Bill.
Also those who have Reps on the fence, urge them to JOIN US for a Better AMERICA…
Hey AFL-CIO! Listen up!
Why is a hate-monger like Brittanicus even allowed to post on this site?
I worked hard all my life, supported my union (still do) and I continue to advocate for all working class people. You might say that I have “paid my dues”. I’ve earned my right to have my opinions posted on this labor website.
Let Brittanicus take that Klan-wannabe drivel elsewhere!.
It’s shameful that such prejudice and intolerance still exists in a land that proclaims:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Give Brittanicus the boot!
Any “public option” needs to exclude any and all who are NOT American Citizens–Illegal aliens and these immigrants dumped in here by church groups, etc should not be able to access any “public option”. that includes housing, foodstamps, education, transportation, and medical. It also means eliminating the $10,000 per individual, buying them cars, and excusing them from paying income tax for 7years. I am tired of all these freeloaders off of our tax dollars–and it long overdue to stop the bleeding and cut these illegals and all non-americans off.
Sen. Hagan has added an amendment that would exclude seasonal farmworkers. Once again, we are excluded from the rights that all other Americans get. Wasn’t the point of the reform to make sure all Americans get access to health insurance? Sen. Hagan says farmworkers can afford to buy private insurance on their own. With an income of $12,000 a year, how? This amendment in the bill should be taken out. Say no to discrimination against seasonal farmworkers!
Of the supposed 47 million who don’t have health care, why is the question not answered as to what the breakdown of that number is? How many are illegal aliens and how many simply elect to not carry insurance?
And I can’t help but wonder – how much of our current high healthcare costs have been brought about by the lack of personal responsibility, current government regulation and torts?
Last question – do we really want the Federal government controlling something so big, yet so personal as health care? If so, show me a massive program they’ve done well with so far.
Rich A if you have not learned by now that the majority of posters here are against illegal immigration.The rest of us like you support our unions and many are thrid and fourth generation union members and for wanting to stop someone from posting here is disgraceful.The last time I checked it was still a free country with freedom of speech.SCREW YOU if you want to give the country to the Mexicans you have the right to say so but don’t expect us to agree with you.
Dr
No good union member would use racist, intolerant language.
You wouldn’t make a pimple on a real workig stiff’s you know what. Period! (No wonder labor is on the ropes. People like you know squat about working class solidariy. You’re parroting the rhetoric of the “divide and conquer bosses.)
Boy, it’s come down to this – just say the words “illegal immigrant,” and somehow you’re speading “racist, intolerant language”! Give me a break! What part of “illegal” is there to misunderstand? Are we a nation based on laws or what!?!
And no one is against proper, legal immigration . . . so don’t even try to errect that strawman in this discussion . . .
Look here Right on the Left, Dr. referenced Mexicans in his post. Are they the only undocumented workers? Racism is racism.
As to laws: What chump wants to embrace the sanctity of law (or the sanctity of contract language prohibiting work stoppages) while corporate America sends our jobs offshore, or steals pensions and health care here at home? Are we to abide by the “law” while they steal fro us? You speak about “law” as if it trumped human rights. The “law” prohibited women and black people from voting. The law deemed union organizing tantamount to criminal syndicalism. The “law” said there could be no mixed race marriages. The “law” gave the finger to working men and women during the depression. Thank God the militant, activist, advocates for social and economic justice were willing to challenge unjust laws by taking economic action. Many were immigrants! Had it not been for them, there wouldn’t be a union blog for you to post your anti-working class screed
Workers are workers the world around. An injury to one is an injury to all. That is the holy scripture of the working class.
I suggest you read up on the history of organized labor, as written by one of labor’s heroes. It’s wise to have at least minimal knowledge before spouting off.
Rich A.: Sorry, I didn’t follow your preconditions before “spouting off.” (But it looks like you went right ahead and tried to set up that weak strawman!)
Illegal immigration is still ILLEGAL in my book. Wanna change the law? Fine, but that doesn’t change the fact that people came here disrespecting our laws (even though perhaps the majority of them came in search of honest work). And, yes, we unfortunately allowed this unpleasant situation to happen.
This current crop (no pun intended) of immigrants from the south has not been doing it the way so many in the past did – that is, immigrated legally. The mass legal immigration of the past century made this country stronger, and they did whatever they could to become Americans.
You’re not saying we should just dispense with all law because it perhaps doesn’t fit the situation as some see it, are you? Seems like many are trying to do that these days with the very foundation of our laws – the US Constitution. They like to say “It’s a living document,” and then try to put all kinds of meaning in there to suit their idealology.
So now “workers of the world unite” trumps everything else (the “holy scripture of the working class”)? Okay, but I choose to think there needs to be some framework and infrastructure values (laws) around this idea. Boy, it just seems having that as your loftiest value could get us into some real problems – especially if we had NO higher power above it!
But I’d rather have clarity than try for agreement on this matter, which is not likely between you and me. We just see this differently. I think I can understand your postion, because it seems like the sympathetic thing to do. I am not without sympathy for their cause, but . . .