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Working Families Win with House Health Care Reform Fixes
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After Senate Republicans failed yesterday in their last desperate attempt to kill health care reform and allow the insurance industry to control the nation’s health care system, the House last night passed the final piece of legislation that puts working families in charge of their health care.
In a 220-207 vote, the House approved the health care reconciliation bill that fixes several flaws in the health care reform legislation President Obama signed this week—including significantly reducing the tax on working families’ benefits. Says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.):
With this legislation in place, families will have access to even more affordable care than the reform the president signed this week. Seniors will see the prescription drug “donut hole” close faster, and they will start paying less for their prescription drugs this year. Taxpayers will not pay for special deals that favor one state over another, and primary care doctors will receive fair pay for providing critical services to low-income Americans.
Pelosi’s leadership was instrumental in moving the health care reform bills to passage in recent days, despite often hate-filled attempts by Republican opponents to derail what is now the most significant legislation benefiting working families in decades.
Throughout the health care battle, mobilized union members provided a strong and visible counterpoint to the insurance giants’ television and lobbying blitz. Union members made more than 4 million phone calls and sent more than 1 million e-mail messages to lawmakers. Leaders flew to Washington, D.C., and visited members of Congress in their districts, making more than 10,000 contacts.
In addition, canvassers from Working America talked to more than 210,000 people about health care at their front doors, generating 30,000 health care petition signatures, 31,000 phone calls to Congress, 40,000 e-mail messages and 75,000 hand-written letters urging lawmakers to pass health care reform.
The contacts helped win approval of health care reform and improved the bill and ensured that its financing would be fairer.
The corrections bill, passed last night, eliminates 85 percent of the tax on working families’ benefits and delays its implementation until 2018. Along with reducing the tax on working families’ benefits, the bill imposes a small fair share tax on wealthy families’ investments and also increases employer responsibility requirements.
It also boosts the subsidies for middle- and lower-income families to purchase health insurance and increases funding for Medicaid. The reconciliation also removed several state-specific provisions that had received criticism and speeds up several new regulations to end insurance company abuse.
After the Senate defeated each of the 41 Republican amendments during a 21-hour vote-o-rama and passed the bill yesterday afternoon, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said:
This, of course, was a health bill. But it was also a jobs bill. It was also an economic recovery bill. It was a deficit-reduction bill. It was an anti-discrimination bill. It was, truly, a bill of rights. And now it is the law of the land.
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6 Comments
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I am so proud of President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and my Representative Brian Higgins and Senators Schumer an Gillibrand from New York for their tireless efforts to get this Bill passed into law. I now call upon the UAW Leadership to get of their duffs and fix or VEBA so Dental is Covered as well as Doctor visits.
Now that this health care bill has been passed, it is time for the unions to get together and form our own health insurance group offering complete coverage and everything that goes with what the membership wanted, i.e. affordable, low cost, medical and mental health with no denial for preexisting conditions. If they were to do that membership and employer acceptance of unions in their places of business would probably be accepted with open arms as health care costs are going to skyrocket for them if they have to use the already established insurance companies to cover their employees. If we do this membership in all the different unions would increase many fold and more workers than ever before would have union protection in the work place and with more members in the plan our costs would go down and as a side effect it might even force the insurance companies to lower their prices just to try to stop the flood of lost revenue due to the mass exidous of the union members to the union plan.
Its Great to pat ourselves on the back. we should be proud—yet I have a dry feeling in my mouth that our work here is just beginning.
The Legislation is a far cry from HR676 and S650. It is still my humble opinion, that the Pharmeceutical Lobby still has a major hold of the legislation.
Yes, we have passed Health-Care Reform. Now it is time for working Americans to fine tune the legislation AFTER the next set of elections.
After the recent special election, we of the Labor movement have to band together against the retoric an lyes that the opposite side has been professing.
All of our Members have to band together, Public, Private and Trade Unions in the support of Candidates.
Watch Facebook and Twitter and even MySpace people are stating that we of the labor movement have caused the economic collapse. We all know this is NOT TRUE.
When 1% of the population controls 98% of the wealth of this great land, how can organizations meeting the needs of its members be responsible for the network of lies being present by the opposition.
But what do I know?
This is only the beginning to our march to November.
don’t let the republicans treat or scare you there nothing to be scared of …..lock and load
Lets rededicate ourselves to continuing the struggle for true universal health care access. Indeed the deficiencies in the recently passed legislation will cost many their very lives.
I’m not real sure this is true health care reform. It is complicated, full of loop holes and appears to be designed for the benefit of insurance companies. It reminds me of the “donut hole” in Medicare part D. Simple and economical universal single payer would be a better answer.