The House version of health care reform has been passed by two of the three committees that have say over the health care system in the United States. It was not supported by all of the Democrats which is leaving some people concerned. Not concerned, but supportive are the American Medical Association and the American Association of Retired Persons. Those are two heavy hitters in this battle.
This proposal would cover 97% of Americans and would require $544 billion dollars in new revenue. Of course the Republicans are opposed to new taxes that would be targeted at those who are generically considered “rich” or “wealthy” Americans. The problem is that some Democrats are also concerned about this and while it will not be a problem in the House, it could be a problem in the Senate.
There are also some questions about the policies from this bill as reflected in a Washington Post report:
“Critics
also decry the House bill as overly meek in its efforts to lower health-care
spending over the long term. On Thursday, they gained a key ally in Douglas
Elmendorf, director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, who told
the Senate Budget Committee that bills crafted by House leaders and the Senate
health committee would fail to achieve "the sort of fundamental
changes" necessary to rein in the skyrocketing cost of government health
programs, particularly Medicare.
To the contrary, Elmendorf said, the measures would pile on an expensive new
program to cover the uninsured. “The changes that we have looked at so far do
not represent the sort of fundamental change, the order of magnitude that would
be necessary, to offset the direct increase in federal health costs that would
result from the insurance coverage proposals,” he told the Senate committee.” . . . . Read More
Beyond providing coverage for all Americans, a reduction of costs, or actually growth of expenses, is supposed to be one of the most important factors in this process. If the legislation is missing this component then one has to wonder how they can be amended into the bill. Failing to make the costs of this manageable in the long-run will cause the program to fail. Fortunately, the Senate bill is attempting to address these concerns.
There are also other changes and considerations regarding Medicare and Medicaid, it includes both a “public option” and an insurance exchange, and the Senate will be looking at a different set of taxes to address the funding needs.
