Health Reform in the House | Fact of the Day Yesterday, the Senate passed the health insurance reform improvements bill by a vote of 56 to 43. The House then passed the Senate-amended improvements bill by a vote of 220 to 207, completing, at last, sweeping health insurance reform legislation. | | Follow Health Insurance Reform
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At the Time This Daily Dose Was Sent, Insured Americans Had Paid a “Hidden Tax” of $53,292,002,663 since January 1, 2009 in Additional Premium Costs to Cover Care for the Uninsured. Under the Microscope HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM CLEARS THE CONGRESS After a year of open and thorough debate, Congress took final action yesterday in passing health insurance reform that holds insurance companies accountable, gives Americans greater control over their health care decisions, and contains costs for families, small businesses, and taxpayers. The result will be an end to the worst practices of insurance companies: getting rid of pre-existing condition exclusions and discrimination; no longer allowing insurance companies to arbitrarily and massively raise premiums; and banning insurance companies from dropping, limiting, or not renewing your coverage when you get sick. In short, the Democratic Congress established new common-sense rules of the road for health insurance companies, giving patients and doctors more control over health care decisions. States will now have new competitive exchange markets, forcing insurance companies to compete and giving small businesses and uninsured individuals the same purchasing power as big businesses. The Act also reduces costs by offering tax credits to individuals and small businesses purchasing insurance. And it extends the solvency of Medicare for America’s seniors by nine years, while lowering prescription drug costs, eliminating cost-sharing for preventive services, and cutting waste, fraud, and inefficiency from Medicare and Medicaid. Some of the immediate benefits that will be available this year include: the creation of a high-risk insurance pool for those are uninsured because of a pre-existing medical condition, relief for seniors and small businesses with their exorbitant health care costs, and the ability of young adults up through age 26 to stay on their parents’ insurance plan. These are just a few of the many things the biggest deficit reduction act in over 15 years will do for the American people.
Health Care Headlines Congress Approves 'Fixes' To Health-Care Law
Congress agreed Thursday to amend the nation's new health-care law, concluding its long and contentious quest to pass major reforms, and prepared to head home for a two-week recess and to hear from skeptical voters about the legislation. [Washington Post, 3/26/2010] Health Reform Expected to Untether Job-Locked Entrepreneurs
As the health reforms signed into law this week begin to take effect over the next four years, one consequence to watch is to what extent would-be entrepreneurs feel comfortable leaving their jobs to start businesses.
[New Entrepreneur, 3/26/2010] Obama Invites Health-Care Repeal Advocates To 'Go For It'
An exuberant President Obama dared his Republican critics Thursday to campaign this fall on a platform to repeal his health-care law, urging them to "go for it." [Washington Post, 3/26/2010] Sharp Momentum Shift Back to the Democrats After Passing Health Bill
Political momentum has shifted so fast over the last week that it has given Republicans whiplash.
[The Hill, 3/26/2010] Health-Care Reform Bill Included Big GOP Idea: Individual Mandate
The 13-state lawsuit against the new health-care law is focused on a provision long advocated by conservatives, big business and the insurance industry. [Miami Herald, 3/25/2010] The Health Care Bill's 8 Key Moments
It seemed a sure thing, then a lost cause. And, now, the law of the land. The proposal to overhaul the nation's health care system started a year ago with optimistic predictions that the "stars were in alignment" for an idea that had been a Democratic promise for decades, and became President Obama's defining legislative initiative. [USA Today, 3/26/2010] The First Test of New Health Law: Covering Hard-To-Insure People
It’s the first and one of the hardest tests of the Democrats’ ambitious plan to overhaul the nation’s health care system: in the next 90 days establishing a federally funded program to cover people turned down by private insurers because they have a pre-existing medical condition. [Kaiser Health News, 3/26/2010] Companies Take Health-Care Charges
Beginning in 2006, companies have received a 28% federal subsidy, up to $1,330 per retiree, tax-free, to help pay for prescription-drug coverage. Until now, companies could deduct the subsidy from their taxes, essentially getting a second benefit from the money. Under the new law, companies will no longer be able to deduct the subsidy, but it remains tax-free. [Wall Street Journal, 3/26/2010] EDITORIAL: Some Poor Posturing
The healthcare reform debate over the last year has been more about politics than policy, so it's not surprising that Republicans used the latest round -- the Senate vote on a proposed reconciliation bill -- to tee up talking points instead of trying to improve the newly enacted reforms. [L.A. Times, 3/26/2010] OPINION: Now Comes the Hard Part
By Jonathan Cohn
Health care reform, the most ambitious domestic policy initiative of our time, is now law. And already there is talk of how to make it even better. [New York Times, 3/26/2010] OPINION: Going to Extreme
By Paul Krugman
I admit it: I had fun watching right-wingers go wild as health reform finally became law. But a few days later, it doesn’t seem quite as entertaining — and not just because of the wave of vandalism and threats aimed at Democratic lawmakers. [New York Times, 3/26/2010] COMMENTARY: John Dingell’s Health-Care Moment
By David S. Broder
No one waited longer for the passage of health-care reform than John Dingell, so it was only right that no one smiled more broadly than the 83-year-old congressman while seated at the president's side for the bill-signing ceremony in the White House's East Room. [Washington Post, 3/25/2010] | 