Health Reform in the House | Fact of the Day From 2000 to 2008 the number of middle income earners who obtained health insurance from their employers declined by 3 million.
Health care premiums rose 3 times faster compared to wages in the last decade. | | Follow Health Insurance Reform
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At the Time This Daily Dose Was Sent, Insured Americans Had Paid a “Hidden Tax” of $52,350,571,275 since January 1, 2009 in Additional Premium Costs to Cover Care for the Uninsured. Under the Microscope FOUR KEY POINTS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PRELIMINARY CBO SCORE The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today released a preliminary score for the health insurance reform legislation. Based on a preliminary analysis from CBO, the legislation: Cuts The Deficit
Cuts the deficit by $138 billion in the first ten years (2010 – 2019) and by $1.2 trillion in the second ten years. Reins In Wasteful Medicare Costs & Extends The Solvency Of Medicare; Closes The Prescription Drug Donut Hole
Reduces annual growth in Medicare expenditures by 1.4 percentage points per year.
Improves benefits and lowers costs for seniors.
Extends Medicare’s solvency by at least 9 years. Expands And Improves Health Coverage For Middle Class Families
Expands health insurance coverage to 32 million Americans.
Helps guarantee that 95 percent of Americans will be covered. Is Fully Paid For
Costs $940 billion over a decade. Americans spend nearly $2.5 trillion each year on health care now and nearly two-thirds of the bill is paid for by reducing health care costs. 72 HOUR CLOCK STARTS H.R. 4872, the health care and education improvements bill to H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which passed the Senate in December, was posted online shortly after 2:00 p.m. today. The House will vote on health care reform as early as Sunday afternoon. Read the following to find out more: Section-by-Section of the Improvements bill
Reconciliation Bill Makes Key Improvements To Senate-passed Bill
Regular Procedure to Pass Health Insurance Reform
Immediate Benefits
Fact Sheet Read the text of the Senate bill, H.R. 3590 as reported by the House Budget Committee TODAY’S HEALTH REFORM NUMBER: 3 3 million -- that's the decrease in the number of middle-income earners who obtained health insurance from their employers from 2000 to 2008.
3 times -- is how much faster health care premiums are rising compared to wages. While our broken health care system is hurting everyone, it's the middle class that's feeling it the most. A report just out shows that the middle class became uninsured at a faster pace than those with less or more income. Health insurance reform will lower costs and put America's middle class and small businesses back in the driver's seat of their own health care. The stakes are just too high for the millions of Americans who are hurting because of the way our current health care system works. The time is now for health insurance reform. Every idea has been put on the table. Every argument has been made. Everything there is to say about health reform has been said. Let’s get it done. Follow the health reform daily numbers on WhiteHouse.gov and on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn.
Health Care Headlines Health Bill Will Reduce Deficit, Democrat Says, Citing Report
House Democrats, gearing up for a possible vote on Sunday to pass health care legislation, pledged that the details they were about to publish would produce significant cost savings in the decades ahead.
[New York Times, 3/18/2010] Health Bill Picking Up Key Votes
President Obama and Democratic leaders gathered momentum for their sweeping healthcare overhaul Wednesday, picking up support from Democratic factions where defections were most feared: liberals, abortion opponents and backbenchers. [L.A. Times, 3/18/2010] Democrats Stress Immediate Effects Of Health Bill
Republicans have threatened to make the controversial health care overhaul a central issue in every congressional race next fall. [NPR, 3/17/2010] Democrats Seeking Health Care Votes Get "Yes" From 200 Groups
As Democrats worked feverishly Wednesday to corral votes in support of a health care overhaul, they picked up the endorsement of more than 200 advocacy groups and medical associations who urged lawmakers to pass the bill. [Kaiser Health News, 3/18/2010] Catholic Opposition to Health Bill Fades
Roman Catholic opposition to the health care overhaul package is crumbling, with some church officials and lawmakers concluding that their long-sought goal of health care overhaul trumps the desire to adopt the severest restrictions on abortion funding. [Boston Globe, 3/18/2010] Wellpoint’s Giving To For Uninsured Falls Short, Records Show
The firm had pledged in 2007 to spend $30 million over three years to help those who lack health coverage, but its tax records and website show it gave only $6.2 million. The company disputes that.
[L.A. Times, 3/18/2010] LETTER: Health-Reform Savings That Rep. Paul Ryan Ignored
By Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ), Chairman, Education and Labor Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
The CBO reports that the Senate version of the bill will save more than $100 billion over the first decade, and more than half a trillion dollars over the second. [Washington Post, 3/18/2010] OPINION: Access, Access, Access
By Nicholas D. Kristof
First, a question: When in American history did life expectancy improve the most? [New York Times, 3/18/2010] OPINION: On Health Care, Listen to the Nuns
By E.J. Dionne, Jr.
On Wednesday, a group representing 59,000 Catholic nuns plus more than 50 heads of religious congregations issued a strong statement urging "a life-affirming 'yes' vote" in support of the Senate bill.
[New York Times, 3/18/2010] OPINION: Stop the Bleeding in California
By Harold Meyerson
As Congress finally prepares to vote on healthcare reform -- the culmination of a battle begun 65 years ago when Harry Truman sent the first proposal for national healthcare up to the Hill -- California is awash in bad healthcare news. [L.A. Times, 3/18/2010] | 