No one loves the Healthcare Insurance Reform Bill. At best it ameliorates the worst abuses of the private insurance companies and makes sure 95% of Americans would be covered with or without subsidies. At worst it’s a huge dump of public funds to private business with a mandate that everyone must buy coverage.
But there it is. The bill (I think it was HR3590) passed by a vote of 219- 212 at 10:48 p.m. March 21, the first full day of Spring.
It’s something anyway, though what is difficult to figure out. Amazing that it made it by only 7 votes. Now it must go into the senate again. I must confess it would be nice if the bill did not have to keep bouncing back and forth every time it passed one place or the other.
Not one single House Republican voted to pass. Of the Democrats, 34 voted against.
NanuqFC
Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have. ~ Winston Churchill
It’s a sad day when we consider legislation that penalizes citizens for not paying a private company something wonderful mostly because the rethuglicans were soundly thrashed politically.
A nice misdirect that Goebbels would have been proud of.
Where is the language that makes quality health care affordable?
This bill only perpetuates the failed system we currently have with the minimum insurance industry acceptable benefit to the covered.
‘Medicare for All’ was our best hope…. and that was no hope at all with our current hopeless administration.
Why are americans such rubes?
Critical thinking is just not practiced.
It does look like we left too many children behind.
The best one can say is that it’s (perhaps) better than if it hadn’t passed at all. Nose-holding all around.
There’s no cost containment, so the other side’s strategy is winning: use government to get our money and give it to a few, until we are broke.
Then, the entire government budget will go to carry the debt load. We will be slaves in our own land.
Meanwhile, those who got the money can emigrate.
Phil Gramm is headed for Switzerland. Halliburton emigrated to Dubai. GE doesn’t make weapons here in Vermont. They can piece out manufacturing to any compliant economy. Blackwater gets its mercenaries all over the world.
Once we’re enslaved by debt, the plan is to abandon us to our misery, and enforce it from afar.
FIredog Lake has a better review just posted….
http://fdlaction.firedoglake.c…
Is it true that the use of an FSA for child care expense has been cut to half what it was before this legislation? If true, that’s a significant middle class tax cut. Is it also true that the anti-trust exemption for the health insurance industry was not included in the final version of the bill?