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House Passes Massive Medical Insurance Bill, 219-212

Posted by timothy on from the house-of-representin'-in-effect dept.

The votes are in: yesterday evening, after a last-minute compromise over abortion payments, the US House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill effecting major changes in American medical finance. From the BBC's coverage: "The president is expected to sign the House-passed Senate bill as early as Tuesday, after which it will be officially enacted into law. However, it will contain some very unpopular measures that Democratic senators have agreed to amend. The Senate will be able to make the required changes in a separate bill using a procedure known as reconciliation, which allows budget provisions to be approved with 51 votes - rather than the 60 needed to overcome blocking tactics." No Republican voted in favor of the bill; 34 Democrats voted against. As law, the system set forth would extend insurance coverage to an estimated 32 million Americans, impose new taxes on high-income earners as well as provide some tax breaks and subsidies for others, and considerably toughen the regulatory regime under which insurance companies operate. The anticipated insurance regime phases in (starting with children, and expanding to adults in 2014) a requirement that insurance providers accept those with preexisting conditions, and creates a system of fines, expected to be administered by the IRS, for those who fail or refuse to obtain health insurance.

6 of 2,424 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Pro / cons by bev_tech_rob · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Good God...where are my mod points when I need them? Great summation! :)

    --
    You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
  2. Re:health insurance is like auto insurance now by pe1rxq · · Score: 0, Redundant

    you're all communists living under oppressive regimes

    As long as our elections are done better than those in Florida it can't be that bad?

    instead encouraging laziness and crime.

    And still our crime numbers aren't as bad as those in the US.....

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    Secure messaging: http://quickmsg.vreeken.net/
  3. An Illegal Assault... by Ferretman · · Score: 0, Redundant

    ...on my right of association (by forcing me to purchase a good or service). Freedom died a little bit with this monstrosity.

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    Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
  4. Re:health insurance is like auto insurance now by dyshexic · · Score: 0, Redundant

    living europe and loving it I like having free healthcare try living in europe before you comment especially try sweden, denmark or norway

  5. Re:Stop calling it 'insurance' (or update Wikipedi by commodore64_love · · Score: 0, Redundant

    >>>Should your health depend on your body's liability? Of course not

    My answer is: "Of course."

    Your body has one ultimate destination - failure of the machine (what we call death). Even in France where healthcare is paid by government, the human body reaches that ultimate destination. Therefore a value can be assigned based upon how likely your body is to die within the next year, typically based on age. The lower that likelihood, the lower the liability (cost) to whoever is paying the bill to repair those bodies.

    Given that, I find your message message confusing. I find it odd you presume people are entitled to an unlimited amount of money to fix a human body, as if the government has an unlimited amount of funds.

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  6. Re:health insurance is like auto insurance now by DavidShor · · Score: 0, Redundant
    "Medicaid is huge in terms of the improvement. It now will establish income eligibility at 133 percent of poverty irrespective of family status. Right now, eligibility is predicated both on the state where you live and the family status. For adults who are not parents, in 43 states you literally can be penniless and you’re ineligible for Medicare. Period. End of subject. In those 43 states that do nothing, this is huge in terms of childless adults. For parents, the median income eligibility standard is 69 percent of poverty. In some states, it’s as low as 25 percent of poverty. If you make more than that, you are not eligible for Medicaid."

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/03/ron_pollack_explains_how_the_b.html