White House’s Health Bill
President Obama announced the White House Plan for HCR this AM and, as promised, it is up on the web.
The Wonk Room is fast out of the gate with a good summary:
The Obama plan maintains key elements of the Senate proposal but also incorporates stronger anti-fraud provisions and allows the federal government to review insurance rate hikes. On a call with reporters Pfeiffer insisted that the administration has not determined “on which path to move forward with”, but the bill’s substance suggests that Obama is hoping to bypass a prolonged-Senate debate and use the reconciliation process to fix the Senate bill and convince reluctant House progressives to pass the Senate legislation. “The American people deserve up or down vote on health reform,”Pfeiffer said. “We can get an up or down vote if opposition decides to take extraordinary steps of filibustering health reforms.”
They did a nice comparison of the WH, House and Senate Plans too, if you scroll down the Wonk Room article. Just looking at this summary, it looks as though the elimination of the anti-trust exemption is not here.
Greg Sargent of the Plum Line has some more, mainly that the WH won’t object to the Public Option being passed via reconciliation if there are the votes for it. But there is more on the new and much needed demand for an “up or down” vote on HCR:
Pfeiffer said no decision had been made how to proceed, pending the outcome of the summit. But he added that Obama’s proposal is designed to have “maximum flexibility to ensure that we can get an up or down vote if the opposition decides to take the extraordinary step of filibustering health reform.”
Translation: If the GOP doesn’t cooperate with us in any meaningful sense, we’re moving forward on our own.
So the Public Option needs enough votes to pass in reconciliation and reconciliation is on.
More as we get it!
Tags: Health Care Reform
Elimination of the anti-trust exemption is a stand alone bill, I’m hearing. It won’t be able to go through reconciliation because reconciliation is for budgetary items.
FDL attacks: http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/02/22/its-official-obama-is-against-the-public-option/
Too bad they’re wrong.
But the real action — again — is in getting enough commitments to vote for a Public Option in reconciliation. If Speaker Reid can pass it that way, he will. There are 20 signatories to date, I think.
If Obama is putting himself behind this bill it will likely pass. Too bad he didn’t do this last summer.
more from the party of no on Healthcare and Reproductive health: http://www.newsleader.com/article/20100222/NEWS01/2220318
What an A$%hole!
This isn’t a bill, it’s a proposal; Congress is still stuck with fixing the mess they have.
Obomba campaigned repeatedly for a public option. Obomba eviscerated McInsane for his proposal to tax healthcare benefits. Obomba was lying on both accounts. HIS proposal does not contain a public option and it taxes healthcare benefits. Healthcare reform without a public options is not healthcare reform.
His excuse that “the White House will leave that up to the Senate Majority Leader” is a failure to lead and a cop-out.
Too bad cassandra_m can’t see her emperor is naked when he is standing 6 inches away from her face.
HCR 2010 = WMD 2002. Obomba lies while HCR dies.
Doesn’t this plan fine you for not having healthcare insurance and lower the eligibility threshold for Medicaid? So it forces you into the system if you have the means and if they deem that you don’t have the means, you get it for free. Isn’t this what the libs want? Don’t worry, this is Public Option Jr., it’ll grow up into a greasy Big Mac Public Option in no time.
You know, Jason Z, if you had read some of those links I’d provided you wold already know the answers to these questions.
Jason Z,
If it, as you say “forces you” into a private plan, why do you say it’s a Public Option? More like Private Coercion.
Expanding Medicaid eligibility is moving toward a full Public Option, be optimistic.
The government will force people into paying insurance, that would be Public Coercion. Actually, I like that term, it should replace Public Option from now on.
HA! Don’t have to go too far into the WH’s summary to see this line: “This helps over 31 million Americans afford health care who do not get it today…”
They know that a large percentage of those 31M are already eligible for federal and state plans or can afford HC insurance, but choose not to. You could make sardines more affordable for every American who doesn’t eat them, it doesn’t mean they will.
What is wrong with the public option? After all, isn’t it simply a place for people the insurance companies don’t want and won’t cover to go? And if Republicans are correct in their assumptions that the PO will suck… then what are they so afraid of? Yes, yes, I know the answer to that question.
It’s just not that the Federal government has never done anything better than the private sector could, with the complicated exception of the U.S Armed Forces. We can’t allow government run healthcare to get set-up because it will never go away. This new plan has a “fix” for Social Security in it because SS is going broke, as is Medicare (and Medicaid isn’t far behind).
The CBO hasn’t scored this yet, but the House and Senate bills won’t cover nearly the entire uninsured population. The Dems don’t care about those people, they care about another big government program so when they get voted out of office in November, they’ll be appointed to this panel and that commission and stay on the public dole while only trading sleazy legislative power for sleazy administrative power. HHS will become the biggest employer in the country, just like it’s cousin in the UK is the biggest employer in the EU.
More and more power will be concentrated in government. You and I will be taxed into servitude and I won’t be able to eat too much bacon, like I did on Sunday. A world without too much bacon is one that I don’t want.
Yeah, that makes sense given English food.
So this is what they’re saying on wingnut radio today, is it? I can tell because it doesn’t have much relation to reality.
Jason Z,
So, the only thing you want gov’t to do is “the U.S Armed Forces.” (i.e. kill people)
Delacrat, that is a naive and offensive simplification of the greatest men and women we have.
Cassandra, it’s a bit dated, but this 2004 article is reality: NHS is world’s biggest employer after Indian rail and Chinese Army, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article1050197.ece
It looks like NHS in the UK may have lost that dubious honor in the last couple years, but it is still unbelievably huge; get ready to work for The Man.
And so what about the NHS stuff? That isn’t anywhere near being on offer here.
And if you’d been paying attention, the single payer crew are looking for something more like the French or German single payer systems.
But it is tough to tear yourself away from your radio handlers, I imagine.
“I won’t be able to eat too much bacon, like I did on Sunday. A world without too much bacon is one that I don’t want.”
JZ clearly knows which button to push here!
You can take my bacon when you pry it from my cold dead hand!