UP Ibalon Bicol: House passes US healthcare revamp bill

House passes US healthcare revamp bill

11/08/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

On late Saturday, November 7, 2009, in a vote of 220-215, the house passes the healthcare bill proposed by Democrats that will provide coverage for 96 percent of Americans. It will make healthcare “affordable and accessible” to most Americans at a price of greater than $1 trillion in 10 years. Hailed by Pres. Barack Obama, the bill’s approval is facilitated by excluding funding for abortion (240-194 vote) previously proposed in the bill.

“The Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2019, the bill would leave about 96% of legal residents with health insurance, up from 83% now. To pay for expanding insurance coverage, the bill calls for hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicare aimed at eliminating its wasteful spending.

It levies a 5.4% tax on the wealthy that targets individuals earning more than $500,000 a year and couples earning more than $1 million a year. All but the smallest employers would be required to provide insurance and pay for most of the premium, or they would face a fine of up to 8% of their payroll.”----Wall Street Journal (11/08/09. Adamy, J; Bendavid, N.)

The Democrats headed by Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) were jubilant. The passage was a victory of Pres. Barack Obama and party members who needed to advance their campaign promise to mend the broken healthcare system, a centerpiece project of the current administration which was left undone by those that preceded it.

Most Republicans voted against the bill and pushed their own proposal of improving healthcare that is far less expensive ---- $61 billion in 10 years. The resistance by the Republicans against the Democrat’s house version arise from many unresolved issues--- i.e. the soaring cost, high tax burden, government interference on doctorr-patient relationship and failure to drive down the budget deficit and come up with tort reform to curb lawsuits and control fraud in the system.

The ambitious healthcare overhaul will need to clear several hurdles before it transforms into law. There will be more debates and uncertainties in the coming weeks to streamline the bill’s stipulations. The senate needs to approve its own bill to reconcile with the house version before Pres. Obama can sign it into law. (Photo Credit: www.techimoto) =0=

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Labels: budget, Health, healthcare reform, medical insurance, Totie Mesia, universal healthcare, US

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House passes US healthcare revamp bill

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