WASHINGTON, July 14, 2009
House Democrats Unveil Health Care Plan
$1 Trillion Overhaul Proposed to Cover 97 Percent of Americans; Obama Pushes for Quick Action
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Play CBS Video Video Cost of Extended Healthcare U.S. healthcare costs are about $2.5 trillion a year or 16 percent of the national economy. If the Democrats' plan to extend coverage passes, who will get the doctor's bill? Chip Reid reports.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is joined by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Pete Stark, D-Calif., Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and other House Democratic leaders (not pictured) at a news conference, announcing the introduction of health care legislation on Capitol Hill, July 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Right now, healthcare costs in this country run about $2.5 trillion a year, or nearly 18 percent of the national economy. With those costs rising, the Democrats' plan calls for extending coverage. So who gets the doctor's bill. CBS News White House correspondent Chip Reid reports.
In Michigan today the president was fired up over health reform, telling a cheering crowd, "We have no choice but to change the healthcare system, because right now it's broken for too many Americans."
In Washington, House democrats responded with a 1,000-page bill to overhaul American health care. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., called "landmark legislation" and "a defining moment for our nation."
Major provisions include:
Republicans condemned the bill. House leader John Boehner called it criminal malpractice.
"This so-called public option is going to force millions of Americans out of their private health insurance into a government-run plan," he said.
The bill seeks to ensure coverage of 97 percent of Americans. Experts say it will cost at least $1 trillion over 10 years.
It would be paid for through cost savings, including long-term cuts in Medicare and a new tax on those earning more than $350,000 a year.
Passing the bill won't be easy, because about 40 conservative democrats - enough to kill the bill - say they'll oppose it unless the cost is brought down dramatically
"I wouldn't say the health care bill is in jeopardy at this point but it's a long way from passing the House," said Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark.
Mr. Obama praised the House action today without specifically endorsing every aspect of the Democratic plan. He said he'd like to see bills from both houses of Congress before the August recess. But it's unclear if he's going to get his wish.
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Add a Comment See all 76 Comments
- No choice, according to congress. Keep what you have ,but you can't change to a differen't private company. check this website out
IBDeditorials.com - Reply to this comment
- Health care is a human right. Everyone deserves to see a doctor if they are ill or in need of care, not just the wealthy. There are thousands of people working full time jobs who have no health care benefits whatsoever. There are more thousands who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, and have no money to see a doctor at all. Even if it means having to wait six months for treatment,it's better than never getting it.
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- Many of you argueing against National Healthcare are simply misleading people.
The United States is the only one of the major developed nations that have health insurance.
The fact is healthcare in the other nations is way better than our system of insurance coverage with many getting some coverage and others not getting any....
For those arguing that drug abusers should pay their own...how selfish a person you must be....drug abuse is a disease.
The only reason our system is so screwed up is because of the greed. - Reply to this comment
- FOX COULD NOT FIND ITS ASS WITH BOTH HANDS, IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!!!
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- A flat tax is a scam brought upon us by Libertarians who hate government more than even Republi CONS. Although they are the first in line for welfare. It targets the poor far more than the rich. Just like now.
I am so happy to hear the proposal by the House to tax the top 1% to hlep pay for the health care since they made the money from the backs of all of us. Their plan will actually cost LESS because it gets rid of a lot of waste and corporate fraud and stealing, their normal MO. - Reply to this comment
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- Remember sh_t runs down hill. A lot of the rich own business's, taxing them more means they invest less, cut a few jobs, spend less to make up for the extra taxes they are paying. Just takes more money out of the economy. And now you will be forced to have health care insurance even if you don't want it, and there are people that can afford it and don't want it.
- skyk 2009
If your a vet(and so am I) you already have a choice for health care the VA or a private plan. Hey the VA is free, or is it that maybe their services aren't good enough for you? Is it because you might have to wait awhile to get a test done or see a specialist. I know it's my choice government or private insurer. My point is everything the government does ends up costing way more then projected. You have a 1000 page bill, how much pork is in those 1000 pages? Just like the stimulas package, what happened to all the jobs it was supposed to save and create. We'll see how great this plan ends up being. At least I'll have a choice for a few years, until the government takes over the whole health care industry. - Reply to this comment
- Has anyone noticed that the SAME people who for 60 years have told us that Private Insurance Plans were so much better than Public one's are the SAME People who refuse to allow the AMERICAN PEOPLE to decide that fact? I don't care what you call it, may the best plan win, but LETS let the AMERICAN PEOPLE and not some Medical Lobbyist decide that.
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- Almost all wealthy people I know are offshoring their money. What are we going to do? force businesses and wealthy to maintain a certain number of people employed? Please watch and see the "sucking sound" of jobs going overseas all brought to you by a party that claims to protect jobs in the US only to pander to the same unions that have ruined manufacturing in the US.
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- You have to help me out with this one ditto head. Now as I look to the North, where the folks have Single Payer Medical, I see a Country CREATING new jobs and flat out doing much better than we in this nation. If some Rich jerk wants to leave his nation because he's going to have to pay more taxes I say don't let the door hit you in the behind to him BUT he can leave the MARKET behind as well. IF the American People aren't good enough to have the SAME that every other civilized nation has then they aren't good enough to buy whatever it is he's selling. Same is true when his NEW home isn't able to protect his slimy behind... hire some security!! Problem solved!!
- What happen to the barter system? You do something for me and I'll do something for you. A doctor fix my leg and I'll replace his/her light bulb. No, that wouldn't be fair. I'll babysit the kids. Money seemed to made a mess out of everything.
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- Yea, push it through before any of you idiots have a chance to read the darn thing. Excuse me but weren't we, the taxpayers (all 50% of the populace)supposed to be able to review these bills? Wasn't that one of the the "transparency" issues the thug droned on about?
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- About 1/3 of the people surveyed think that any change to health care is SOCIALISM. OMG and LOL. Those people must think that big corporations who have ruined our country are good at health care. OMG.
I can never get anyone to say what is wrong with socialism anyway. They start blathering about Ho Chi Minh or the Soviet Union or other such nonsense.
Let's call it controlled capitalism or some such thing and get on with it. It is about time we reeled in the out of control big corporations who own and run our media and Congress, think they have human rights such as free speech, start invasions for oil and land and write our laws for their profit. When will we wake up? - Reply to this comment
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- Well, this is just my opinion but no one has been able to show me a country where socialism has done well for the people. Is it working in Cuba? According to sean penn and michael moore it is but, gosh, I tend to not believe them.
My point on the universal health care issue is this,it's rationing. I live close to the Canadian border and I see, and have taken care of, Canadians who come here for care. There is a waiting list for simple procedures such as CT scans & MRI's. So, it's rationing that I don't want.
Here's a thought, how about we all, the populace, the peons, have the same health care that your dems and the rest of the politicians have. That works for me.
- Anytime a government REQUIRES people to do something that should be a personal choice and then fines them for not following orders, it's going too far. You want to mandate that if you have children under 18 that they need to be covered, fine, but once a person is of legal age they should be able to choose if they want coverage or not. If you choose not to have coverage, then you pay the bills yourself if you need medical assistance. Government is getting way to much into people's personal lives and they are making it impossible to want to work hard for a living. People who don't want to work get all of the benefits. I'm not saying that there aren't people who truly cannot work and need financial help, I just know far too many people who would just rather not work and expect a hand out. In this economy we have people at my place of employment that CHOOSE to take voluntary lay-offs and then complain that they don't have any money or don't get paid enough when contract time comes up, and then they throw fits when they have to work too many hours because it screws up their unemployment benefits? Who in their right mind would be choosing to be laid-off right now? These are the people who do not deserve unemployment, food stamps, etc. Why should I pay for these people to do nothing?
- Well, this is just my opinion but no one has been able to show me a country where socialism has done well for the people. Is it working in Cuba? According to sean penn and michael moore it is but, gosh, I tend to not believe them.
- We need to make it illegal for doctors to charge fee for service. Otherwise, all the good doctors will refuse to accept the lower fees that will result from health care reform and patients will be forced to see the doctors who finished in the bottom third of their medical school. I don't want that.
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- Note to 'toobigtofail', check your math.......
Think it will be good to have everyone covered......
Truth is 'people will still die in ER waiting rooms'....and...
The people they will hire to run this program are the same kind who give us poor government service now.
Either way, Congress lacks the intelligence to employ effective safe guards. - Reply to this comment
- The idea of Congress making my healthcare decisions (and that's what this is folks) scares me. These people, regardless of party, are so self-absorbed that the last thing on their mind is my well-being. They will be able to rationalize why, because of my economic status, race or religion why I should or shouldn't get the operation I need. We have less and less control over our own lives -- exactly why our forefathers created this country in the first place....
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- QUICK, QUICK....implement the largest and most expensive program in the history of America.....HURRY, PASS IT, BEFORE ANYONE SEES WHAT'S IN THE BILL...HURRY.....YOU HAVE TWO WEEKS....AND...." NO READING THE BILL IS ALLOWED"
This is what you get with the Liberal Dictatorship.
Elect Republicans in 2010 for a new sense of fiscal responsibility, instead of constant wasteful taxing and spending - Reply to this comment
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- While I agree with your take on the health bill and the others no one read. I have to tell you that for many of us out here that vote listening to Repubs say fiscal responsibility after how much $ Bush spent is a bit comical. Unless of course your just playing that old "well he spent less that we didn't have than Obama has" line. Which while being true doesn't make Repubs the party of small government. And while you Repubs are out re-making yourselves think about letting up on the war on drugs propaganda BS and keeping your business out of my home. Perhaps if a few of you realized that if you just stop telling people how to live they all want to hang on to their money, your splitting your votes up because your to pig headed to give in to the FREEDOMS and smaller less intrusive government you say you want. So which is it? After voting Dem for 10 years then growing up and getting paid more I turned Repub for the next 10. Well now I know NEITHER party is worth a damn so where do I turn. Libertarian is looking just about right in many ways to me.
- Joe Legal vs. Jose Illegal
Here is an example of why hiring illegal aliens is not economically productive for the State of California
( or any other state for that matter ) ...
You have 2 families...
"Joe Legal" and "Jose Illegal".
Both families have 2 parents, 2 children and live in California .
"Joe Legal"
Works in construction, has a Social Security Number, and makes $25.00 per hour with payroll taxes deducted...
"Jose Illegal"
Also works in construction, has "NO" Social Security Number, and gets paid $15.00 cash "under the table".
Joe Legal...$25.00 per hour x 40 hours, $1000.00 per week, $52,000 per year
Now take 30% away for state and federal taxes........
Joe Legal now has $31,231.00
Jose Illegal...$15.00 per hour x 40 hours, $600.00 per week, $31,200.00 per year
Jose Illegal pays no taxes...
Jose Illegal now has $31,200.00
Joe Legal pays for him and his family Medical, Vision, and Dental Insurance with limited coverage, $1000.00 per month
$12,000.00 per year,
Joe Legal now has $19,231.00
Jose Illegal has full Medical and Dental coverage through the state and local clinics at a cost of $0.00 per year
Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00
Joe Legal makes too much money is not eligible for Food Stamps or welfare
Joe Legal pays for food, $1,000.00 per month, $12,000.00 per year
Joe Legal now has $7,231.00
Jose Illegal has no documented income and is eligible for Food Stamps and Welfare
Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00
Joe Legal pays rent of $1,000.00 per month, $12,000.00 per year
Joe Legal is now in the hole, minus (-) $4,769.00
Jose Illegal receives a $500 per month Federal rent subsidy
Jose Illegal pays rent $500.00 per month, $6, 000.00 per year
Jose Illegal still has $25,200.00
Joe Legal now works overtime on Saturdays or gets a part time job after work.
Jose Illegal has nights and weekends off to enjoy with his family.
Joe Legal's and Jose Illegal's children both attend the same school.
Joe Legal pays for his children's lunches while:
Jose illegal's children get a government sponsored lunch.
Jose Illegal's children have an after school ESL program.
Joe Legal's children go home.
Joe Legal and Jose Illegal both enjoy the same Police and Fire Services, but Joe paid for them and Jose did not pay. - Reply to this comment
- Why do you suppose everything the Dems propose has to be hurried up, rushed to a vote? Could it be because if the process slows down and congress takes time to read the 1,000 pages, and the true costs are added up, that it would become clear that we are headed into bankruptcy, socialism and hyper-inflation?
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- OK, I may have missed this somewhere, so if I did please don't pound me into the ground.
This is going to cover 97% of Americans, right? Then why are we still complaining about Medicare and Medicaid? Abolish both, and take all of the money that currently goes into both Medicare and Medicaid and put it into the new program. Then include all Medicare and Medicaid recipients in the "Public Plan".
Too complicated for most lawmakers, I guess. - Reply to this comment
- Health care reform is a catchy phrase, sounds progressive and who doesn't like the idea of reform? My concern is that the administration is trying to run and initiate as many of their desired programs as possible, in as short a period of time as possible, and piling the costs one atop the other without a clear understanding of how this is going to affect the future economies. With a multi-trillion dollar economic stimulus package that hasn't yet made any significant impact, it seems unwise to pile on huge costs of other initiatives. It gives less the appearance of a focused, deliberate, and integrated plan to improve our lives and more like a bunch of kids trying to quickly grab as much candy as they can carry out of a candy store.
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- We need to ban all for-profit health care.
We need to get the predatory insurance and hospital corporations out of the business of preying on the sick and needy. Our current health care system operates on disgusting scavenger practices draining dollars from those trapped into paying hiway robbery pricing.
Health care should be universally provided to all, with everyone recieving the same medical treatment plan as the next guy, with no loan-shark types taking a cut of anyone's paycheck nor balance sheet diagnosis' according to profit and loss statements.
What a wretched state of affairs the money grubbers have de-evolved our health care system into. - Reply to this comment
The road ahead in Afghanistan, and the crucial decision Obama faces.
