Health Care Progress Report: November 30

(CBS)  The health care debate has come down to the wire, with just weeks left for Congress to meet their Christmas deadline for reform. While it is almost certain President Obama will have to wait until next year before getting to sign any health care bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at least has a chance to get a bill out of his chamber before the year is up. The Senate kicks off what will surely be an epic health care debate on Monday.

CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care

There is little to report out of the House of Representatives this week; after the House passed a health care bill earlier this month, it has been waiting for the Senate to do the same. After the Senate passes its own bill, the two chambers can move onto step four and reconcile their two reform packages.

Below is CBSNews.com's weekly chart showing the progress Congress is making on the six major steps needed to complete to pass a health care reform bill:

(CBS)

More on the progress of health care legislation from the Senate and the White House:

(AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

SENATE: The Senate begins debate today on the health care bill Harry Reid introduced earlier this month. Republicans are expected to present a united front against the legislation and could use various tactics to prolong the floor debate, such as introducing countless amendments or requesting the amendments be completely read aloud.

One of the top concerns for moderates and conservatives continues to be the costs the bill will impose on the government and consumers. To allay some of those concerns, supporters of the bill are issuing to congressmen this week a new analysis from a leading MIT economist who predicts Reid's bill would lower the cost of insurance for people buying on the individual market. The study comes ahead of another analysis expected to be released this week by the Congressional Budget Office, which should show the bill's impact on premiums in small-group and large-group markets, as well as the individual market.

The debate over cost and other issues could go on for weeks, depending on how many amendments are introduced, and the GOP will surely try to prevent a final vote on the bill with a filibuster. Reid will have to keep the debate open, however, until he can ensure all 60 members of the Democratic caucus are ready to vote in favor of ending the filibuster -- or until he has the support, perhaps, of 59 or 58 Democrats and one or both of the moderate Republican senators from Maine.

The Democratic party will have to reconcile its own differences over issues like the abortion language in the bill, or whether or not to include a government-run health insurance plan, or "public option." Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who caucuses with the Democrats, said last week he will remain "stubborn" in his opposition to the public option.

The Wall Street Journal's Naftali Bendavid highlights some of the amendments both Democrats and Republicans are expected to offer in the debate.

Reid will have some control over the debate, with the ability to block amendments if he chooses to do so, or to keep the Senate in session for 24 hours a day to discourage Republicans from introducing pointless amendments. On CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Democratic Sen. Carl Levin predicted the Senate would pass a bill with a public option that states could choose to opt out of, as Reid has proposed.

Outside interest groups will continue to try to influence the debate as well. A coalition of abortion rights groups will head to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a "day of action" to lobby against the so-called Stupak Amendment, which was added to the House health care bill. The amendment would restrict insurance coverage for abortions, and abortion rights activists are pressuring Democrats to keep it out of the Senate bill.

(AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

WHITE HOUSE: Meanwhile, the Obama administration will be providing support for Democratic leaders in the Senate. The White House released today a video featuring Vice President Joe Biden, who asks, "Who do you trust?" when it comes to explaining what health insurance reform means. The video features physicians and nurses advocating for reform.

Politico reports that Harry Reid will "get backing from war rooms on Capitol Hill and in the White House, where operatives with a coordinated strategy stand ready to amplify the floor debate."

Reports last week said President Obama assigned a blog post from the Atlantic's Ron Brownstein, which praises the Senate health care bill, as required reading for all White House staff working on health care.

The White House has been working furiously on the issue behind the scenes all year, and the Associated Press reported last week exactly with whom. Administration officials have met with hundreds of lobbyists and others involved in the debate this year, the AP reported after obtaining 575 visitor records from the White House.

[searingtruth]

"We let them suffer and die because they didn't have money."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[rightbehind]

They could and should strip all the money out of this bill. Set up a government oversight committee to watch over the medical industry and remove all medicare fraud. Place limits on ceo pay and stockholder dividends. People shouldn't suffer to line stockholders pockets.

[reveal4]

Health insurance companies have doubled premium rates in the past 10 years. Over the past ten years, while raising rates, they have also been paying out less for medical care. Health insurance companies use your premium money to pay for lobbyists who pay off congress people, with your premium money. Health insurance companies also lobby Congress for special tax breaks and subsidies which are paid for by the American taxpayer.

[reveal4]

Reform means your health insurance company will not be able to drop your health insurance policy when you get sick and leave you with tens or hundreds of thousands of unpaid medical bills. If reform passes, your health insurance company will not be able to drop your policy, for any reason. If reform passes, your health insurance company will not be able to triple your rates when you get sick.

[reveal4]

Reform means insurance exchanges which will include all consumers in large pools of insured individuals, which will lower prices for private sector insurance policies.Best treatment methods based on leading medical centers like the Mayo Clinic will be instituted for Medicare seniors. The methods provide better care, quicker recovery time, and cost less. The Medicare prescription donut hole will also be reduced, further saving money for seniors. The public insurance option will remove high risk policies from the private sector, thereby reducing the cost of private sector insurance policies, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Reform means health insurance companies will not be able to deny folks with pre existing conditions, or charge them exorbitant rates. Reform means no caps on lifetime coverage or going bankrupt to pay for medical costs. Reform means caps on yearly out of pocket medical expenses for policy holders. Reform means help for the 45000 Americans who suffer and die yearly, one every 12 minutes, due to outright denial of medical care. Reform sends a message to Wall Street to stop ripping off Americans.

[reveal4]

Reform will not raise taxes on average Americans. Reform will mean rich folks will lose some of their Bush tax cut.

[jimmyc1955]

This just in - Health care support is now gone.

LA Times reports that 49% would tell their congressman to vote against it, and only 41% vote for it.

Strong support is also way down with strong opposition way up.

Estimates right now are the under the current house plan health care cost will rise from 17% of GBP to 21% of GDP - so there appears not only be no cost controls, but increased costs associated with this program.

NY Post - http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/reid_fuzzy_math_bykKhLTE2JnwN40xtayzWM

LA Times - http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dcnow/2009/11/poll-49-would-advise-their-congress-member-to-vote-against-healthcare-bill.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[us_1776]

Ok you neocons with no plan of your own. Whata'ya think we should do? Keep the current system which is failing and going to self-destruct as every expert has told us is going to happen? You know, the system that has the highest per-capita healthcare cost in the entire world. The system that pumps millions of dollars in bribe money into the pockets of the Republican lawmakers. The system that has ripped off the American healthcare consumer for decades. The system that wastes 1/3 of every healthcare dollar on excessive salaries and bonuses for insurance company executives (eg: United Healthcare CEO = 1 Billion with a "B"). The system which denies coverage which directly results in the deaths of over 45,000 Americans every year. The system which leaves 50+ million American citizens without healthcare coverage. That system. That's what you'd rather keep? You right-wingers are all total morons.

[morGov]

us_1776 - I'm sorry you only get network news and your browser is stuck on Huffington. Allow purchase of insurance across state lines and tort reform. If you think the Federal government will do a good job with your health care, you're either 12, or not too bright.

[ResponsibleAmerican]

Uncle Sam: Cut up your credit cards and put away your checkbook, like the rest of us responsible American families. Start living within your means. Show some fiscal restraint. How can you seriously run ads at the movie theaters coaching us on good credit behavior. Ha!

[us_1776]

BEN NELSON: "I don't want a big-government, Washington-run operation that would undermine ? private insurance,"

No, Ben, what you want is the same old gravy train of bribe money from the greedy private healthcare insurance companies that have managed to ripoff the American healthcare consumer for decades. We have the highest per-capita healthcare costs in the world. And what we really need to fix this properly is a single-payer system that eliminates all this profiteering and greed and excessive executive salaries and bonuses (eg: United Healthcare CEO = 1 BILLION with a "B"). Single-payer would be simple. No mishmash of insurance company red-tape and confusing forms. No employer involvement. Just you and the healthcare administrator. Change jobs. Same coverage. Get a diagnosis and a "pre-existing" condition. Same coverage. No hikes in rates. Everybody pays in and everybody is covered. I guess this is just too simple for the politicians in Washington to understand. More likely it's too simple and doesn't line their pockets.

[rightbehind]

nelson is done. It's highly unlikely he will be reelected.

[taxedmore]

us-1776 You are wrong about the single payer system. "Everybody" does NOT pay in. However, everybody is covered. Some may pay what is "affordable" for them, that just means they don't pay in full and somebody else gets taxed to make up the difference. This means those who earn it pay for those who don't earn it, just like all the other government give away programs. No doubt there is a lot to be fixed in the current system but I cannot afford another massive give away.

[msimamaji]

Yesterday, the church I attend observed AIDS Sunday. The service revolved around John 9:1-7.

That chapter describes Jesus' healing the blind man at Siloam. Jesus' disciples asked Jesus if the man became blind because of his own sins or the sins of his parents. Jesus refuted this belief. Then, he spat in some clay, spread it over the blind man's eyes, and told him to wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam. The blind man followed Jesus' instructions, and was cured.

I can't help thinking about John 9:1-7 whenever I hear about the so-called health care debate. Jesus healed the blind man without asking about pre-existing conditions and without asking about the blind man's HMO. But beyond that miracle, I must ask the question - Who was blind in this story? The man whom Jesus cured? Or the community in which the man lived, including the religious authorities, who permitted a cherry-picked verse of scripture blind them to the common humanity they shared with the man they branded and ostracized as unclean?

Except for Obama, I have heard little discussion about the need to health care reform. The media in particular gives a lot of press time to the Tea-Baggers, but almost never shows the plight of the 50 million people in this country without health care. As a result of this blindness, 44,000 thousands Americans die each year because of inadequate medical care. (Source: a recent study by the Harvard University Medical School.)

Babies fare very badly in our for-profit health care system. According to the 2009 CIA World Factbook, our infant mortality rate is twice as high as the infant mortality rates of Sweden or France, and nearly 3 times higher than the infant mortality rate of Singapore. Washington DC has the highest infant mortality rate in the country, according to Statesmaster.com; the infant mortality in DC is 3 times higher than the infant mortality for Sweden or France, and nearly 5 times higher than the infant mortality rate of Singapore. As lobbyists are bribing Senators with campaign contributions, a few blocks away, babies are dying. Why am I the only person in the country who notices this.

Like the religious authorities in Jesus time, who blamed the blind man for his affliction, we blame the uninsured. We claim they are too lazy to work, or we blame them for not earning enough money to buy health insurance. We blame them for being too fat, or for having a pre-existing condition like acne or asthma. We blame them for having inadequate insurance, or for getting dropped from their insurance provider because they come down with an expensive illness, like breast cancer. Like the religious authorities, we are allowing our fear, greed, ignorance, and bigotry blind us to the human needs of our neighbors

What makes me even angrier is the blindness of the so-called religious authorities, which matches the religious leaders whom Jesus violently denounced. Yes, they will mobilize to keep gays from getting married, or for preventing a 14 year old who has been brutally raped by her stepfather from terminating the resulting pregnancy. But they show absolutely no interest in a health care overhaul that will save thousands of babies lives and will prevent thousands of desperate women from resorting to abortions because they cannot pay medical bills.

When we pledge allegiance to the flag, we claim to be "one nation under God", yet our for profit health care system rations health care according to a person's ability to pay. This is a obscene violation of the most fundamental precept of the Gospel.

Jesus said "Whatsoever you do unto the least of these my brethren, you do also unto me." Our blind, callous disregard for the uninsured is a jihad against Christ.

[bc-1948]

What a well done article! Like you, I have been disapointed in the religious right - but, then - look at how many are preaching "prosperity religion" now. They seem to have forgotten that Jesus was preaching to the oppressed and poor.

My Dad was a Baptist minister - but never in my life did I hear him preach prosperity religion. Makes me very proud of him.

[rightbehind]

I say let the bill tank. The voters know which party is to blame for lock stepping. They also know who the republicrats are blocking the bill. The 2010 elections are coming soon. The republicans have 18 more senate seats on the ballot and one republicrat is running in a democrat controlled and leaning state. If we take 4 more republican senate seats and replace a republicrat with a real democrat we go single payer coming 2011!

[us_1776]

Single payer is what makes the most sense. Get rid of all these profiteering greedy healthcare insurance companies that take our healthcare premiums and use them to payoff the Republican lawmakers. We need a Medicare-for-all type of system without all the greed of the current private insurance system which strips out at least 33% of every healthcare dollar just for profits and excessive salaries and bonuses.