Health Care Bill Clears Procedural Hurdle
Updated 9 p.m. ET
Triumph in their grasp, President Barack Obama and House Democrats demonstrated command of the votes needed to pass landmark health care legislation Sunday night, a climactic chapter in a century-long quest for near universal coverage.
The House argued its way through a thicket of Republican objections toward a late-evening vote on the bill to extend coverage to 32 million Americans who lack it, ban insurers from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions and cut deficits by an estimated $138 billion over a decade.
Latest Developments on the Health Care Vote
CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care
"Today is the day that is going to rank with the day we passed the civil rights bill in 1964," said Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, a member of Congress since 1955. "Today we're doing something that ranks with what we did with Social Security or Medicare. This is a day of which we can all be proud if we vote for that legislation."
Republicans said it was nothing of the sort, warning of a government takeover of the health care system, financed by a trillion dollars in higher taxes and Medicare cuts combined.
"There is dirty deal after dirty deal after dirty deal in the bill this House will vote on," said Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan. "It is a disgrace."
A CBS News vote tally showed that Democrats had the 216 votes needed for passage of the bill. (Read more)
The measure cleared a critical early test vote, 224-206, a few hours after Obama and Democratic leaders struck a compromise with anti-abortion lawmakers whose votes had left the outcome in doubt. The president issued an executive order pledging that no federal funds would be used for elective abortion. (Read the text here.)
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and a handful of fellow abortion opponents said they were satisfied and announced their support for the bill. A spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed skepticism that the presidential order would satisfy the church's objections.
A shouting band of protesters outside the Capitol dramatized their opposition, and one man stood up in the House visitor's gallery yelling, "Kill the bill" before he was ushered out — evidence of the passions the tumultuous yearlong debate over health care has stirred.
Passage of a central health care bill already cleared by the Senate would send it to Obama for his signature. That still would leave one more step, a companion package of changes would go to the Senate.
For the president, the events capped an 18-day stretch in which he traveled to four states and lobbied more than 60 wavering lawmakers in person or by phone to secure passage of his signature domestic issue. According to some who met with him, he warned that the bill's demise could cripple his still-young presidency.
Far beyond the political ramifications — a concern the president repeatedly insisted he paid no mind — were the sweeping changes the bill held in store for millions of individuals, the insurance companies that would come under tougher control and the health care providers, many of whom would face higher taxes.
For the first time, most Americans would be required to purchase insurance, and face penalties if they refused. Much of the money in the bill would be devoted to subsidies to help families at incomes of up to $88,000 a year pay their premiums.
The measure would also usher in a significant expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor. Coverage would be required for incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, $29,327 a year for a family of four. Childless adults would be covered for the first time, starting in 2014.
Health Care Bill: What's In It?
Short-Term Effect of the Bill
The insurance industry, which spent millions on advertising trying to block the bill, would come under new federal regulation. They would be forbidden from placing lifetime dollar limits on policies, from denying coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions and from canceling policies when a policyholder becomes ill.
Parents would be able to keep children up to age 26 on their family insurance plans, three years longer than is now the case.
A new high-risk pool would offer coverage to uninsured people with medical problems until 2014, when the coverage expansion would go into high gear.
Passage of a central health care bill already cleared by the Senate would send it to Obama for his signature as early as Monday. That still would leave one more step, a companion package of changes still needing Senate approval.
GOP: We Owe It to Public to Block Bill
Obama to House: Health Care Reform is in Your Hands
What Do You Think of the Health Care Bill?
After more than a year of political combat — certain to persist into the fall election campaign for control of Congress — Democrats piled superlative upon superlative across several hours of House debate.
Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York read a message President Franklin Roosevelt sent Congress in 1939 urging lawmakers to address the needs of those without health care, and said Democrat Harry Truman and Republican Richard Nixon had also sought to broaden insurance coverage.
Republicans attacked the bill without let-up, warning it would harm the economy while mandating a government takeover of the health care system.
"The American people know you can't reduce health care costs by spending $1 trillion or raising taxes by more than one-half trillion dollars. The American people know that you cannot cut Medicare by over one-half trillion dollars without hurting seniors," said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich.
"And, the American people know that you can't create an entirely new government entitlement program without exploding spending and the deficit."
Obama has said often that presidents of both parties have tried without success to achieve national health insurance, beginning with Theodore Roosevelt early in the 20th century.
The 44th president's quest to succeed where others have failed seemed at a dead end two months ago, when Republicans won a special election for a Massachusetts Senate seat, and with it, the votes to prevent a final vote.
But the White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. soon came up with a rescue plan that required the House to approve the Senate-passed measure despite opposition to many of its provisions, then have both houses pass a fix-it measure incorporating numerous changes.
To pay for the changes, the legislation includes more than $400 billion in higher taxes over a decade, roughly half of it from a new Medicare payroll tax on individuals with incomes over $200,000 and couples over $250,000. A new excise tax on high-cost insurance policies was significantly scaled back in deference to complaints from organized labor.
In addition, the bills cut more than $500 billion from planned payments to hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and other providers that treat Medicare patients. An estimated $200 billion would reduce planned subsidies to insurance companies that offer a private alternative to traditional Medicare.
The insurance industry warned that seniors would face sharply higher premiums as a result, and the Congressional Budget Office said many would return to traditional Medicare as a result.
The subsidies are higher than those for seniors on traditional Medicare, a difference that critics complain is wasteful, but insurance industry officials argue goes into expanded benefits.
CBS/ AP Triumph in their grasp, President Barack Obama and House Democrats demonstrated command of the votes needed to pass landmark health care legislation Sunday night, a climactic chapter in a century-long quest for near universal coverage.
The House argued its way through a thicket of Republican objections toward a late-evening vote on the bill to extend coverage to 32 million Americans who lack it, ban insurers from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions and cut deficits by an estimated $138 billion over a decade.
Latest Developments on the Health Care Vote
CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care
"Today is the day that is going to rank with the day we passed the civil rights bill in 1964," said Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, a member of Congress since 1955. "Today we're doing something that ranks with what we did with Social Security or Medicare. This is a day of which we can all be proud if we vote for that legislation."
Republicans said it was nothing of the sort, warning of a government takeover of the health care system, financed by a trillion dollars in higher taxes and Medicare cuts combined.
"There is dirty deal after dirty deal after dirty deal in the bill this House will vote on," said Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan. "It is a disgrace."
A CBS News vote tally showed that Democrats had the 216 votes needed for passage of the bill. (Read more)
The measure cleared a critical early test vote, 224-206, a few hours after Obama and Democratic leaders struck a compromise with anti-abortion lawmakers whose votes had left the outcome in doubt. The president issued an executive order pledging that no federal funds would be used for elective abortion. (Read the text here.)
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and a handful of fellow abortion opponents said they were satisfied and announced their support for the bill. A spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed skepticism that the presidential order would satisfy the church's objections.
A shouting band of protesters outside the Capitol dramatized their opposition, and one man stood up in the House visitor's gallery yelling, "Kill the bill" before he was ushered out — evidence of the passions the tumultuous yearlong debate over health care has stirred.
Passage of a central health care bill already cleared by the Senate would send it to Obama for his signature. That still would leave one more step, a companion package of changes would go to the Senate.
For the president, the events capped an 18-day stretch in which he traveled to four states and lobbied more than 60 wavering lawmakers in person or by phone to secure passage of his signature domestic issue. According to some who met with him, he warned that the bill's demise could cripple his still-young presidency.
Far beyond the political ramifications — a concern the president repeatedly insisted he paid no mind — were the sweeping changes the bill held in store for millions of individuals, the insurance companies that would come under tougher control and the health care providers, many of whom would face higher taxes.
For the first time, most Americans would be required to purchase insurance, and face penalties if they refused. Much of the money in the bill would be devoted to subsidies to help families at incomes of up to $88,000 a year pay their premiums.
The measure would also usher in a significant expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor. Coverage would be required for incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, $29,327 a year for a family of four. Childless adults would be covered for the first time, starting in 2014.
Health Care Bill: What's In It?
Short-Term Effect of the Bill
The insurance industry, which spent millions on advertising trying to block the bill, would come under new federal regulation. They would be forbidden from placing lifetime dollar limits on policies, from denying coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions and from canceling policies when a policyholder becomes ill.
Parents would be able to keep children up to age 26 on their family insurance plans, three years longer than is now the case.
A new high-risk pool would offer coverage to uninsured people with medical problems until 2014, when the coverage expansion would go into high gear.
Passage of a central health care bill already cleared by the Senate would send it to Obama for his signature as early as Monday. That still would leave one more step, a companion package of changes still needing Senate approval.
GOP: We Owe It to Public to Block Bill
Obama to House: Health Care Reform is in Your Hands
What Do You Think of the Health Care Bill?
After more than a year of political combat — certain to persist into the fall election campaign for control of Congress — Democrats piled superlative upon superlative across several hours of House debate.
Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York read a message President Franklin Roosevelt sent Congress in 1939 urging lawmakers to address the needs of those without health care, and said Democrat Harry Truman and Republican Richard Nixon had also sought to broaden insurance coverage.
Republicans attacked the bill without let-up, warning it would harm the economy while mandating a government takeover of the health care system.
"The American people know you can't reduce health care costs by spending $1 trillion or raising taxes by more than one-half trillion dollars. The American people know that you cannot cut Medicare by over one-half trillion dollars without hurting seniors," said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich.
"And, the American people know that you can't create an entirely new government entitlement program without exploding spending and the deficit."
Obama has said often that presidents of both parties have tried without success to achieve national health insurance, beginning with Theodore Roosevelt early in the 20th century.
The 44th president's quest to succeed where others have failed seemed at a dead end two months ago, when Republicans won a special election for a Massachusetts Senate seat, and with it, the votes to prevent a final vote.
But the White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. soon came up with a rescue plan that required the House to approve the Senate-passed measure despite opposition to many of its provisions, then have both houses pass a fix-it measure incorporating numerous changes.
To pay for the changes, the legislation includes more than $400 billion in higher taxes over a decade, roughly half of it from a new Medicare payroll tax on individuals with incomes over $200,000 and couples over $250,000. A new excise tax on high-cost insurance policies was significantly scaled back in deference to complaints from organized labor.
In addition, the bills cut more than $500 billion from planned payments to hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and other providers that treat Medicare patients. An estimated $200 billion would reduce planned subsidies to insurance companies that offer a private alternative to traditional Medicare.
The insurance industry warned that seniors would face sharply higher premiums as a result, and the Congressional Budget Office said many would return to traditional Medicare as a result.
The subsidies are higher than those for seniors on traditional Medicare, a difference that critics complain is wasteful, but insurance industry officials argue goes into expanded benefits.
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No! It's not government by big business for big business. It's government by the people for the people.
Now. That makes sense.
That the P.O. is inefficent is a myth created by private interest
___________
True, However, only from an operations perspective do they "deliver the mail" on-time, as they should....and yes they are effective doing that....Most of the problems we speak of with the USPS is their financial problems and innability to functionn financially, constantly losing money, raising postage to stay afloat during changing times.....so all the carriers, including the postal service, deliver effecively, it's a matter of are their finances run properly.
UPS and FEDEX don't handle mail, only packages and either one of them handle more volume in packages then the USPS does.
"free healtcare gravy train" YOUR words... I have never heard anyone describe this bill as that...except right wingers. This program is a safety net to catch people in dire circumstances. Now that you have lost the vote...what... you're going to continue to misrepresent the truth of the bill??? Once the people realize the sky really is'nt falling as Republicans claim, the consequence is that they will be lucky if faith in the GOP survives. Period. Good luck, you're gonna need it.<<<
"the truth of the bill" ..... that's hilarious!
Like the manipulated/massaged figures ($$$) Nancy P. says this bill will "save"? .... the gov't has a hard enough time trying to run a postal system that's losing big money (billions$).... what makes you think they're able to get an estimate right and run health care well?
Thanks for the laugh .... by the way, how are incumbent Dems doing in their bids for election/re-election over the last several months? .... and what's the deal with Obama's sinking ratings?
Can Nancy P. talk WITHOUT moving her hands? - inquiring minds wanna know.
As far as Nancy Pelosi and moving her hands...well.. at least she does'nt have to write the answers of SIMPLE questions on her hand like Sarah Palin.
Break One, Goal. Next: Hon Obama esq Promised Administrive Order DOES NOT TAKE EFFECT UNTILL 2014. By Then Whole New Ball CLUB For LEGISLATIVE GAME.
Bishops & Priests Beg Populate To NOT PASS Abortion Bill. What I proposed IS STILL EXACT SAME ABORTION TAINTED BILL. NO CHANGES IN WORDING, ONLY FAR OFF PROMISES, Weak Promises ,at that.
Cut Losses & Vote NO. Give Hon Us Congress Fighting chance to Stay Course of membership or Worse, Simply Leave United States of America at Drift, No Way to Proceed nor Ratify for ?three lONG years,Never have Seen US Public So Inflamed, since 1970s'. Chaos Is Ensuing. Wake Up US Congress & Geta Life. Becasue US Congress Can't SEE Evil, Where Majority of States & US Citizens SEE Grim Reaper.
Quit Being Babies, Grow Up, Throw Out BAD Bill Like BAD Food, just happens Sometimes.
Cease & Desist ALL Legislative activity on 2010 HEALTH CARE INSURANCE BILL.
Signed:Hon Judge THOMAS STEWART von DRASHEK M.D
FreeSpeechandPress, with the trash the Reich, the health care industry and Big Business has thrown out there I really doubt many American's have much of an idea what's in this bill for them. That will come after the vote and is the main reason the Republiklans are fighting so hard to keep it from becoming law. It's not a free ride by any means but it is a giant step to bringing Insurance Company's in line and giving this nation much needed relief from the failures of our present system.<<<
By "Reich" do you mean communist? ..... I guess that would bring to mind folks like Bill Ayers and Van Jones - who just happen to have an association with? - B.O.? .... hmmmm
The propoganda eminating from the white house is all positive on this health care bill ..... it's the answer to all that ails us.
Of course, I have to wonder why they have to bribe, pay off, strong arm for the votes .... why can't this bill stand on it's own merits???
...................
you are kidding me aren't you???? I think both sides have used the FEAR card to a fault....never believed the death panel bs just like I never believed that this budget neutral...neither could be further from the truth.
Why 4 years for this to go into effect?
They've been saying for many yrs social security is in big financial trouble and there are several other programs that are said to be financially troubled as well .... what makes folks think a "new" Gov't healthcare system is gonna be different then previous gov't run programs?
Has the gov't figured out and fixed the current troubled programs out there that already exist? ..... no, they just wanna add another massive one onto the backs of taxpayers.
To those that think the spike in healthcare costs is due primarily to greedy health insurance co's and pharmaceutical co's (that might be partially true) ..... but how bout medical lawsuits and doctors who have to carry hefty medical lawsuit coverage? ..... I think they say, for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction .... I tend to think a "domino effect" occured when health care costs began rising so rapidly in the late 90's early 2000's.
I'd really like to see these politicians address and fix the current programs before embarking onto another massive one.
OK sky answer this, why is it going to take four years to even get this started? Where in the bill does it control insurance premiums?