Two Of Three Key House Committees Pass Health Care Reform

As expected, two of three key committees passed the House health care reform bill Friday morning, leaving only Rep. Henry Waxman's Energy and Commerce Committee standing in the way of a full floor vote.

Rep. Charles Rangel's Ways and Means Committee and Rep. George Miller's Education and Labor Committee both signed off on the bill early Friday, the latter after working through the night until 6 a.m. and resuming several hours later.

Most of the amendments in that all-night Education and Labor markup session were typical Republican bill-killers and were summarily rejected, but the Miller committee did approve an amendment from Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.), which allows workers to keep their company health insurance plans for up to 18 months after they leave their jobs, provided they pay the premiums until they get new coverage.

Education and Labor passed the bill out of committee by a vote of 26 to 22, opposed by all committee Republicans and three Democrats -- Reps. Jason Altmire (D-Penn.), Jared Polis (D-Col.) and Dina Titus (D-Nev.). The Ways and Means markup, which includes tax increases, passed 23 to 18 earlier Friday morning. There, too, three Democrats joined the united Republican opposition: Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) and John Tanner (D-Tenn.).

There is less margin for dissent, however, in the Energy and Commerce Committee. Democrats have a 13-vote advantage in the committee, but that includes seven conservative Blue Dogs who now hold the future of the bill in their hands. Blue Dog spokesman Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) says all seven plan to scuttle it unless Waxman and party leaders make major concessions, and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) told the committee Thursday, "I cannot support the bill in its current form."

The Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to resume its debate on the health care bill Friday afternoon, and is slated to work on its sections through next Wednesday.

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Comments

[Jay Adler]

I think this business about informing on our friends who say fishy things about the health care public version is the work of an overzealous underling. This is too heavy to work its way to the top and I will bet it will disappear by tomorrow.

[floridafun]

we need a strong public option now!

[hauty007]

Without reading this article, AMERICA already know "who they are".

GET ready citizens, time to bring POWER to the People.

[Weirdwriter]

Be empowered, folks.Or at least informed:

America's Affordable health Choices Act, H.R. 3200:

Short version: http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BILLSUMMARY-071409.pdf

Long version: http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1864

[Ronnie Ruff]

Contact Mary Landrieu and let her know how you feel about her blocking health care reform. Be sure to use Alexandria LA, 71315 as your address so the site does not block you. Here is the link : http://landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm Help your fellow Americans get the health care they need and put crooked Democrats like Mary on notice.

[dems08]

Anyone can also phone her in Washington by calling the

US Capitol switchboard: [phone]

[PaxEterna]

Meaningless . . . spineless reform shoving more moola into the corporate elite at the taxpayer's expense for which our so-called leaders (aka as the deal makers) will pat themselves on the back, brag about their victory, and keep their taxpayer [aid cadillac plans for life while we get sliced and diced and steered and tiered all the way to the grave.

remember folks: this is MANDATED HEALTH INSURANCE, not UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE.

[Ganja-Rebel]

I agree. It sucks and I want no part of it.

[Weirdwriter]

Be at least informed:

America's Affordable health Choices Act, H.R. 3200:

Short version: http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BILLSUMMARY-071409.pdf

Long version: http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1864

[pissedmichael]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think the photo is a 'touched up' version of the old Soviet Politburo?

[unite4change]

Our corporate media is trying to destroy Obama. Now they are making things up. Remember they are profitting from our ignorance. This just came in, AP's Bad Health Care Numbers Spread to Other News Organizations:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/17/aps-bad-health-care-numbe_n_237637.html

[Coltrane1234]

I hate blue dogs with such a passion.

[theone718]

Man these Blue Dogs anger me to no end. Waxman is one of the top 5 Congresspeople we have so he will get the job done and keep the bill intact.

[Lasnoe]

How is it reform when they are merely expanding a broken medicare system.... Reform would imply they're fixing problems not expanding them!

[jmpurser]

They're not expanding medicare. In fact they're cutting medicare. They're also not reforming anything substantial.

[agroman]

just hope u don't get sick on your current private plan

[rollingdivision]

If the policy elite really wanted to cut costs, they would deregulate medicine.

They don’t want to cut costs, they want to consolidate power.

[Philip Combs]

Utter horsepucky dude.

'Deregulation' is responsible for 90% of the problems this nation faces.

Please, sit down and shut up.

[Lasnoe]

why don't you please explain yourself..­..

Most corruption you find is found in industries with high levels of regulation­..... in case you guys haven't figured it out by now..... because regulation reduces competitio­n...

Lets see....

Financial sectors...­. heavily regulated
medical sectors...­. heavily regulated
Auto industry..­. heavily regulated
utility/energy providers.­.. heavily regulated
petrol/refining petrol... heavily regulated

all the sectors you guys are complaining about are highly regulated sectors and your solution to the problem is more regulation­s.... hahahaha

Do you guys realize when you look at every country in the world.... and ask the people what is the most corrupt entity/sec­tor/compan­y they can think of..... the answer comes back government!!!!!

you geniuses want to expand the governments role..... brilliant.­...

Anytime you put people in charge of spending other peoples money on people other than themselves you get waste..... government in that case definition defines waste!

[Nofuzzydreams]

Yes like lowering airfares so more people can afford air travel even though it reduced the pilots to bus drivers and flight attendants to restaurant waiters which they really are.

[rollingdivision]

Please post a few of the specific areas of deregulation you're referring to.

[GrafZeppelin127]

Or, how about this: In a national election in England, France, Sweded, Canada, &c., Candidate A wants to keep the current government-provided health care system despite all its flaws, while Candidate B runs on a platform of "reforming" health care by eliminating government coverage (except for the elderly and military veterans) and replacing it with an American-style, for-profit, employer-provided, private health insurance industry. Who would win that argument?

[USBrit]

Well, that one is pretty simple. Even the Tories in the UK dare not publicly mention trying to go to an American style system. Pretty much everyone except the wealthy in EU countries views the US system as what it is: an expensive disaster.

[GrafZeppelin127]

I wonder what the citizens of France or England or Sweden or Canada or any other free, industrialized, modern Western country that has some form of public health insurance would say if their leaders, politicians and/or pundits suggested to them that they change their health care system into the one we have now in the U.S. Would they welcome it?

[Expatslacker]

Some of those countries are opting to add more private choices (Canada for one) so what does that tell you.

[quiviran]

Look at the details. The increases in Canada are largely due to dental and vision care, which are not covered in the basic national health care. Also, much of the growth is insuring Canadian travelers to the US, who won't even cross the border without protection.

[GrafZeppelin127]

I suppose it tells me that having private insurance available to supplement government-provided coverage is probably a good idea.

[WinterParkMom]

47 million un insured
20 million under insured
fast food companies and insurance companies making profits hand over fist. Bushes tax cuts for the rich still in effect

Subtract 10 million poor/indig­ent/mental­ly ill, etc, who are uninsured and will have to get free care = 37 mill un-insured who can pay.
18.5 million can pay $50/mo = 925,000,000
18.5 mill can pay $100 = $1,850,000,000
20 mill under insured will switch and can pay $100 = 2,000,000,000
That is a grand total of $47,750,000,000
That is FOUR BILLION, SEVEN HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS IN PREMIUM PAYMENTS PER MONTH. FIFTY SEVEN BILLION THREE HUNDRED THIRTY MILLION PER YEAR IN PREMIUMS FOR ONE SET OF PEOPLE.
That does'nt count the millions who'll switch from private companies if they can pay $100 or 200 per month and have their entire family covered even with pre-existing conditions. Repeal the bush tax cuts asap.
After thinking about it more, we should have a 1 penny federal sales tax on EVERY purchase. I can hear the opponents shouting about making the poor poorer, but my statement is 1 cent on each purchase NOT on every dollar or hundred dollars. From candy bars to fruit to big screen tv's to your house. 1 cent on everything. If your grocery bill was $100. for 53 items, your bill would be $100.53. That's not putting people in the poorhouse especially when we've already been dealing with price increases

[Periwinkle]

Excellent analysis. I wish you worked for the CBO.

[quiviran]

You need to work the expenditure side too. $57 Billion/ 47 Million people = $1,200 per person per year. The average spending is about $5,800 per year in the VA system, which is currently the most cost effective system in the US, although its patient pool is both older and sicker than the national population.

I do agree that universal health care is needed and believe the current system is wrong on many levels, something much better is needed. It will take a tax-funded payment pool if it is ever to make any sense at all. The current US Medicare / Medicaid systems are just junior health insurance -lite. Not what we need. The current private health insurance system is both immoral and obscene, and should be outlawed.

Everybody needs health care, nobody needs health insurance.

[Nofuzzydreams]

And let me guess. You want fat-as* government workers handle the money instead of insurance companies and they will somehow be more competent?

[floridafun]

i agree that everybody needs health care, we need a public option!