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Rhetoric escalates in health bill debate
Reform clears 1st hurdle in Senate
The U.S. Senate vote over the weekend pushed health-care reform past one legislative hurdle, but rhetoric on both sides of the sweeping issue remains discordant.
Former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, now national secretary of Health and Human Services, released a report Monday detailing the state-by-state impact of the legislation awaiting approval in Congress.
This came two days after senators from her state, Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback, both Republicans, voted against a procedural matter that allows debate on the matter to continue.
Missouri's two senators, Republican Kit Bond and Democrat Claire McCaskill, split the state's vote, staying with their parties on the cloture motion that required 60 votes. The matter passed 60 to 39.
With this clearance, debate in the Senate will commence after the congressional Thanksgiving break. The U.S. House has already passed its version of health-care reform.
Ms. Sebelius, the health leader in President Obama's cabinet, sold the reform measure Monday with statistics showing 360,000 uninsured residents in her home state would get coverage.
"About 75,000 of Kansas seniors save money on their medications," she said in a conference call with reporters. "About 40,000 small businesses would be eligible for tax credits to make health insurance premiums more affordable."
According to the report, under the title "The Case for Change," the reform bill would allow 790,000 Missourians to get health coverage. At least 516,000 residents would qualify for premium tax credits to help them buy insurance, the report added, and almost 80,000 small businesses in the state would be helped by a tax credit.
If reform fails, the report says, the number of uninsured Americans will increase by at least 10 percent in every state by 2019.
"The reports give us a clear picture of what kind of change health care reform will bring in a very tangible fashion," Ms. Sebelius said Monday. "We have a pretty good idea about the status quo. ... Ten more years of doing nothing paints a pretty bleak picture."
Opponents of the measure focused mostly on its high price tag. Mr. Bond stood as one of its staunchest critics in the debate before the Saturday night vote.
"Move over, Bernie Madoff. Tip your hat to a trillion-dollar scam," the Missouri senator said. "Even the Congressional Budget Office has called 'bull' on this stunt, saying it would be difficult to maintain the savings the majority has been touting."
Ken Newton can be reached
at kenn@npgco.com.
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HickFromSticks says...
We don't want Belagosi's stickin' health care! Were in the Constitution does it say the government can make citizens "buy" anything???
November 24, 2009 at 9:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OldGrumpy says...
One thing is for sure, once Obama steamrolls his "National Health Plan" through and it becomes law, NONE of our "Duly Elected Officials" will be made to use it, they will STILL have their own special plan, it'll be us mere citizens that will have to suffer through the "Death Panels" and use the "Soylent Green" Health Plan.
November 24, 2009 at 10:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Wright_Winger says...
The Democrat legislation is NOT health CARE reform except to the extent that it will RATION health CARE and make it even more expensive.
The correct terminology is health INSURANCE reform which will according to the Congressional Budget Office increase the cost of insurance, just one of the many evils of the pending legislation.
"The public insurance option would typically charge higher premiums than private plans available in the exchange, according to the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the House bill."
Source:
http://www.politico.com/livepulse/100...
November 24, 2009 at 11:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
donaldo says...
here it comes, we will get health care and we will just have to like it. too bad the insurance company's are going down the tubes. it will be the new health care that the people will soon enjoy. stop trying to scare everyone and get into the idea that it will be the next big deal to be good for all of us. change is sometimes scary, it will be fine, trust me, it will.and if i cant convince you of that, tuff dung, deal with it! ! ! ! !
November 24, 2009 at 12:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sjsk8rboi says...
donald, you do know that you will be forced to purchase insurance if you don't have it provided by your employer, right? This is not free healthcare. It just makes government insurance more readily available. Plus, once Medicare and Medicaid are gutted, our seniors will no longer have the coverage they once had and they will also be forced to purchase insurance or face jail time. Should seniors be scared if the government determines that grandma doesn't need that hip replacement when she's 90 years old? There's a reason people are scared. It's not an invisible boogeyman or talking-head pundit, it's the way this "reform" is being forced down our throats with little or no oversight by anyone except two or three people in Washington.
When the Repubs were in the majority, the Dems were constantly outraged at the increase in our deficits. Now that they have control, deficits are meaningless and we are spending money faster than we can print it. When will this cycle stop? Right now, there is no end in sight. That's why people are scared.
November 24, 2009 at 4:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
donaldo says...
when are you going to stop believing this crap? no one in his or her right mind is that dumb to believe any of this crap you are spewing. sjs8robi, you are a very confused man, you have no idea what you are saying. you don't even know what this is all about.you are as bad as lod, you have a very negative mind set. you listen to insurance company's rhetoric for so long you don't keep an open mind. i have insurance that i pay a lot of money, the best next to the congress and senate plan and i don't need to buy anything, you are either being paid to be stupid and spread lies or just damned old stupid.i really don't need to be educated by a bunch of idiots. thank you for being so concerned, i will be fine. we need health reform, accept it as that and we can take care of the poor who don't have health care.if i upset someone here, oh well, i don't care.
November 25, 2009 at 12:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )