Comparing the Health Care Bills
Written by Marlo .
It looks as though the Senate will pass a bill.
In the early hours…of the shortest day of the year…the Senate overcame the first of three Republican roadblocks. Two more procedural attempts to derail the legislation before Christmas will occur; but it is likely the Democrats and other supporters will sweep those aside and we will have a Senate bill.
The bill differs a great deal from the bill passed by the House. There will need to be a consolidation of the plans.
I have not read the complete Senate bill. Giveaways to really small populations to overcome their Senator’s blackmail is not what I like to read about. Businessweek reported on a bit of this:
Vermont and Massachusetts also won additional Medicaid funds; plastic surgeons were persuasive in their bid to strip out a proposed tax on elective plastic surgery; hospitals in the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana won additional Medicare funds; and there was more money for hospitals in Hawaii to treat the uninsured.
But, I didn’t have to vote on it, we’ll read the Senate version once it is clear and then compare it to the House version in an effort to discuss it objectively.
In the meantime, I like this description of where we are in the process from a discussion at DemocraticUnderground.com.
Comparing the Health Care Bills originally appeared on About.com Business Insurance on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 14:01:49.