Sweeping Health Care Plan Passes House

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Obama & Co. zijn halfweg. Nu de Senate nog en een goede pen ;)

Groet / Cees

November 8, 2009
Sweeping Health Care Plan Passes House
By CARL HULSE and ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON — Handing President Obama a hard-fought victory, the House
narrowly approved a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system
on Saturday night, advancing legislation that Democrats said could stand
as their defining social policy achievement.

After a daylong clash with Republicans over what has been a Democratic
goal for decades, lawmakers voted 220 to 215 to approve a plan that
would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years. Democrats said the legislation
would provide overdue relief to Americans struggling to buy or hold on
to health insurance.

“This is our moment to revolutionize health care in this country,” said
Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and one of the
chief architects of the bill.

Democrats were forced to make major concessions on insurance coverage
for abortions to attract the final votes to secure passage, a wrenching
compromise for the numerous abortion-rights advocates in their ranks.

Many of them hope to make changes to the amendment during negotiations
with the Senate, which will now become the main battleground in the
health care fight as Democrats there ready their own bill for what is
likely to be extensive floor debate.

Democrats say the House measure — paid for through new fees and taxes,
along with cuts in Medicare — would extend coverage to 36 million people
now without insurance while creating a government health insurance
program. It would end insurance company practices like not covering
pre-existing conditions or dropping people when they become ill.

Republicans condemned the vote and said they would oppose the measure as
it proceeds on its legislative route. “This government takeover has got
a long way to go before it gets to the president’s desk, and I’ll
continue to fight it tooth and nail at every turn,” said Representative
Kevin Brady, Republican of Texas. “Health care is too important to get
it wrong.”

On the House floor, Democrats exchanged high-fives and cheered wildly —
and Republicans sat quietly — when the tally display showed the 218th
and decisive vote, after the leadership spent countless hours in recent
days wringing commitments out of House members.

“We did what we promised the American people we would do,” said
Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland and the majority
leader, who also warned, “Much work remains.”

The successful vote came on a day when Mr. Obama traveled to Capitol
Hill to make a personal appeal for lawmakers to “answer the call of
history” and support the bill.

Only one Republican, Representative Anh Cao of Louisiana, voted for the
bill, and 39 Democrats opposed it. The House also defeated the
Republicans’ more modest plan, whose authors said it was a more
common-sense and fiscally responsible approach.

The Democrats who balked at the measure represent mainly conservative
swing districts, signaling that those who could be vulnerable in next
year’s midterm elections viewed voting for the measure as politically
risky.

“Today’s may be a tough vote, but it was in 1935 when we passed Social
Security,” Representative John Dingell, Democrat of Michigan and the
dean of the House, said as the debate drew to a close late Saturday.

Some Democrats said they voted for the legislation so they could seek
improvements in it. “This bill will get better in the Senate,” said
Representative Jim Cooper, a Tennessee Democrat who has been outspoken
in his criticism of some provisions of the bill but decided to support
it. “If we kill it here, it won’t have a chance to get better.”

After the vote, Mr. Obama issued a statement praising the House and
calling on the Senate to follow suit. “I am absolutely confident it
will,” he said, “and I look forward to signing comprehensive health
insurance reform into law by the end of the year.”

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said he would bring a
bill to the floor as soon as possible.

The vote came on the third anniversary of the 2006 Democratic takeover
of the House, and the passage moves the bill well beyond the health care
overhaul attempted by President Bill Clinton in 1993.

Lawmakers credited Mr. Obama with converting a final few holdouts during
his appearance at a closed-door meeting with Democrats just hours before
the vote. Democratic officials said that Mr. Obama’s conversation
Saturday with Representative Michael H. Michaud, Democrat of Maine, was
crucial in winning one final vote.

Many Democrats also credited Speaker Nancy Pelosi for pulling off a
victory that proved tougher than many had predicted. “She really
threaded the needle on this one,” said Representative Jim McGovern,
Democrat of Massachusetts.

A critical turning point was the decision by Ms. Pelosi late Friday
night to allow anti-abortion Democrats to try to tighten restrictions on
coverage for the procedure under any insurance plan that receives
federal money. That concession eased a threat by some Democrats to
abandon the bill, but also left Democrats who support abortion rights
facing a choice between backing a provision they bitterly opposed or
scuttling the bill. The new abortion controls were added to the measure
on a vote of 240 to 194.

Mr. Obama made his rare weekend appearance on Capitol Hill as part of an
all-out effort to rally Democrats to support the biggest health care
legislation since the creation of Medicare for the elderly four decades
ago.

During the private meeting with Democrats in the Cannon Caucus Room, the
president acknowledged the political difficulty of supporting major
legislation in the face of unanimous Republican opposition and tough
criticism from conservatives.

But, those present said, he urged them on, saying, “When I sign this in
the Rose Garden, each and every one of you will be able to look back and
say, ‘This was my finest moment in politics.’ ”

Republicans said the measure was too costly and would end up burdening
the nation for decades to come. Some Democrats expressed the same view
in explaining their opposition.

“This bill is a wrecking ball to the entire economy,” said
Representative Jack Kingston, Republican of Georgia. “We need targeted
specific reforms to help people who have fallen through the health care
cracks.”

But Democrats said that Republicans were intent on protecting the status
quo in health care and that the new Democratic approach would vastly
improve the ability of Americans to gain affordable health insurance.

“Now is the chance to fix our health care system and improve the lives
of millions of Americans,” Representative Louise M. Slaughter, Democrat
of New York and chairwoman of the Rules Committee, said as she opened
the daylong proceedings.

The wall of Republican opposition gave Democrats little room to
maneuver, and they worked to corral as many party members as they could.
But the preliminary approval to clear the way for the debate came on a
242-to-192 vote, suggesting that Democrats had a victory within reach.

The House vote was a significant step in the long-sought Democratic goal
of enacting broad changes in the way health care is delivered in the
nation. But the Senate has yet to bring its own emerging measure to the
floor for debate, and the two chambers will still need to negotiate and
approve a final bill in the weeks ahead.

The struggle House Democrats had in lining up the minimum number of
votes for the measure was a clear indication of how difficult it would
be to get final legislation to the president’s desk.

The House legislation, running almost 2,000 pages, would require most
Americans to obtain health insurance or face penalties — an approach
Republicans compared to government oppression.

Most employers would have to provide coverage or pay a tax penalty of up
to 8 percent of their payroll. The bill would significantly expand
Medicaid and would offer subsidies to help moderate-income people buy
insurance from private companies or from a government insurance plan. It
would also set up a national insurance exchange where people could shop
for coverage.

Republicans forced a House vote on their much more modest plan that
would expand coverage to just three million of the uninsured. But its
authors said it would bring down the costs of private insurance
premiums, which they argued was the chief concern of most Americans.

“More taxes, more spending and more government is not the plan for
reform the people support,” said Representative Virginia Foxx,
Republican of North Carolina and one of the conservatives who
relentlessly criticized the Democrats’ plan.

But Democrats said their proposal was long overdue, would relieve the
mounting anxiety of Americans struggling to get and retain health
insurance, and would ultimately improve the economy by bringing
spiraling health care costs under control.

“Our plan is not perfect, but it is a good start toward providing
affordable health care to all Americans,” said Representative Peter A.
DeFazio of Oregon.

**********
Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66 discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66 uwvoornaam uwachternaam
Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
Het on-line archief is te vinden op: http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
**********