Senate Breaks Health Stalemate; First Votes Today

[steven johnson]

Source: New York Times

By ROBERT PEAR and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

WASHINGTON — At the end of a third day of Senate debate over sweeping health care legislation, Democrats and Republicans said Wednesday night that they had broken an impasse over the seemingly simple question of how and when to vote on the first amendments.

In a closed-door meeting of his caucus, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, told Democrats that Republicans were not interested in passing a bill. In effect, he prepared them for trench warfare, saying the Democrats must stick together and should be ready to work weekends to finish the bill before Christmas.

Senate leaders of both parties said they would vote Thursday on four proposals dealing with two issues: how to guarantee additional health benefits for women and how to squeeze nearly a half-trillion dollars from Medicare over 10 years without adversely affecting older Americans.

Democrats offered one proposal to cover a wide range of screenings and preventive health services for women. Republicans drafted an alternative, intended to outdo the Democrats.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/health/policy/03health.html

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Democrats need at least 60 votes to limit debate on the measure so now we see if Reid can hold the coalition together.

[napi21]

1. GO Harry! Most of the savings will come from adjusting the

Advantage programs. We have an advantage program now and just signed up for another one for 2010. It's cheap for the consumer. Last year we paid $39/mo, & in 2010 we will pay $25.59/mo. That's in addition to the $97 they take out of the SS check each month. I am willing to pay more to get everyone or almost everyone covered by HC in the US.

We live totally on SS, so I'm not talking from a wealthy family! I want the best for everyone else!

[glinda]

2. That would beat the $500/mo we try to pay now for me.

[napi21]

4. I hear ya. I guess I'm asking you to give me a bit of a break because the

only raise We will ever get is a COLA and there is none this year. You at least can bargain for a raise in pay once ina while. You also have to remember that all of us pay into medicare every payday, as we have done. A lot of the costs are paid from those contributions.

[JDPriestly]

5. You can't compare Medicare and other health care.

We pay into Medicare all our working lives so that it will be there when we retire.

They already take $100 from my Social Security for my advantage program. I don't get enough Social Security to be able to pay much more. I'm not sure you can get a decent doctor to accept Social Security with and Advantage plan or Supplemental plan in L.A. The cost of living is very high here. I would be very upset if the cost of my Advantage plan went up. It is already going up in 2010. That is enough because Social Security recipients are not getting COLA increases.

[Q3JR4]

11. I would like to HAVE medical insurance,

of course I'd probably have to think twice before paying $500/month...

Q3JR4.

[Triana]

7. My Mom hates Kaiser's 'Advantage' program

They refuse to cover things Medicare does - even though they're getting paid by Medicare. Advantage programs are nothing but privatization of a gov't program. The effing taxpayer money goes to the private insurance companies.

f*ck them. The SAME way they're f*cking over my Mom.

The health "care" reform effort in the U.S. is dead IMO. The Democrats have effed it up royally. The ONLY chance they had to enact REAL HEALTH CARE REFORM - and they turn it into "health insurance reform" - basically YET ANOTHER GOV'T GIVEAWAY to private corprats and try to pass that off as "reform".

HA!

Bullshit. Health "care" reform in the U.S.? Eh. Not. So. Much.

[SkyDaddy7]

8. There simply was no way Single Payer would have passed...

So, they are trying to pass what they can. I agree, it might not be the reform we want but the reality is Single Payer never had a chance!

[John Q. Citizen]

9. The corporations own the country so what the people want won't ever pass. The corporations have

bought the congress and they get what they want, not what we want.

I wouldn't call that "trying to pass what they can" though. I'd call it doing their corporate masters bidding.

[Iowa]

12. +1

[Frances]

10. I think Medicare Advantage rips off the taxpayer.

My regular medicare costs the taxpayer 14% less than Medicare Advantage would cost the taxpayer.

The cost of my medicare is deducted from my social security check. I have a supplemental policy that I pay myself. So I get the same care Medicare Advantage supplies at about the same cost to myself. BUT I save the taxpayers money!

[Hekate]

3. Another staggering step forward...

Waiting to exhale here.

Hekate

[47of74]

6. What Harry should tell 'em is that...

...the Senate will work on Christmas Day if need be to get the bill passed.