Health care decision a week away, say Democrats

[cal04]

Updated 6:45 p.m.
By Shailagh Murray
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/01/health-care-decision-a-week-aw.html?hpid=topnews

Democratic leaders are aiming to decide next week about their next move on health care, senior aides said Wednesday.

President Obama is expected to reiterate his call for a comprehensive overhaul in his State of the Union address Wednesday night. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) still lack a game plan for moving forward, following the Democrats' surprise loss last week of a Massachusetts Senate seat, costing the party its filibuster-proof supermajority.

One problem the leaders can't seem to overcome is how to pay for whatever bill they are able to produce. Senate Democratic sources said Pelosi continues to protest the excise tax on high value insurance plans that the Senate would adopt to offset the cost of expaning coverage to the uninsured. Pelosi has urged Reid to drop the tax, or at least radically scale it back, leaving the bill with a revenue hole as large as $300 billion over 10 years. Many House Democrats oppose the excise tax because of its potential impact on union households.

Two options are on the table: pushing the Senate bill through the House, along with a companion bill of fixes; and starting from scratch with a smaller bill that includes only the most popular provisions. Reid and Pelosi are in the process of canvassing their caucuses to determine the best approach.



Seniors wait on care, grow sicker as copays rise
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35107033/ns/health-health_care/

[AlinPA]

1. They don't have the guts to pass anything in congress.

[leftstreet]

2. Kill the Bill - Start Over n/t

[FiveGoodMen]

5. Amen!

[amborin]

14. +1

[timeforpeace]

3. With the SOTU over, they will find they don't need to rush it after all.

[alstephenson]

4. Hey, how about this idea? RAISE TAXES on the RICH.

Obama campaigned and won the election on that premise.

[FiveGoodMen]

6. ...and Hallelujah!

Way past time to do that.

[old mark]

7. I thought is was supposed to be done by Christmas......nt

[old mark]

8. I thought is was supposed to be done by Christmas......nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

10. Christmas of when?

I got flamed when I suggested it wouldn't be done by this past Christmas......

[old mark]

11. Clearly, it will be done by SOME Christmas.....maybe....nt

[Cleita]

9. The money is there to cover everyone with comprehensive and quality

health care. It will require passing laws that prevent private insurance companies from offering basic health care, just like every other industrial country with national health care does, so that the state can take over and rein in costs while providing real coverage, not the grifter game insurance is doing nowadays. Insurance can offer extra benefits, outside of that, but they can't be allowed to keep funneling basic health care dollars to Wall Street and CEO wealth. The health bill as it stands now, would be prohibitively costly.

[dflprincess]

12. We should all have the care seniors have

it's called "Medicare" and the real solution is to expand it to all of us. Instead we're getting this insurance scam.

[backscatter712]

13. Senate Bill + reconciliation sidecar, WITH resurrected public option!

The Senate Bill + reconciliation sidecar strategy will give us the best possible bill, in such a way as to deal with Byrd Rule issues without losing important parts of reform such as pre-existing conditions clause bans and such, and compared to other strategies, this one has the least number of moving parts, brings the least opportunities for the GOP or Senate DINOs to derail it, and it includes the potential for including a public option in the bill, requiring only 51 votes in the Senate, so Lieberman wouldn't be able to cockblock it.