Health Care: It Ain't Over Yet
What do vampires, the KGB, and Senate Democrats have in common?
They all come after you at night.
Around 1 o’clock this morning, Senate Democrats won a procedural vote that clears the way for Christmas Eve passage of a health care bill. The Democrat leadership obtained the 60 votes needed for this triumph by buying the support of Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson in exchange for additional Medicaid funding for his state.
This Christmas present for America is more lump of coal than brightly wrapped toy: it is a government takeover of health insurance masquerading as cost cutting. Under the bill, insurers would remain private, but the government would dictate what coverage they must offer and who they must offer it to. Supporters argue that it is necessary to lower the high medical costs that take so harsh a toll on so many American families. They promise to lower costs without limiting the treatment choices available. But as I argued elsewhere (http://www.grebnesisrazor.com/2009/07/health-care-reform-counting-on-fewer.html), nearly every provision in this bill raises costs and limits choices.
Fortunately, this Congressional death match ain’t over. There are considerable differences between the Senate’s bill and the one passed by the House last month: creation of a public insurance option to compete with private insurers, restrictions on federal funding of abortion, and whether to pay for the bill with a tax on those who are rich or a tax on those who merely have rich insurance plans. When Congress returns from its Christmas junkets in January, House and Senate negotiators will have to resolve their differences and agree on a final bill. When they do, there will be new votes in both chambers.
Just as they did last night, the Democrats will need every vote they have in order to pass the final bill. Something for the people of Massachusetts to think about when they elect a new Senator in January.
They all come after you at night.
Around 1 o’clock this morning, Senate Democrats won a procedural vote that clears the way for Christmas Eve passage of a health care bill. The Democrat leadership obtained the 60 votes needed for this triumph by buying the support of Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson in exchange for additional Medicaid funding for his state.
This Christmas present for America is more lump of coal than brightly wrapped toy: it is a government takeover of health insurance masquerading as cost cutting. Under the bill, insurers would remain private, but the government would dictate what coverage they must offer and who they must offer it to. Supporters argue that it is necessary to lower the high medical costs that take so harsh a toll on so many American families. They promise to lower costs without limiting the treatment choices available. But as I argued elsewhere (http://www.grebnesisrazor.com/2009/07/health-care-reform-counting-on-fewer.html), nearly every provision in this bill raises costs and limits choices.
Fortunately, this Congressional death match ain’t over. There are considerable differences between the Senate’s bill and the one passed by the House last month: creation of a public insurance option to compete with private insurers, restrictions on federal funding of abortion, and whether to pay for the bill with a tax on those who are rich or a tax on those who merely have rich insurance plans. When Congress returns from its Christmas junkets in January, House and Senate negotiators will have to resolve their differences and agree on a final bill. When they do, there will be new votes in both chambers.
Just as they did last night, the Democrats will need every vote they have in order to pass the final bill. Something for the people of Massachusetts to think about when they elect a new Senator in January.
posted by Michael Isenberg at
6:12 PM
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