In a tight vote, the House passed its sweeping health bill late Saturday, marking the biggest victory yet for Democrats in their drive to create near-universal health insurance.
The bill passed by a 220-215 margin. It came after House leaders made a surprise last-minute concession that blocks abortion from the new government insurance plan in order to win over wavering Democrats.
Its passage moves Congress closer to the biggest expansion of the social safety net since the Medicare insurance program for the elderly was created in 1965. The measure spends $1.01 trillion over a decade to provide health insurance to an additional 36 million Americans and creates a new public insurance plan to compete with private insurers by 2013. It requires most Americans to carry insurance, creates a new exchange where they can shop for it and gives the lowest earners tax credits to help them pay for it.
11:08 PM ET – The final bill has been passed: 220-215, with 1 yea GOP and 39 nay Dem votes.
11:00 PM ET – Finally, they are voting on the bill. 215 votes already, all Dems. 36 nay votes; 41 necessary to kill the bill. 7 Dem votes left.
10:58 PM ET – TORT reform is rejected: 247-187, with 3 GOP yea and 12 Dem nay votes.
10:39 PM ET – Lawmakers are discussing TORT reform. Now voting on it – 15 minutes. It is pretty clear that the GOP will loose this one.
10:36 PM ET – GOP Substitute Bill is rejected: 258-176, with one nay GOP vote.
10:21 PM ET – Now 5 more minutes (expect 10 or more) to vote on the GOP substitute bill.
10:18 PM ET– The Stupak ammendment has been passed: 240-194 with 64 aye Dem votes. Funny to see that many lawmakers voted after the time expired.
09:57 PM ET – Lawmakers now have 15 minutes to vote on the Stupak ammendment, which bans abortion coverage in the public exchange.
09:26 PM ET – OK, the general debate is getting to an end. Now Boehner is closing and Pelosi or Waxman should follow. It seems Dems are confident that bill will pass. Probably not before midnight, though.
09:02 PM ET – As John and Adam always say, it is tough watching CSPAN — I’m tired of hearing “I yield 60 seconds to the distinguished member from Iowa”.
08:55 PM ET – Sources tell Politico that Dems have the vote: “House Democrats believe they’ve secured the 218 votes they need to approve the bill, several party insiders said.”
Schedule
- General debate (until around 9:30 PM ET)
- Debate on the Stupak anti-abortion amendment
- Debate on the Republican health care substitute
- Votes on the Stupak amendment and the GOP substitute
- Debate on the “motion to recommit,” a procedural move used by the minority party
- Vote on the motion to recommit
- Vote on the full bill (at around 12 PM ET)
Dems bill – HR 3962 (opencongress.org)
- seeks to expand coverage to 36 million Americans
- creation of government-run insurance plan
- requires all Americans to have health insurance
- prohibition on denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions (fine of up to U$250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years)
- establish a new health insurance exchange (where people will buy health insurance from)
- surtax on households with an income above U$350,000
- gross cost is U$1.055 trillion over 10 years
GOP bill – substitute to HR 3962 (PDF)
- seeks to expand coverage to 3 million Americans (less than population’s growth during the first 10 years)
- won’t create a government-run insurance plan
- reduce deficits by U$68 billion
Live blog – Huffington Post
We’ll be updating this live with the latest news. Please leave comments on how we can make this page better. (You can also help us making this page less biased, that is, if you think it is left or right leaning in any way.)
I do not understand why the Republicans supported the Stupak amendment. A smart minority party would have voted present. Killing the amendment might have killed the final bill (a swing of three votes was all that was needed). But instead, the GOP gave pro-life Democrats the cover they needed to vote for the full bill.
Re 60 Blashy.
Ditto.
Just two personal Canadian examples…
Sure, if you’re not all that sick, you might have to sometimes wait your turn in emerg, but check this out:
Once had an MRI for a false alarm 15 min after arriving at emergency.
Had a 2.5 month premature baby requiring maybe 1 million $ of care. That’s 24 hours near-personal specialized-nurse care, as most all preemies require – til healthy discharge at what should have been term. Total cost: not even a hint of a bill. Not even the inconvenience of paperwork.
Our monthly pay-in is so small, I honestly don’t even know what it is. I’m guessing twice the cablevision.
RBG
ObamaCare is just a Trojan Horse which will allow government to control every aspect of public and private life.
The first clue to this designed oppression is if you don’t buy insurance you are threatened with jail.
I submit a more accurate direction is if you are part of a certain group and don’t buy insurance you will go to jail or more likely fined into poverty.
The writing is on the wall, Obama’s Number One goal is “Wealth Redistribution” not health care. Once that travesty is achieved then it’s game, set and match.
Everyone equally miserable – what a world.
#61, Because they wanted the bill to pass as well. Only, they couldn’t publicly support it because it would have pissed off too many of their constituents. This way, they can claim innocence.
If you don’t believe that, look at all the socialistic health care programs passed under Bush II.
It’s all shuck and jive.
No one will be forced to by insurance, stop listening to Glenn Beck and Fox news. Your choice will be to either get adequate coverage or pay a 2.5% tax on your salary for the burden you place on everyone else.
#65-TJ-No one will be forced to by insurance…
You have been watching too much ObamaNews.
Your own words condemn your statement.
“Your choice will be to either get adequate coverage or pay a 2.5% tax on your salary”
I happen to disagree with your figures because it will be much worse, but for the sake of this discussion – this is being forced to buy insurance.
You did leave out the choice – or go to jail.
We’re doomed. They should have given us socialism, but instead we got fascism.
Fascism = when corporations and government unify against the public.
#66 Dr. Dodd
You are mischaracterizing this, I didn’t leave out any choices. The choice is buy insurance if you can afford it or pay more taxes. If you don’t pay your taxes you go to jail, this isn’t new.
If you want a choice how’s this:
Pay taxes or leave the country.
All this big help from the government is making me sick.
#68, Is that how you justify it? Because it’s called a “tax” it is therefore not a forced purchase of insurance?
What if a small business owner decided he wasn’t going to provide insurance for his people anymore nor pay the insurance fee to the government? Would the government come in, shut down his business by putting him in jail, and put all his people out of work? Would they and their families then be able to get “free” health care from the government because they no longer had jobs?
You people have no clue what you are doing here. This is going to do nothing but increase the cost of insurance more than it is now. And you are going to be paying for it because I will not take a cut in profits to compensate — I’m going to raise my rates which then get passed on to you. Groceries are going to cost more because the grocer has a higher bill. Unemployment will remain high because companies won’t want the extra burden of hiring people due to the added overhead.
If the Senate passes this shit, it will be the end of the US economy. There is no way to avoid it.
So much for “taxes on those making less than $250,000 will not go up.”
#68-TJ-You are mischaracterizing this…
The greatest mischaracterizing going on here is calling this health care reform. The thieves and whores in Washington are using the power of government to gain absolute power and control.
History is full of examples proving that there will always be people who thirst for power no matter what age or century we live.
We are witnessing just another in the long line of schemes those who have tasted power use to satisfy this lust.
It’s a shame they don’t teach history in schools anymore.
You are forced into paying into Social Security through FICA payments. I think that this will affect many low wage earners in their pocketbooks. Yes, they be provided insurance but many younger people choose not to get insurance because they need the money.
I am on the side that health insurance is a option and not a right or a mandate as the Democrat’s have worded it.
>I do not understand why the Republicans supported the Stupak amendment. A smart minority party would have voted present.
Because this not the last step, but an intermediate one. The Republicans expect that this amendment will be taken out in conference, and then the same Democrats will then vote no.
Throw in coverage for illegal immigrants, and the Republican plan is to have Democrats fight themselves.
>It came after House leaders made a surprise last-minute concession that blocks abortion from the new government insurance plan in order to win over wavering Democrats.
Why are you repeating this misinformation? Pres Obama assured us that there was no coverage for abortion in the plan. Why are you repeating these slanderous accusations that Obama lies?
#70 LibertyLover
Since you posted the same comment in two threads, I’m reposting my response as well,
#32 LibertyLover
I’m not justifying anything. You will not be forced to buy insurance, because you won’t have insurance if opt out and pay the tax.
For someone who makes 60K the additional tax would be about $1,500 dollars a year. Not a small amount of money but considerably less than an insurance policy which would cost from 3K to 10K for the same individual.
Some small businesses are exempt, but even if they weren’t, it would be no different than it is today with social security and medicare etc. If you choose not to pay your taxes you can lose your business and face jail time. Most of the time you only have to pay what you owe plus fines.
I am concerned about insurance prices going up, but mostly because of the damage done by lobyists to the public option.
One of the biggest reasons insurance is so expensive is because the insured are paying for the uninsured. Hospitals pass these cost of treating uninsured patients to insured ones. The idea is that if everyone is insured the average cost of medical treatment will decrease.
I am a small business owner, I have 7 employees and I provide health insurance, it currently costs us 90k a year to cover our employees. I provide insurance because I believe that healthy employees are productive ones. People who can’t afford preventative medicine or take care of their families health concerns cannot work effectively. People who are in-firmed cannot work, if they are bankrupted from medical treatment costs they can’t buy products, which is what or economy is based on.
originally here.
#70, Loser,
#68, Is that how you justify it? Because it’s called a “tax” it is therefore not a forced purchase of insurance?
Nope. Simply because you don’t get insurance for that 2.5%. If you actually read the bill instead of relying on Beck or Limbaugh to explain it you would know.
It is a tax that will help cover the government insurance to the poor and indigent. You could avoid the tax by deducting your own insurance premiums. Or not.
#3, Goracle, and all the other wing nuts that made the same comment.
Please give me one example of something the government forces you to purchase by specifically legislating that you shall purchase….
Social Security and Medicare. In case you haven’t noticed, no one is trying to repeal either. Just ask your mother or grandmother if she appreciates Medicare.
$75, I don’t recall you having fulfilled the requirements to allow you to talk to me yet.
Have I missed it somewhere?
Loser,
Since your post is just a copy and paste of another, let me copy my reply.
@#33
#32, Loser,
“What if a small business owner decided he wasn’t going to provide insurance for his people anymore nor pay the insurance fee to the government?”
They would send a letter informing him his taxes were overdue.
“Would the government come in, shut down his business by putting him in jail, and put all his people out of work?”
Who knows. That is a Justice Department decision. The business could be seized by the government if the owner still refused to pay the taxes. If the owner still refused to pay his taxes he could be fined and or JAILED.
Would the government put the people out of work? No. The tax evader would be the one doing that. The business would most likely be sold for unpaid taxes and since a going concern is worth more, the Government would most likely appoint an interim administrator.
Blaming the government for the owner’s crimes is foolish. Typical greedy, selfish, inconsiderate tactics of Liebertarians though. Blame others for their refusal to pay their share of the public obligation.
“Would they and their families then be able to get “free” health care from the government because they no longer had jobs?”
Unemployed generally qualify for Medicaid.
You people have no clue what you are doing here.
No, once again you demonstrate your ignorance. We the people want health care reform.
“I will not take a cut in profits to compensate — I’m going to raise my rates which then get passed on to you.”
None of the current health care bills apply to Sim City or any other Fantasy World. In the real world, posers don’t count.
“If the Senate passes this shit, it will be the end of the US economy. There is no way to avoid it.”
The exact same complaint heard when Social Security, all of Roosevelt’s aid packages, Civil Rights legislation, Medicare, Clinton’s 1995 budget, Nixon’s resignation, and the invasion of Iraq happened. We are still here.
You give yourself away as a poser simply because you are always saying it can’t be done instead of suggesting how it can be done. The difference between running your own business and still living off of your mother. Posers cry generalities while doers discuss specifics.
#78 LibertyLover
“$75, I don’t recall you having fulfilled the requirements to allow you to talk to me yet.
Have I missed it somewhere?”
Wow, I’d say you just lost the argument, anyone else agree? What are you a child?