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House narrowly passes health care bill
Published Saturday, November 7, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a victory for President Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed landmark health care legislation Saturday night to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous.
The 220-215 vote cleared the way for the Senate to begin debate on the issue that has come to overshadow all others in Congress.
A triumphant Speaker Nancy Pelosi likened the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later.
‘‘It provides coverage for 96 percent of Americans. It offers everyone, regardless of health or income, the peace of mind that comes from knowing they will have access to affordable health care when they need it,’’ said Rep. John Dingell, the 83-year-old Michigan lawmaker who has introduced national health insurance in every Congress since succeeding his father in 1955.
In the run-up to a final vote, conservatives from the two political parties joined forces to impose tough new restrictions on abortion coverage in insurance policies to be sold to many individuals and small groups. They prevailed on a roll call of 240-194.
Ironically, that only solidified support for the legislation, clearing the way for conservative Democrats to vote for it.
The legislation would require most Americans to carry insurance and provide federal subsidies to those who otherwise could not afford it. Large companies would have to offer coverage to their employees. Both consumers and companies would be slapped with penalties if they defied the government’s mandates.
Insurance industry practices such as denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions would be banned, and insurers would no longer be able to charge higher premiums on the basis of gender or medical history.
In a further slap, the industry would lose its exemption from federal antitrust restrictions on price gouging, bid rigging and market allocation.
Comments
Posted by jrn59 (anonymous) on November 8, 2009 at 6:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
God help us! Those past 64 years of age should begin their funeral planning now. Read the bill, its NOW online (after the pelosi vote). Only one good comes out of this: all who are up for re=election in 2010, and voted for this bill, say goodbye now....
Posted by flylo (anonymous) on November 8, 2009 at 8:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Our poor soldiers what a way to welcome Veterans day!!What did these men fight and die in vane for?
We are well on our way to becoming a socialist country.
America as we once knew it the "Land of the Free, and Home of the Brave" is leaving fast.
I'm so mad I can not even put in my comment what this means to our future. Yes hopefully all the sorry socialist will start being voted out because of this stupid conservative move.
Posted by dancingpig (anonymous) on November 8, 2009 at 9:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"die in VANE?
Posted by commentremovedbystaff (anonymous) on November 8, 2009 at 12:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am excited about these death panels and I think you should be too. Think about all the problems it will solve. Gone will be the days of getting socks for Christmas and all of those car accidents these people cause. Nursing homes will no longer be needed. Florida will be massively depopulated and bingo halls can be reclaimed by the young.
Posted by SniperX (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 9:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Welcome to the end of America! We all have front row seats.
How does Democracy die? With the vote of idiots.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 11:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes as a practicing liberal let me say I am happy to see the end of life as we know it. I sold my property this morning and gave the money to the government.
It will be illegal to utter the name of God -- any where, any way. Finally.
Children will have their eyes taped open at 5 years old and subjected to video training in evolution and global warming, then given narcotics to ensure they cannot re-think the training.
All laws against child pornography will be repealed.
Your children will become state property and will be sold to foreign parents based on a bidding system. The state has always owned them you just had to raise them yourself under the old system.
You won't mind it because you will no longer have money and your children will be constantly browbeating you about your role in climate change, anyway.
Democrats will kill you when you cease to be a productive member of society. It doesn't matter how old you are -- the panel will decide.
Doctors, lawyers and health care professionals will receive a number and will go to the concentration camps when instructed. There they will give their scrubs to zombies who will impersonate health care officials while the former professionals sit in mock waiting rooms while waiting for the decision of the Death Panel. note: you must give your financial information at the door, and if you have ever been sued by anyone for malpractice you will be eaten for lunch.
Those people who were formally Republicans will be mashed into SPAM cans and sent to the Third World where you will finally be of use to someone besides yourself -- at least for a few moments.
______________________
I swear I don't know how some of you folks in Mississippi remember how to get out of bed in the morning.
Posted by dottie (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 12:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I can't let this pass. I've got to go on record as
being a proud American and a christean too. I am
appalled by the comment posted by the Demorat and my
conscious dictates I speak up. I would like to see
the Democrat do an editorial on their comment. I
refuse to believe this is the views of a site staff.
More likely one person, but who? Some juvenile. Done
without class or taste. This type of press is most
destructive to our country. I doubt my comment will
be allowed, and that is A-OK, my conscious is clear.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 12:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well I am not sure if Dottie is irritated at my comment or at the article.
Excuse my sarcasm -- of course all that above in my other post is sarcasm. And well crafted sarcasm at that -- if you listen to the stuff that gets said in this state in barber shops and deer camps.
I would be surprised if the paper staff would want to censor it as it is no more ridiculous than accusing Democrats of sponsoring DEATH PANELS. And no more tasteless than calling the folks who have voted for reform "idiots".
After hearing endlessly about the Death Panels and life as we know it, and how everybody who votes pro-reform is an idiot, I decided to put something up as stupid as the stuff I hear from the locals.
At least mine was meant as a joke!
Posted by kmbjd40 (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 7 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Was it a joke? I wonder...
Posted by southernwoman (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 7:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Would some people publicly pretend to believe anything in order to protect their self interests? I wonder...
Posted by southernwoman (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 7:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Of course it's a joke. I remember the cries of doomsday in the 1960s when Lyndon Johnson pushed Medicare through Congress. One politician/attorney I knew told me the United States would be down the tubes within five years.
This legislation takes some power from the insurance companies - how can we not support that?
And it would force those who can afford it to carry health insurance. I would think those of you who complain that you are picking up the tab for everyone else would like that.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on November 10, 2009 at 8:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
C'mon kmbjd. If you can tell so well when folks from the other side of politics are dumb or daft, you certainly can recognize the flavor of the stupidest rhetoric from your own side.
No matter whether you do it or not a lot of people use conservative values as a way to shortcut thinking. Many have done it so long they can not even approach anything in other ways -- so conservative banter gets to be like people reciting jingles to one another to feel connected.
Posted by kmbjd40 (anonymous) on November 10, 2009 at 2 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Like you, I was only kidding. Lighten up a little.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on November 10, 2009 at 3:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
He,he, well I feel better now. I'll have to wonder when you're joking from now on-- I thought you were serious cuz you never seem to beat up on rushing and he has got to take the cake.
That last paragraph I wrote is the gospel and we can smile about it or frown about it as needed.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on November 10, 2009 at 5:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I just can't imagine how anyone could be too bent out of shape about the changes below:
"Insurance industry practices such as denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions would be banned, and insurers would no longer be able to charge higher premiums on the basis of gender or medical history.
In a further slap, the industry would lose its exemption from federal antitrust restrictions on price gouging, bid rigging and market allocation."
On the one hand denying the industry the right to discriminate based on preexisting is a violation of free enterprise.
On the other hand the industry sure has worked hard to limit free enterprise so far with laws that favor it. You have to figure that for everyone who cannot afford insurance a certain percentage will belly up and not pay some of their bills which the rest of us will have to pay in higher costs.
In all the welfare whining I think the above changes are a good solution to making insurance costs more affordable for people to pay their own way. Of course some people will pay more, but gee whiz it is not a free ride.
Posted by bayougal (anonymous) on November 11, 2009 at 7:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Who's going to pay for this wondrous thing? Those "rich" folks who make over $500,000 a year income. Coincidentally, a large portion of these same folks are small business owners. Does anyone see where that's going?
Posted by rhymeandreason (anonymous) on November 11, 2009 at 9:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well said Yeahuhuh. If anyone posting watches any "news" other Fox they will have seen the release of a major study by the World Health Organization. The US falls 31st in the world for life expectancy (and 50th and even lower in many categories). The only time that life expectancy increases in the US is AFTER the age of 65. Age 65 when Medicare kicks in! Another one of those "government run" programs that seniors can't wait to participate in. Although I'm certain the conscience of all these gloom and doom posters prevents them from participating in such a socialist program.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on November 11, 2009 at 11:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
And if you look at life expectancy on a state level, Mississippi and the conservative southern states are at the bottom of the list.
How can being conservative actually be the "safe" way to live if the states conservatives most completely control offer the quickest demise?
Life is full of little contradictions like that. That said I live pretty conservatively in a lot of ways.
Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on November 15, 2009 at 7:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
a couple of things you guys neglect- the WHO report is based on information that may not be accurate as many countries do not have the data systems we do......personally I have very little confidence in those reports.....
and no one can really say much about the healthcare bill passed by the house as NO ONE has read the entire 2000 pages and can comprehend what all is in there.....
it's just ridiculous- the big impact I see is more unemployment, insurance companies and doctors getting fed up with the BS and going out of business- What are you gonna do then? The gov't cannot FORCE insurance companies to operate without profit, doctors either.......Which may well be the ultimate objective- to push the insurance companies OUT of business, then the door will be open for full government control, the public option will be the ONLY option. Many claim this as a massive government takeover.......that's what it looks like to me.
Anyway, it's highly likely all will be for naught as the bill will die in the Senate, just get a job and pay for your health insurance......push for better tort reform, more subsidy of medical training- let's face it- to me the real problem is shortage of medical staff, abundance of bad lifestyle resulting in an abundance of health issues- obesity invites all sorts of problems... The Democrat bill does nothing to change the average person's actual health in regards to lifestyle ( that's what I've heard reported, like I said - I haven't read the 2000 page bill and I doubt seriously that anyone commenting here has either.......
Hopefully the Republican 200 page bill will be honestly debated and voted on and passed and then we can understand that and get COSTS DOWN without all the liberal spending and taxation which will not get costs down but rather in fact, enact fines and taxes and layers of bureaucracy that will only add to administrative and paper costs......This bureaucracy does include rationing of services, which does also include third-party decision-making regarding elderly care and putting a $$$ value on a person's life, is it justifiable to give an elderly person treatment when that person is likely to die within just a few years? That is the death panel. And that is in the bill, reportedly...So many decisions of health treatment will be based on economics, NOT the quality of the person's life, but weighing whether there will be any social gain for spending money on the treatment.
but no one really knows, it's all speculation at this point.....
Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on November 15, 2009 at 7:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
yeahuhuh- as usual you are tooting your horn and making yourself look like a fool - "well crafted sarcasm" - HA! You're so blind to anything other than entitlement philosophy you refuse to see the truth.
The last comment about life expenctancy is so ridiculous, as any average of life span will not accurately indicate the life expectancy of any individual. Lifestyles vary so greatly. You cannot compare the life expectancy of people who live vastly different lifestyles. And you have that in Mississippi, as everywhere else. People that eat fried chicken three times a day and are obese cannot be compared to people that are vegetarian and excercise regularyly..... I know many people that are living into their 80's , but at the same time you have a lot of people dying in their 20's, due to lifestyle, ........have some common sense.
If you're worried about healthcare, then get your lifestyle straightened out and healthy. Work out regularly, keep your body composition reasonable, eat balanced diet, get plenty of rest, don't smoke and don't drink too much......try to drive safely and defensively, avoid obvious danger, observe family health history and take action to protect yourself from heart/circulatory/respirtory, etc problems that run in your family. Get check ups every now and then. Do this and odds are you'll be healthy in the long run. Do what the doctor says and don't try to get over on him/her with frivolous lawsuits that generally are a result of the patient NOT keeping wounds clean or following doctors orders.........
Posted by time4change (anonymous) on November 15, 2009 at 11:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Illegal alien criminals are sent to the hospital and doctor from the prison out on Hwy 84, so why shouldn't law abiding legal citizens also get healthcare? Instead of housing, feeding, educating, and giving health care to illegal criminals, send them back to their own countries to be put in their own prisons and use that money spent in this country for their up-keep on law abiding citizens healthcare!
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