Government Takeover of Health Care

Reid: Finish Line on Health Care Overhaul 'is Finally in Sight'

November 18, 2009

McClatchy Newspapers - Senate Democratic leaders Wednesday unveiled a sweeping $849 billion plan to overhaul the nation's health care system, a proposal likely to trigger an epic Senate battle over how consumers will buy and maintain coverage.

The Senate could vote as early as Saturday to begin debate on the measure, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates should shave $127 billion from the federal deficit over the next 10 years, the biggest projected savings of any major health care bill thus far.

The legislation would require most people to obtain insurance and create a government-run insurance plan, or public option, starting in 2014, and states could choose to not participate.

It would bar insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions and set up exchanges, or marketplaces, where consumers could easily compare coverage and rates, and provide federal help for lower-income people to obtain policies.

Getting the 2,074-page bill approved promises to be a lengthy, arduous struggle, but an unusually optimistic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that "tonight begins the last leg of this journey we've been on for some time . . . the finish line is finally in sight."

Sixty votes are needed to begin debate on the measure, and Senate leaders said they're confident they'll get the votes to proceed after talking with three wavering moderates, Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln, Louisiana's Mary Landrieu and Nebraska's Ben Nelson.

Nelson said that while he remained undecided, the possible Saturday vote shouldn't be seen as a judgment on the bill's substance.

"It is a motion to start debate on a bill and to try to improve it," he said.

Other moderates were also cautious.

"We'll wait and see," Lincoln said. Added Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., "I'm going to reserve judgment until I've had a chance to read it, but the numbers on deficit reduction are encouraging."

Republicans, who've bitterly opposed similar initiatives, vowed to fight; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky called it a "yet another trillion dollar experiment," and vowed "this will not be a short debate." He could find some allies among moderate Democrats.

Liberals were ecstatic, though. The cost estimate was within President Barack Obama's goal of $900 billion, and the bill would lower the number of uninsured by 31 million.

"What's not to like about this bill?" asked Senate Health Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

The long-awaited bill differs from the version passed in the House of Representatives Nov. 7 in at least three crucial ways.

First, its government plan would permit states to "opt out," whereas the House doesn't, though the CBO preliminary analysis still figures 94 percent of eligible Americans would be covered, compared with the current 83 percent. The House bill would result in coverage for an estimated 96 percent.

Second, the Senate measure would raise funds with a variety of taxes, notably a tax on more expensive insurance policies — $8,500 on policies for singles and $23,000 for families — and a 0.5 percentage point boost, to 1.95 percent, in the Medicare payroll tax for singles with adjusted gross incomes above $200,000, and families earning more than $250,000. Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the high-end insurance tax would raise $149.1 billion over 10 years, while the Medicare tax increase would raise $53.8 billion. Neither provision is in the House bill, which would instead impose an income tax surcharge on the wealthy.

Third, the Senate bill has less restrictive language than the House on abortion, which is sure to spark a fight.

If the Senate moves ahead with consideration of the bill, the debate is expected to last until lawmakers leave for a holiday recess in late December and perhaps continue into January.

If the Senate passes a bill, it would have to be reconciled with the House version. A negotiating committee of both chambers' leaders would craft the compromise, and both chambers would then have to approve it sometime early next year...

Sen. Merkley: Authority to Force People to Buy Health Insurance is Part of Congress's 'Very First Enumerated Power'

November 16, 2009

CNSNews.com - Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.) says that Congress derived the constitutional authority to make Americans purchase health insurance as part of its "very first enumerated power." He was referring to the language at the beginning of Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which says:

"The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States."

Both House and Senate versions of the health care reform legislation mandate that individuals purchase health insurance, an unprecedented form of federal regulation.

In 1994, when Congress was considering a universal health care plan proposed by then-President Clinton that included a mandate that all individuals purchase health insurance, the Congressional Budget Office studied the issue and discovered that the federal government had never in the history of the United States mandated that individuals purchase any good or service.

“A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action,” said the CBO. “The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States.”

In an analysis published this July, the CBO said that an attempt to justify a mandate that people buy health insurance by using the Commerce Clause—which gives Congress the power to regulate commerce “among the several states”—raises a “novel issue.”

“Whether such a requirement would be constitutional under the Commerce Clause is perhaps the most challenging question posed by such a proposal, as it is a novel issue whether Congress may use this clause to require an individual to purchase a good or a service,” said the CBO.

In a recent interview with CNSNews.com, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah), a longtime member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that it was “not constitutionally sound” for Congress to mandate that individuals buy health insurance.

“But here would be the first time where our [federal] government would demand that people buy something that they may or may not want,” said Hatch. “And, you know, if that’s the case, then we didn’t need a 'Cash for Clunkers,' all we had to do is have the federal government say you all got to buy new cars, no matter how tough it is on you. You know, they could require you to buy anything. And that isn’t America. That’s not freedom. That’s not constitutionally sound.”

Hatch said that if we let the federal government begin forcing us to buy things we may not want to buy without having a clear constitutional justification for doing so “we’ve lost our freedoms, and that means the federal government can do anything it wants to do to us.”

Below is a transcript of the exchange between Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.) and CNSNews.com:

CNSNews.com: “Specifically, where in the Constitution does Congress get its authority to mandate that individuals purchase health care?”

Senator Merkley: “The very first enumerated power is power to provide for the common defense and the general welfare. So it’s right on, right on the front end.”

CNSNews.com: “Okay, if that’s the case--”

Press Secretary: “Thank you. I’m sorry, we have to get going. Thank you.”

Reid Puts House Healthcare Bill on Senate Calendar

November 11, 2009

The Hill - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) late Tuesday laid the groundwork for the Senate's healthcare reform debate to start next Tuesday.

Reid filed a motion to introduce the bill on Monday, Nov. 16. Anticipating a Republican objection, the bill would be pushed onto the Senate calendar.

"A motion to proceed to the bill would be in order the next legislative day," said Reid spokesman Jim Manley.

In doing so, Reid heeded the advice of former President Bill Clinton, who visited Senate Democrats Tuesday at their weekly caucus lunch and urged them to move quickly to pass health reform. Clinton imparted lessons from his own attempt during his presidency, in 1993, and said Democrats should be prepared to compromise but should act with speed.

Currently, the Senate's healthcare bill is awaiting a cost analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, which senior Democratic aides expect by the end of this week.

Reid's action late Tuesday sets up a critical vote next week on a motion to proceed to the bill. Such a motion would require 60 votes to succeed — an important, early test of the Democratic caucus's unity on procedural votes. Several senators who caucus as Democrats have expressed skepticism about the bill, while others have expressed a willingness to support procedural votes. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) have both warned Democrats that they will target any senators who support procedural votes on the bill.

Obama Says It's Now Senate's Turn on Health Care

November 8, 2009

AP - President Barack Obama said Sunday it was time for the Senate to "take the baton" on health care reform after the House passed its plan for overhauling the nation's health care system.

"For years we've been told that this couldn't be done," Obama said in a brief statement from the Rose Garden. "But last night the House proved different."

The Democratic-controlled House on Saturday narrowly passed the far-reaching legislation, 220-215, but the road ahead in the Senate promises to be rocky. The president said the House vote took courage for many lawmakers because of the heated and often misleading rhetoric that accompanied debate over how the change the system.

"Now it falls on the United States Senate to take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the American people, and I'm absolutely confident that they will," Obama said. "I'm equally convinced that on the day that we gather here at the White House and I sign comprehensive health insurance reform legislation into law, they'll be able to join their House colleagues and say this was their finest moment in public service."

Republican lawmakers have vowed to do all they can to stop the Democratic plan, which they contend will cost jobs, raise insurance rates and lead to huge tax increases. The Senate has yet to schedule debate on its version of health care reform.

"The House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday. "It was a bill written by liberals for liberals." A Democratic colleague, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, predicted an overhaul would pass the Senate because "it's essential" to the country's economic success and people's quality of life. "It will take time," he added.

A triumphant House Speaker Nancy Pelosi compared the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later.

House Republicans were nearly unanimous in opposing the plan that would expand coverage to tens of millions of Americans and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry. Republicans detailed their objections across hours of debate on the 1,990-page, $1.2 trillion legislation.

"We are going to have a complete government takeover of our health care system faster than you can say, `this is making me sick,'" said Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich...

Graham said he thinks the government option "will destroy private health care. Nobody in this country in the insurance business can compete with a government-sponsored plan, where the government writes the benefits and politicians will never raise the premiums."

Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said that "if the public option plan is in there, as a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote because I believe the debt can break America and send us into a recession that's worse than the one we're fighting our way out of today"...

House Passes Bill to Overhaul U.S. Healthcare System

While normal everyday oblivious Americans were preparing their beds to sleep Saturday night their elected officials quietly passed H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Indeed, the passage of this act deals one of the final death blows to the Constitution and with it our liberties. - Adam Murdock, MD, The End of America, in the Middle of the Night, Campaign for Liberty, November 9, 2009

November 7, 2009

Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives approved a sweeping healthcare reform bill on Saturday, backing the biggest health policy changes in four decades and handing President Barack Obama a crucial victory.

On a narrow 220-215 vote, the House endorsed a bill that would expand coverage to nearly all Americans and bar insurance practices such as refusing to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions.

One Republican supported the measure, but most criticized its $1 trillion price tag, new taxes on the wealthy and what they said was excessive government interference in the private health sector.

The battle over Obama's top domestic priority now moves to the U.S. Senate, where work on its own version has stalled for weeks as Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid searches for an approach that can win the 60 votes he needs.

Any differences between the Senate and House bills ultimately will have to be reconciled, and a final bill passed again by both before going to Obama for his signature.

The overhaul would spark the biggest changes in the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system, which accounts for one sixth of the U.S. economy, since the creation of the Medicare government health program for the elderly in 1965.

The vote followed days of heavy lobbying of undecided Democrats by Obama, his top aides and House leaders, and a deal designed to mollify about 40 moderate Democrats who are foes of abortion rights.

Democrats could afford to lose 40 of their 258 House members and still pass the bill. In the end, 39 Democrats sided with Republicans against the bill.

The landmark vote was a huge step for Obama, who has staked much of his political capital on the healthcare battle. A loss in the House would have ended the fight, impaired the rest of his legislative agenda and left Democrats vulnerable to big losses in next year's congressional elections.