What health care proposals are included in the upcoming health care reform bill?
The debate over health care reform in the United States centers on questions about whether there is a fundamental right to health care, on who should have access to health care and under what circumstances, on the quality achieved for the high sums spent, and on the sustainability of expenditures that have been rising faster than the level of general inflation and the growth in the economy. Most personal bankruptcy in the United States is caused at least partly by medical debt[1][2] which is almost unknown in other countries in the developed world.[3] The United States spends a greater portion of total yearly income in the nation on health care than any United Nations member state except for East Timor (Timor-Leste),[4] although the actual use of health care services in the U.S., by most measures of health services use, is below the median among the world’s developed countries.[5] According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the United States is the “only
Last June, a long time ago in politics, Democrats in the Senate were briefly jubilant. For the first time in a generation, they held 60 seats, the “supermajority” required to control the Senate’s proceedings. The road to enacting President Obama’s center-left agenda looked, for a moment, almost smooth. But that’s not how the Senate works. It’s an assembly of 100 independent egos, not a parliament of two disciplined parties. The word “control” doesn’t apply. Last week, as Majority Leader Harry Reid struggled to corral 60 votes to move a healthcare bill forward, the jubilation of summer gave way to desperation on cold winter nights — with occasional flashes of recrimination. “Everybody gets to be the 60th senator,” observed Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), a liberal champion of healthcare reform. What he meant was that when any one senator can threaten to stop a bill, many senators will be tempted to try — if only to see what they can get in return for their support. Last week, t
The upcoming health care reform bill will allow health insurance to be extended to many more people. Children can be covered until the mid-20’s under their parents’ insurance plan. In addition, many people will be required to get a plan, and people may not be denied for pre-existing conditions. Sources: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/19/whats-in-health-care-prop_n_398066.
