In what is sure to be the most fun since bed wetting, the United States has both houses of Congress recklessly trying to reconcile their versions of the health reform bill. In what is surely to become the most complex piece of legislation this side of the tax code, even President Obama has joined the fray.
With the State of the Union address quickly approaching President Obama has promised the Dark Sith Lords that elected him, that there will be some kind of progress on this bill which is so full of compromises and kickbacks that even former Communist Russia has rolled over in its grave. Additionally, the Senate race in Massachusetts has become a pressure point for the Democrats who can’t afford to lose that seat to a Republican or risk losing their 60th vote in the Senate to pass this bill. And that race has been getting tighter than a ghetto haircut.
In a joint statement Wednesday night, Mr. Obama, Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid said they had made “significant progress in bridging the remaining gaps” between the House and Senate bills. Having worked through all aspects of the legislation, they said, “We’re encouraged and energized.”
Of course many insiders suspect that they are fibbing as the Cornhusker Kickback is causing substantial problems for the bill, and the lawsuits are piling up as fifteen states have Attorney Generals figuring out how to file a suit and if the Supreme Court will even hear it. There is now talk of a second lawsuit which will claim that mandating health insurance coverage is unconstitutional, which very well might be true. On the other hand, Universal Health Coverage is most definitely not unconstitutional and would very likely pass the smell test.
Issues that still remain to be reconciled include whether or not to turn the United States into a Socialist Republic, whether or not to tax employer based plans that are “too benefit rich,” and whether to increase the payroll tax to help pull Medicare out of bankruptcy. Ok the first one was not an issue.
And for me as a health insurance broker, the most important issue is the Health Insurance Exchange issue, which would be either a National Single Health Insurance Exchange or various dozens of state health exchanges which is the Senate version. The Democrats would like to see these exchanges become competitive markets where consumers would be able to shop and compare policies with federal subsidies.
“Health care reform should be financed by tax surcharges on the wealthy and not by taxes on health insurance plans offered to middle-class workers, older persons and union members,” said Representative Lynn Woolsey, Democrat of California and co-chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
The chairmen of Verizon and AT&T weighed in with their concerns. In a letter to Congress joined by two union presidents, the executives, Ivan G. Seidenberg of Verizon and Randall L. Stephenson of AT&T, said the excise tax would “impact health plans covering tens of millions of workers” in various industries.
To an idiot like me, universal health care seems like the simplest system. It works for much of Europe and Canada, so why couldn’t it work here? I know many Americans are afraid of anything “socialist Europe” puts out, but a good idea is a good idea, no?