Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) (L), and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (R) watch as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) (2L) is hugged by Senator John Rockefeller IV (D-WV) (C) after a vote on healthcare reform.
...The 60-to-39 vote (click title to entry- thank you), along party lines, clears the way for weeks of rowdy floor proceedings that will begin after Thanksgiving and last through much of December.
The Senate bill seeks to extend health benefits to roughly 31 million Americans who are now uninsured, at a cost of $848 billion over 10 years....
That is cheap health care if you ask me. $85.8 billion per year to be sure an entire nation, or nearly an entire nation, is receiving health care at an affordable rate. Wellness programs and a health nation. Well done. Happy the country isn't just spending its treasury on wars and 'impoverished Wall Street Executives.' It is only just the country is doing all the people's business.
The article above is from The New York Times and below is outlined a difference between the House and Senate Bills in The Washington Post.
I think the Senate Bill probably retained some tricky language from the Finance Committee Bill and that should be scrutinized by the committee when the bills are consolidated. The House Bill is 'better' language and keeps intact the spirit of the bill.
Senate vs. House bills (click here)
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Government-run insurance
Employer mandate
...The Senate bill does not require employers to offer health insurance, but it fines employers with more than 50 employees if even one receives a subsidy through the new exchanges. The fine is equal to $750 for every person on the payroll.
The House bill requires employers to pay 65 percent of family premiums or pay a penalty based on payroll; businesses with less than $500,000 in payroll are exempt....
