House Democrats Unveil Long-Awaited Health Care Plan Today

Indisputable that more coverage for Americans saves money in long run.

How can Blunt say something so demonstrably false (and, let's face it, incredibly stupid), without being called on it? How can a politician say "without any question it will cost more and cover fewer people" and not have someone say "hey, you know what Blunt, even a 3rd grader knows that is stupid, how about you stop with the hyperbole and come up with a viable and serious way to address the 50 million Americans without health insurance"?

Are the Republicans really so callous and so out of touch and so filled with hate that they would prefer today's system of no insurance for 17% of American citizens and underinsurance for an additional 20% of Americans and healthcare premiums which increase at triple the rate of inflation year after year?

Just pass it already and sign me up for my free health care.

"Employers will have the option of providing health insurance coverage for their workers or contributing funds on their behalf. The payroll penalty would phase in starting at 2% for firms with annual payrolls over $250,000, increasing to 8% for companies with annual payrolls above $400,000." .....

So, for double income families, where the husband and wife work for separate employers but have their health insurance provided by one of the employers, but not the other (for example, a family plan offered by the husband's employer), will the employer of the other partner (in this case the wife) be penalized for her electing to not have that company's insurance plan? That doesn't seem fair.

My employer offers health insurance but it's not nearly as good as my husband's employer's plan, so we only have one family plan. Will my employer soon be penalized for that?

What a disaster. Now they're going to penalize small companies that don't provide health benefits. This will only cause more lay-offs and small business failures.

House Republicans held their own news conference to respond. They said healthcare reform was too important to be rushed through the House by the end of the month.
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Hmm....... We have been discussing it for over a couple of decades now. I think the GOP is a little slow.

But, but Minnesota Representative John Kline went on Minnesota Public Radio saying the public option would save us (citizens) money, cost us less! And the sad part is he was against it!

Henry Waxman said: "We are about to undertake what has eluded so many presidents and congresses for far too long, and that is the objective of getting good quality, affordable healthcare insurance to every American."

Funny how Waxman doesn't bring up Medicare as a "successful" example of government-controlled single-payer healthcare. Maybe that's because it has trillions of dollars in unfunded, unsustainable mandates and is essentially bankrupt.

It's also funny how the mainstream media (including ABC News) never seems to bring up this fact. I wonder why.

Hey Stacey, it's amazing that the "mainstream media" doesn't bring up obvious facts like this.

Oh wait, I forgot. "Government-controlled single-payer healthcare" ISN'T what's being proposed. It's a public option to compete in the private market with private insurers. This isn't socialized medicine, it isn't government takeover - seriously, pull your head out of the FOX box and stop using the talking points. They don't apply.

If we had a REAL debate on reforming healthcare in this country, Obama's plan is actually the moderate middle. On the right would be keeping it completely free-market, on the left would be single-payer government-run healthcare, and in the middle would be a public option that would increase coverage while still allowing the free-market to compete. I appreciate Obama and the Democrats' pragmatism on this one, as they've actually proposed a plan that works (unlike 2454 out of the House - that got weighed down by special interests to the point that it probably won't be very effective, unfortunately).

Let's hope the GOP don't succeed in scaring the moderates with talk on the deficit and economy. They are really trying to take the wind from the health care sail by fussing over the economy. I wish them well. This is the closest we've ever come in all the years we've tried to get health care.

At least they're working....I have a decent plan but another 6 weeks of swine flu will ruin me.

Getting paid to say no is grand theft larceny.

Again...NO VOTE UNTIL WE HAVE SPECIFICS!

We KNOW if they pass a 1000+ page document that htey have hurriedly thrown together to meet a foolish "must be done by" deadline that this thing will be full of holes and NEVER come close to hitting what they say it will.

1. How many levels will this plan create?

2. What will the premium for each level be?

3. What deductibles will their be?

4. What are the co-pays ?

5. What are the maximum coverages on each level?

If they cannot answer that after creating 1,000 pages, this whole thing is TOTAL BS.

These are the specifics that have fro every plan avialable on the market today. If we are to compare this gov't plan to those on the market, this question MUST be answered!

For those who think im just dumpming on the Libs, I say the same requirements need to come forth from ANY plan put forth by ANYONE!

I agree Mike_C. You cannot hastily throw together a "Plan for the Future" which in short best describes Health Care Reform. Bottom Line it affects everyone's pocket and noone is singled out when it comes to paying for a plan that will cost in the $$Trillions. This kind of reform will affect alot of employee's in good jobs that are weighing retirement on what kind of Health Care will be in place upon retirement. I do agree we do need some kind of reform, but spell out exactly what you have outlined in your message. I am EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED in the OBAMA administration and it is this writer's opinion that Nancy Pelosi holds the strings to her puppet- Mr. Obama....how soon will they be out of office??? When will the parties wake up and come together; it's almost like this country as a result of this administration will be headed downhill instead of up.

this healthcare reform is being RUSHED through! no one is even concerned with the fact that the system which it will copy - medicare - is a failing system and has cost this Country more money than it can afford to pay. ask medicare recipients whether they are satisfied with their access to healthcare. undoubtedly, the answer will be "no." doctors cannot afford to accept medicare patients and will not be able to afford to accept "national plan" patients either. this will simply be a burden on the Country - one we cannot afford. why are we not dealing with the problem of illegal immigrants - who are all on charity care and getting free healthcare already - on our ticket? why are we not talking about the numerous malpractice suits that are filed daily against doctors - who are generally trying to keep us healthy and alive - and sometimes, things don't always turn out as one hopes? the gop is right - we need answers to these very important questions and we need to come up with a plan that does not try to be a system which has already failed. how does that make any sense. take time - figure this out - and then we can reform healthcare in this country. we have the BEST healthcare in the world. just ask people in canada, israel and in europe - many of whom come to the US for their medical care. rather than change a great system - focus on the problems with the system - namely the medicare, medicaid programs, malpractice against doctors, low reimbursment to doctors and a plan for those people who are not "poor" enough to get charity care, but do not have the means to purchase private insurance. oh - and one more thing - people prioritize every day! people need to decide what is important for their families. living in a big house, or having healthcare? smoking cigarettes - which are becoming ever more costly - or buying health insurance? going on vacations to disney world - or having health coverage? having a brand new car - or making sure that their families are protected. we all have choies and make them daily - that is not to say that there are not a group of people that simply cannot afford health coverage and for those people a plan should be created. BUT, it needs to be a very well thought out plan that doesn't screw everything up for the rest of the country. Buy what you can afford - right? isn't that the montra that we were told to live by after the mortgage crisis? the President should follow that same rule of thumb! We cannot afford this healthcare bill - or the stimulus package for that matter. Live within our Country's means Mr. President!!!