They don't call me a great man
for nothing.
In fact, they charge me quite a bit!
Alan Grayson is a freshman congressman from Orlando, Florida, and he's offering a 4-page alternative to the 2000+ page health care reform bill that Republicans are unable to wade through, that Congress has been debating for a year. H.R. 4789 is pretty simple, as you would expect a four-page bill would be. If you're under 65 and you are a permanent resident (not necessarily a citizen) of the United States, you can simply buy your way into Medicare. It's a solution for those who can't buy insurance from (or don't trust) commercial insurance companies. Think Of It As A Jobs BillWhen I was forming small companies, I'd have jumped on this for my employees, because it would have made it a lot easier to attract and retain the employees I needed. Small companies, especially new small companies, simply can't buy group health insurance for love nor money. Because the premiums would be equal to cost, it wouldn't affect the deficit at all. He's calling it the "Public Option Act" - but he's suggesting it could also be called the "Medicare You Can Buy Into Act". “Obviously, America wants and needs more competition in health coverage, and a public option offers that," Grayson said. "But it’s just as important that we offer people not just another choice, but another kind of choice. A lot of people don’t want to be at the mercy of greedy insurance companies that will make money by denying them the care that they need to stay healthy, or to stay alive. We deserve to have a real alternative.” Text Not Available YetWe'd have included the text of the bill here, given that it's so short, except that it's not available yet on the Library of Congress site; bills are generally sent to the Library of Congress from the Government Printing Office a day or two after they are introduced on the floor of the House or Senate. Delays can occur when there are a large number of bills to prepare or when a very large bill has to be printed. The bill already has 10 co-sponsors: Donna F. Edwards MD-4, Bob Filner CA-51, Barney Frank MA-4, Sheila Jackson Lee TX-18, Dennis J. Kucinich OH-10, Chellie Pingree ME-1, Jared Polis CO-2, Janice D. Schakowsky IL-9, Carol Shea-Porter NH-1, Diane E. Watson CA-33 . The bill is currently sitting in the House Ways and Means Committee. Let's all contact committee members, and get this thing out on the floor quickly! Ways And Means CommitteeDemocrats on the committee are Allyson Y. Schwartz PA-13, Artur Davis AL-07, Bill Pascrell Jr. NJ-08, Bob Etheridge NC-02, Brian Higgins NY-27, Charles B. Rangel NY-15, Chris Van Hollen MD-08, Danny K. Davis IL-07, Earl Blumenauer OR-03, Earl Pomeroy ND-at large, Fortney Pete Stark CA-13, Jim McDermott WA-07, John A. Yarmuth KY-03, John B. Larson CT-01, John Lewis GA-05, John S. Tanner TN-08, Joseph Crowley NY-07, Kendrick Meek FL-17, Linda T. Sanchez CA-39, Lloyd Doggett TX-25, Mike Thompson CA-01, Richard E. Neal MA-02, Ron Kind WI-03, Sander M. Levin MI-12, Shelley Berkley NV-01, and Xavier Becerra CA-31. Republicans on the committee are Charles W. Boustany Jr. LA-07, Dave Camp MI-04, Dave G. Reichert WA-08, Dean Heller NV-02, Devin Nunes CA-21, Eric Cantor VA-07, Geoff Davis KY-04, Ginny Brown-Waite FL-05, John Linder GA-07, Kevin Brady TX-08, Pat Tiberi OH-12, Paul Ryan WI-01, Peter J. Roskam IL-06, Sam Johnson TX-03, and Wally Herger CA-02. Other Bloggers On Related Topics: |
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Julie Pushes For Universal Medicare
Julie Vulich used the website feedback form to write:
"Is it too late for this or is it attached to the revisions the Senate is
currently working on now? Can it still be added? PLEASE don't stop fighting for this!!!!! PUSH PUSH PUSH and don't ever take no for an answer! Thanks for your work on this. I heard you talk about it on what used to be Air America, not sure what they are calling themselves now! JV"
No, it's not too late for this, and no, it's not part of the reconciliation that the House voted on and passed about 10 PM tonight. You didn't hear me on Air America, and they're not calling themselves anything now - the network has disbanded, and there are just individual station owners.
Representative Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (3rd Congressional District of Virginia) became the 80th co-sponsor on March 18. It's still sitting in the Ways and Means Committee, but considering that it's only been there since the 9th, that's not unusual. What would be unusual would be a bill with 80 co-sponsors being held up forever by the chairman of the committee.
For some reason, the Republican leadership in Congress seemed to lose their stuffing today. They've been screaming that about 70% of the population is against this law, but what they were failing to mention was that a lot of us think it's a bad law because it doesn't do enough, and that a lot of us think it's a bad law without knowing what's in it.
Or maybe it's the Democrats deciding to stand up and be counted. The GOP leaders have been saying "you're going to be hearing about this during the fall elections", and all of a sudden, the Democrats are saying, "Yes, and we're going to be the ones bringing it up."
A lot of newspapers and magazines are explaining how the bill works, because people are interested, and people seem to like what they see. I've been studying the law itself (it's 906 pages, not 2000+ pages). It's lost a little bit in the student loan area, and the reconciliation bill will change it still more, but it's a good first step.
A "public option" would make it better.
If you're old enough to recall, Medicare used to cover stuff at 50%. They kept amending the law over the years, until it ended up at 80%. It also covers a lot of stuff that it used to not cover. There is no question in my mind that we'll see a lot of amendments to this law over the years. I'd like to see the individual mandate replaced by a single-payer system; I had too many group insurance policies over the years, and none of them hold a candle to Medicare. Every health insurance policy is different, but with Medicare, doctors all know what's covered and what isn't. Without all the need for going back-and-forth with insurance companies, without having to wait forever for insurance companies to finally agree to pay a claim, most doctors seem really happy to have the quick and easy payments from Medicare.
Of course, there are the ones who've been caught cheating Medicare, and can't participate any longer; they don't accept Medicare patients, but the public hasn't figured out yet why those doctors don't take Medicare patients.
Grayson
Disney World exists inside the man's head