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The Long-Awaited Senate Health Reform Bill

Meredith Dodson, Director of RESULTS U.S. Poverty Campaigns
November 20, 2009

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) released his version of health reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. There’s lots of good news here, especially for low-income Americans (our focus in this debate) — Reid’s bill expands Medicaid to all persons at or below 133 percent of the poverty line and prioritizes of funding for community health centers (CHC) along the lines of S.486. Most of the provisions of the bill would go into effect in 2014. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will cost $849 billion over ten years and reduce the federal deficit by $127 billion the first ten years. It is expected to provide 31 million uninsured persons with health coverage through Medicaid and private health coverage, thus covering 94 percent of Americans (the House bill is estimated to cover 36 million).

RESULTS applauds the Senate in drafting a bill that will cover millions of uninsured, protect all Americans with market reforms, and will reduce the federal deficit both in the short and long term. And please know that you all helped the Senate get to this point. Your tireless efforts this year have pushed lawmakers closer to enacting meaningful reform than in decades. However, as expected, the Senate bill is not as strong as the House bill in key areas and we’ll work hard to get the best possible bill, especially for society’s most vulnerable, on the president’s desk. We breakdown the Senate proposal as compared to the House bill on our Recent Developments in Health Reform page.

However, the Senate must first begin debate. The Senate is expected to vote on a Motion to Proceed with tomorrow (Saturday) at 8 pm. 60 votes will be needed to pass the motion and allow debate to begin. If the motion fails, health reform will stall. Therefore, we must see that this first of several procedural hurdles in the Senate is overcome.

TAKE ACTION: Please call your Senators and urge them to vote YES on the Motion to Proceed on the Senate health bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act. You can call toll-free at (888) 797-8717 to get connected to the Capitol switchboard. Even if your senator(s) supports meaningful health reform, call and thank them for their support, urge them to vote YES, and also urge them to urge their Senate colleagues to vote YES. We cannot let health reform stall before debate even begins.

If you or your friends are located in Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, or Nebraska, please urge them to call senators ASAP urging a YES vote on the Motion to Proceed. Senators in these states have not fully committed to allowing health reform to move forward.

We’ll have more details for you in next week’s Weekly Update. And, thank you to Faithful Reform and Health Care for use of their toll-free number.

Read More: health reform, senate, medicaid

Online Discussion  Please note the comments expressed on this page are not necessarily those of RESULTS or RESULTS Educational Fund.
By Marty December 03 at 2:37 pm	Let’s be serious here Sharon and put the Glenn Beck talking points aside. Government-run programs work. Sure, they’re not perfect, but no program is. Our government-run security programs have kept us safe since 9/11. Our government-run justice system is arguably the best in the world. Our government-run PEPFAR (U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) has done wonders in stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS. Our government-run education system ensures that all of our children, regardless of demographic or socio-economic background, have the chance to go to school. I could keep going and going… Sharon, no one is this country should have to die or go broke because of a broken healthcare system. Our president is stepping up to the plate and taking action on to fix a system that desperately needs repair. I know this is a heated issue, but try to have an opened mind here. The 49 million Americans who don’t have access to adequate medical care need this bill to pass (with a public option). Let’s turn off the Fox News, what do you say?
By Sharon November 20 at 11:01 pm	No to Government run Health Care! I have seen first hand what happens when the government runs a program, it doesn’t work right! I was always taught if I wanted something, I was the one that needed to work for it and not expect it to be handed to me. As with social security, Medicare and ALL other government programs, the programs ultimately become thought of as a “right”. Social security was put in place to help seniors live the last few years of their lives The retirement age of 65 was set when average life spans were much shorter. Now that people are living into their 90s or longer, costs are out of control. All politicians know the system is heading for bankruptcy in a couple decades, but no one is rushing to fix it. Medicare is out of control. Fix what is broken now. With record debt levels already in place, we can’t afford to put in another “untouchable” spending program. We must Stop spending!!

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