Public option amendments Tuesday
Posted on September 25th, 2009 by Jason Rosenbaum in Congress Watch
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Chairman Baucus just said the public option amendments will be considered on Tuesday in the Senate Finance Committee. Check back here for more info as I get it.
How about we suspend all healthcare benefits throughout Congress until they pass the healthcare bill and public option?
I think they will decide to work on a faster agenda if that would be done.
I received the following e mail message from Bill Nelson this morning. I see that he is sticking with the co-op version which equates to NO reform. He is in the pockets of the insurance companies and I will be voting against him in the next election cycle.
Dear Mr. Silvey:
Thank you for contacting me about health care reform. In his recent speech to Congress, President Obama also provided us with a clearer view of his desires for health care reform.
What the President described is pretty close to the draft of a bill I'm helping prepare as a member of the Senate Finance Committee. This legislation will let folks who are happy with their insurance keep what they’ve got, including veterans and seniors on Medicare. It will also create State-based exchanges – a nationwide marketplace – where those without coverage, or those who are unhappy with what they have, can get it at an affordable price.
The bill will hold insurers' feet to the fire, requiring them to cover everyone and preventing them from dropping someone who gets sick. Additionally, it contains several measures aimed at reducing overall medical and prescription drug costs and eliminating waste and fraud in the system.
I plan on improving the bill through amendments that will, among other things, help pay for reform of our health care system. One of my amendments would require drugmakers to provide rebates to Medicare, just like they do for Medicaid. This would save Medicare a ton of money and help reduce out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for many seniors.
Regardless of where anyone stands on the specifics, I think we all can agree that the system we have can be unfair and too costly, and needs to be fixed. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue. Please don't hesitate to contact me in the future.
Sincerely,
Senator Bill Nelson