Well, it’s more or less official, or not as the case may be – health reform, while still in bill format, has not yet been passed into law. There are admittedly still many things that need to be ironed out, not the least of which is blending the House bill and the Senate bill, which many think may be a herculean task, if not impossible.
Overshadowing health care reform are other more pressing issues, none of which have any easy solution: employment in the double digits; the economy on rocky ground; a virtually imminent collapse of domestic policy; and the polls are pretty dismal right now. Overhauling the health care system seems almost pale by comparison.
Certainly there were a few election-like goodies in the speech; like tax credits for child care, a mandate that companies allow their workers to save automatically for retirement and capping some student loan payments. It’s a nice gesture, but does nothing to tell the nation what is to be done about strengthening the economy and assisting middle class families.
Even with the looming possible passage of the health care reform bill into law, whenever that may be, there is still a great deal of concern about what the nation will do about the economy. There are no easy answers, and if the reform of the health care system is based on its ties to the economy, then something will have to give here. The question may become, what will have to give? Or more precisely, “who” will have to give; a question many American seniors are asking when faced with the upcoming changes to the Medicare system.
But, what about health care reform? What will the future of it be? The future seems to be up in the air right now since the Massachusetts special election ushered in a Republican in what was once a Democratic state. Evidently, the voters of Massachusetts were not pleased with the Democrats and the vote was a loud clamoring for someone to pay attention to what they want and what they don’t want. It may be that they are not enthused about the proposed health care reform.
In fact, many Democrat political pundits agree the health reform bill did contribute to their defeat in Massachusetts, and thus many of them have headed back to the drawing board to see if they can eke out a new health reform strategy. Another one? Working out yet another strategy will delay the health reform bill and its ultimate passage into law even more. In the meantime, deals, negotiations and more meetings are taking place to iron out this latest wrinkle in the possible passage of the health reform bill.
Rumor has it that there is a lot of discussion about trying a more modest, step-by-step approach to reform; a reform that could include things such as incentives for small businesses to help workers buy insurance, ways of controlling costs, and changes in how insurance companies conduct business. Gone from the discussion seems to be the proposal dealing with universal coverage.
The bottom line here is, despite all the rhetoric, that it takes 218 House members and 60 senators to pass a new version of a comprehensive bill; or 218 House members to pass the version the Senate passed on December 24, 2009. Right now, the votes aren't there to accomplish either of those things and once again health care reform is seemingly in limbo.
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