Update: Senate Approves HC Bill 3590 for Floor debate

Mitch Gurney

November 22, 2009

It was announced Saturday evening the Senate voted to move their health care Bill HR 3590 forward for debate on the Senate floor, which means the full Senate will now debate, amend and eventually vote on the measure which could drag on for weeks. This process is expected to begin after the Senate returns from Thanksgiving recess on November 30^th.

See OpenCongress.org update here:

Senate Votes to Move the Health Care Debate Forward:

November 21, 2009   

When the Senate returns from Thanksgiving recess on November 30th they will take up their health care reform bill as a substitute amendment to an unrelated House bill, H.R. 3590.

The amendment process could drag on for weeks. Dozens of amendments from both parties will be voted on, and most of them will be filibustered and require 60 votes. Senate Democrats are hoping to have a vote on final passage of the health care bill before they leave for Christmas break, but that timeline is likely to slip into 2010.

If and when the Senate approves a health care bill, it will go to a conference committee to be reconciled with the version passed by the House. The final version that the conference committee — known as “report” — produces will have to be approved once again by both the Senate and the House before it can be sent to President Obama to be signed into law. The conference committee report will not be open to more amendments, but it will be subject to a filibuster in the Senate and require 60 votes for passage.

I discovered another site that is also tracking the health care debate providing a lot of information that you may find helpful:

Healthcare Reform

There are several features accessible at this site I would like to call to your attention:

Online Health Reform Subsidy Calculator — Premium Assistance for Coverage in Exchanges/Gateways:

This tool illustrates premiums and government assistance under the types of reform proposals being considered in Congress for people under age 65 who purchase coverage on their own in an Exchange and are not covered through their employer, Medicare or Medicaid. While the proposals considered would not take effect for several years (2013 in the House and 2014 in the Senate), the results are presented in terms of 2009 premium and income levels to enable better comparisons to current circumstances. The tool allows the user to start with the provisions from one of several proposals and examine the impact at different income levels. Advanced settings allow users to change assumptions to show the effect of different policy choices.

Side-by-Side Comparison of Major Health Care Reform Proposals:

This interactive side-by-side compares the leading comprehensive reform proposals across a number of key characteristics and plan components. Included in this side-by-side are proposals for moving toward universal coverage that have been put forward by the President and Members of Congress. In an effort to capture the most important proposals, we have included those that have been formally introduced as legislation as well as those that have been offered as draft proposals or as policy options. It will be regularly updated to reflect changes in the proposals and to incorporate major new proposals as they are announced. This side-by-side offers a summary of the major components of these proposals; detailed descriptions of provisions relating to Medicare and Medicaid are also available online.

Timeline: History of Health Reform Efforts in the U.S.

As many of you tracking this issue know, the House Bill HR 3962 and the Senate HR 3590 each have provisions for a public option which I explain in, H.R. 3962 – The Health Insurance Exchange and Public Option. This is not a revolutionary concept nor is the concept of a not for profit insurance provider:

The “Public Option” is NOT revolutionary – Actually, It’s been Working Great for Years:

Guess what? We’re already here. Established and ready to serve. A health plan that is accountable to taxpayers. CareSource, the nation’s second largest, not-for-profit Medicaid health plan and a number of other organizations like us around the country have been helping Americans get the care they need at the right place, at the right time and at a lower cost.

Mitch Gurney