The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have Health on the Hill which will feature news links that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
Today’s Updates – 10/14/09:
Yesterday the long awaited health care reform bill from Senator Baucus’s committee (the Senate Finance Committee) was finally passed by its members. It was passed out of committee 14-9, with one Republican, Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine, breaking from her party and voting in support of the bill along with Democrats.
Although this bill is weaker in terms of affordability and does not include a public option like the other Senate bill and the House bill, this vote was crucial for getting the legislation passed so that the Senate can move on to the next step of merging the two bills from the Senate Finance and Senate HELP Committees.
The media has centered around the health reform bill from the Senate Finance Committee but it is important to note that it is no more significant than the bills drafted by the other Congressional committees writing reform legislation. It is also important to remember that there is still time to add and strengthen provisions for reform before the final bill is voted on; the Senate Finance bill has many flaws and just yesterday great provisions that will directly impact young Americans were added to the House bill, so these next few weeks will be about fighting to include these stronger provisions, including a public option, to the final bill.
Senate Finance Committee Approves Health Care Reform 14-9
On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Congress moved closer to achieving [the goal of passing health care reform] than it ever has. The hold-out Senate Finance Committee voted by a 14-to-9 margin to move the fifth and final health care reform proposal through the conservative panel.
When Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe took her seat on the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday morning, she had only an inkling of how she’d vote on health care reform. She wanted the budget experts to weigh in before making up her mind.
Rahm: Finance health bill no more important than other bills
The health bill [that was] passed out of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday is no more important than the bills to be passed out of any other House or Senate Committee, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said this evening.
Young Adults to Get Parents’ Health Coverage Under House Dem Plan
Rep. Van Hollen, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, D-Pa., attended a news conference to announce the provision [for young adults to be covered under their parents' health insurance until age 26], along with youth advocacy group representatives from Young Invincibles and Campus Progress.