On Thursday, the Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a 1,990-page bill as part of the overhaul of the U.S. health system. According to Reuters, they have been negotiating behind closed doors for weeks to merge three previous proposals into one.
This latest one will reportedly cost a net $894 billion over 10 years, which is just shortly under President Barack Obama’s goal of $900 billion. Budget analysts have said that this will decrease the deficit by $104 billion, also over 10 years.
“Today we are about to deliver on the promise of making affordable, quality health care available for all Americans,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, as quoted on Reuters.
The overhaul of the $2.5 trillion industry has become one of the president’s top priorities. The goals include reducing costs and providing coverage to the 46 million people in the U.S. that are currently uninsured.
The Republicans unanimously showed disagreements with the bill, and so did some of the Democrats, Reuters reported. The liberals said that the public insurance option needs to be stronger, whereas the moderates would like to assure that the government’s money will not be used to support abortions.
“This huge bill is designed to be so complex that nobody would ever know for sure what’s in it,” said House Republican leader John Boehner.
“Americans’ health care is too important and too complex to risk on one gigantic bill that has been written behind closed doors,” Rep. Dave Camp, the senior Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, also said.
In this proposal, there would be a 5.4 percent surtax on individuals who are earning more than $500,000 a year and couples who make $1 million. As Reuters reported, this would help generate approximately $460 billion over 10 years to help cover 36 million of the uninsured.
Obama seemed to like the bill, specifically because of the public option and that it’s “fiscally responsible,” as Reuters said. “The House bill clearly meets two of the fundamental criteria I have set out: it is fully paid for and will reduce the deficit in the long term,” he said in a statement.
Currently, the Senate is assembling a separate version of the bill; both the House and Senate versions will have to be combined before Obama could sign on it.
Our Take:
As a poor, uninsured college student, of course I’m praying and crossing my fingers that the public option will go through. I mean, seriously, if other nations can do it, then we can too. I think the surtax amount is acceptable. The overly rich cannot argue, in my opinion, that 5.4 percent is too high, because their income is too high by standards. So don’t be greedy.
Additionally, I agree that this bill is big. It’s huge: 1,990 pages. And yes, it was discussed behind closed doors, so Camp and Boehner have a point. Most of America does not know what is in this bill specifically, and I think we have the right to. It’s necessary.
