Senate Finance Committee Passes Health Care Bill

Posted in Health Care , Health Insurance

October 14th, 2009

After months of debating on how to craft a perfect health care for the masses, the Senate Finance Committee finally passed their version of the health care bill on Tuesday, October 13, 2009. The committee voted 14-9 in favor ofa 10-year, $829 billion package. One votecame from a Republican senator, Olympia Snowe, while the other 13 came from Democrats. This is the first time that a Republican has backed any of the Democrat-led health care bills that have circulated.

While the majority of Republicans on the committee stand against the bill, the Democrats who passed it believe there will be some definite benefits, including:

• Setting up new subsidies to extend coverage to millions more Americans.
• Requiring insurers to provide coverage customers with pre-existing conditions.
• Funding the planlargelyfrom new taxes on “gold-plated” insurance plans and savings from Medicare and other programs.

Passing the bill brings Congress that much closer to passing health care reform for the country. However,this billwill still need to be merged with the other bills that have already been passed. They include one passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee asking that employerspay at least 60 percent of their workers premiums,as well as one from the House of Representatives that would require employers to a sizable portion as well or be fined.

The bills still have several months of debating,merging, and votingto go before they will reach President Obama’s desk. He hopes to sign in a final bill by the end of the year.