Senate Passes Historic Health Care Bill

Posted in Health Insurance

December 28th, 2009

Americans have been waiting for many weeks for Senate to push through a health care overhaul that would change the landscape of insurance for the United States – and on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009, they got their wish. This is good news for President Barack Obama who was looking for the bill to be pushed through before Christmas so that it could finally be placed on the doorstep of the House of Representatives.

In Senate, the bill passed 60-39 and is set to last for 10 years with a cost of $871 billion. It is said to be the most wide-ranging health care legislation within a generation and is primarily aimed at extending health insurance to millions of Americans.

What’s in the Bill

A few items to note in the bill include:

• Mandatory coverage: Americans will be required to have health insurance or pay penalties. Employers will be required to offer their workers health care coverage.
• Fair insurance practices: One element of the bill that will go into effect immediately is the prohibiting of insurance companies to deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions (adults would have to wait until 2014).
• Tax credits for businesses: Businesses with up to 25 workers would be able to take advantage of tax credits to buy insurance immediately.

While a large majority of Senate voted for the bill, no Republicans voted in its favor. In fact, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to stop the bill from becoming a law. Many Republicans have criticized the bill for unconstitutional and burdensome.

Obama, on the other hand, hopes to sign a final bill into law before his State of the Union address in late January.