My Healthcare Reform Blaaaahg

You might need to put on your Snuggie, this is a long read. Hopefully you are aware, but in case you are not, the House passed the health reform bill around 11:15 pm last night. Now it will be sent to the Senate. There are 57 Democrats in the Senate and 40 Republicans. There are also two independents that caucus with the Democrats. In addition, there is one empty seat that was vacated on the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. If this seat were filled, there would be a total of 100 Senators-two from each of the 50 states. It is my hope that because Democrats hold the majority that we will be able to pass healthcare reform in the Senate. Although, the bill would need 60 votes to pass. For those of you that are afraid that your coverage will change, you should know that the majority of people with employer-provided healthcare would not see changes. The main beneficiaries would be some 30 million people who have no coverage at work or have to buy it on their own. The legislation would create a federally regulated marketplace where they could shop for coverage. So now you want to know who will pay for it, right? Because like most people, I'm sure you don't want to pay more taxes. Well, during a three year transition, $5 billion dollars would come from federal dollars (that's way less than the bail out). The House would pay for coverage expansion by raising taxes on upper-income earners (if you are reading my Facebook or blog, chances are that there is no way in hell this would apply to you); the Senate uses a variety of taxes and fees, including a levy on high-cost insurance plans. The House plan costs about $1.2 trillion over 10 years; the Senate version is under $900 billion (chump change in the grand scheme of things). The decision is mostly out of our hands, but you can contact your Senator if you are inclined. But I personally would only want you to do that if you are in favor of reform.