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Your Quick Guide to the Health Insurance Debate
Where do things stand now?
Wednesday, March 17 -- Several puzzle pieces are moving around on the board. The House passed a bill, the Senate passed a very different bill, President Obama proposed some changes in the Senate bill that he thought might garner sufficient support for final passage.
What happens next? Process-wise, the House has to make the next move. If the House adopts the Senate bill, that bill will go to the President for his signature. Some members of the House are not willing to support the Senate bill without some changes. Those changes could be written into a separate bill and passed by a simple majority in a process called "reconciliation." If the Senate were to approve the
same reconciliation bill (again by a simple majority), then that bill would would also go to the President for his signature.
Variations on this theme are being considered, but this is the basic plan to move health care legislation along.
All of the bills under consideration at this point include some important positive features:
No one is excluded or charged a higher premium due to a pre-existing condition, genetic code, or high usage of health services;
No one can be ejected from a plan for using its services
Women cannot be charged higher premiums than men
Medicaid is expanded substantially to cover many more low income individuals and families
Low to moderate income families can qualify for tax credits to help with premium costs.
While none of the bills ends the private insurance-based system we have now, the reforms they include are significant and worthy of support.
Quick Guides
Will Health Care Reform Cause Health Care Costs to Go Up? Read what happens when a health economist, a research scientist, and a nationally-known doctor specializing in alternative care team up to consider the cost elements in the bills Congress is considering.
Key Points in the White House Health Care Reform Proposal - Compared to House and Senate Bills
More information about the White House proposal is on the White House web site.
How would health reform improve health care in my state?
Elements of the Health Care Proposals:
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What FCNL Supports and Why
FCNL Testimony on House Tri-Committee Discussion Draft
Include Immigrants in Health Care Reform
Health Care Reform Comments for the Senate
What About a Single-Payer Bill?
Health Care Reform: How FCNL Determines Its Position on a Bill
