Health Care Reform: Final Votes Could Come Today

March 25, 2010

Abundant Life: Economic Justice for AllEarly this morning, the Senate parliamentarian upheld two Republican “points of order” on provisions of the bill relating to student loans.  Because this will change the bill, it will now need to go back to the House for approval of these changes. The Senate resumes this morning, with additional amendments and points of order objections expected before it moves to a final vote, currently expected around 2pm. The House could take up the revised bill tonight.  (Read more.)

Yesterday, President Obama signed an executive order clarifying that provisions in the health care reform package would not alter current federal law which prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother.

On Tuesday, Mennonite Mutual Aid released a statement on the reform bill.

* Action Alert: Pray and Act for Health Care Reform *

For additional resources on health care reform, visit the Abundant Life health care page.

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Posted by Tammy Alexander

Senate Health Bill Signed Into Law

March 24, 2010

* Action Alert: Pray and Act for Health Care Reform *

Yesterday, President Obama signed the Senate health care bill, HR 3590, into law (watch on C-Span).

At the same time, the Senate began its debate on a reconciliation package of “fixes,” HR 4872, which was passed by the House along with the Senate bill on Sunday.

Abundant Life: Economic Justice for AllRepublicans are expected to bring up numerous amendments and “points of order” (which could delete small provisions in the bill if they are deemed out of line with rules regarding what can be done under budget reconciliation). If the bill is changed at all, it will have to be sent back to the House for one more vote.

Democratic leaders may, at some point, attempt to stop the flow of amendments by ruling any further amendments “dilatory.” A final vote in the Senate could come as early as Thursday.

* Action Alert: Pray and Act for Health Care Reform *

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Posted by Tammy Alexander

House passes health care reform

March 22, 2010

The House passed two health care reform bills late Sunday night, sending the Senate bill (HR 3590) to president Obama’s desk and sending a reconciliation bill (HR 4872) to the Senate.

On Saturday, House leaders decided not to use the “deem and pass” method for approving the Senate bill, but instead called a straight up or down vote. For those who were still not satisfied with the Senate language on abortion, a compromise was reached involving an executive order. Read more.

Next the reconciliation bill goes to the Senate, where leaders are promising to pass it this week.

For additional resources on health care reform, visit the Abundant Life health care page.

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Posted by Tammy Alexander

Health Care Reform Update

March 19, 2010

** Action Alert: Pray and Act for Health Care Reform **

On Thursday, the House released the text of a budget reconciliation bill to complete their work on health care reform. This followed a report from the Congressional Budget Office estimating that the bill would reduce the deficit by $138 billion over 10 years.  House leaders have committed to giving legislators 72 hours to review the bill, so the earliest a vote of the full House could take place would be 2pm on Sunday. The vote would include passage of the Senate bill under “deem and pass” rules.  Next, the reconciliation package would go to the Senate.

The changes in the reconciliation bill look very similar to what the President proposed a few weeks ago. I have yet to see a good comparison of the House language with the President’s proposal, but will post when I do. One really good change is that Medicaid payment rates to primary care physicians would be required to be no less than 100% of Medicare (currently, payments vary from state to state but Medicaid often reimburses significantly less than Medicare). The federal government would pick up 100% of this cost.  Also, the student loan reform measure was added to the bill text.

Abortion: Abortion continues to be in the spotlight. On Wednesday, the heads of dozens of religious orders representing 59,000 Catholic nuns joined the Catholic Health Association in support of the bill:

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Posted by Tammy Alexander

Health Care Reform: Reconciliation Bill Released

March 18, 2010

House reconciliation bill:  http://rules.house.gov/

Congressional Budget Analysis:  http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=11355

Action Alert | Additional Resources

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Posted by Tammy Alexander

Life Issues in Health Care Reform

March 15, 2010

[Catholic Health Association] has a major concern on life issues. We said there could not be any federal funding for abortions and there had to be strong funding for maternity care, especially for vulnerable women. The bill now being considered allows people buying insurance through an exchange to use federal dollars in the form of tax credits and their own dollars to buy a policy that covers their health care. If they choose a policy with abortion coverage, then they must write a separate personal check for the cost of that coverage.

There is a requirement that the insurance companies be audited annually to assure that the payment for abortion coverage fully covers the administrative and clinical costs, that the payment is held in a separate account from other premiums, and that there are no federal dollars used.

In addition, there is a wonderful provision in the bill that provides $250 million over 10 years to pay for counseling, education, job training and housing for vulnerable women who are pregnant or parenting. Another provision provides a substantial increase in the adoption tax credit and funding for adoption assistance programs.

– Sr. Carol Keehan writing in Catholic Health World on the health care reform legislation currently before the U.S. House of Representatives.  Click here for an action alert on the bill.

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Posted by Tammy Alexander

Health Care Reform: The Home Stretch?

March 12, 2010

On March 3, President Obama gave a speech laying out the process for moving health care reform forward (read, watch).  Since then, House and Senate leaders, along with White House officials, have been working to craft the package of “fixes” that would be voted on in the House (along with the Senate bill) and then sent to the Senate under budget reconciliation rules (requiring 51 votes to pass). Here’s the latest timeline:

  • Today: CBO scores expected on the Senate bill + “fixes”
  • March 15: Legislation goes to House Budget Committee
  • March 17: Legislation goes to House Rules Committee
  • March 18: earliest full House vote could take place
  • March 29-April 9: Easter/Passover recess (both House and Senate)

Several Hurdles Remain

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Posted by Tammy Alexander

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