“Senate Claus” Delivers a Health Care Bill—Including an Individual Mandate
The news swept through Washington like a snowstorm this weekend: A deal has been reached on a health care bill in the Senate. The current plan is for a vote on passage Christmas eve.
If it does pass, a House-Senate compromise bill will have to be worked out. That will happen next year.
Meanwhile, a new cost estimate for the Senate bill has come out. The new estimate says that H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, would cost about $7,300 per U.S. family.
The bigger the bill, the more complex the cost estimate, of course. The Congressional Budget Office says this estimate covers:
Senate Amendment 2786 in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 3590 (as printed in the Congressional Record on November 19, 2009), incorporating the effects of changes proposed in the manager’s amendment released on December 19, 2009. This estimate does not include the effects of other amendments adopted during the Senate’s consideration of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; it also does not reflect an incremental effect on PPACA from Congressional action on H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010, which was cleared on November 19, 2009.
OK. Whatever that is.
Roughly, this is a version of the bill released in the Senate with a major amendment produced by the Majority Leader, Senator Reid (D-NV). It doesn’t include other amendments added later, and it doesn’t include the effects of other recent law changes.
It also doesn’t cover what CBO calls “requirements regarding health insurance coverage that apply to the private sector.” That’s the individual mandate.
“The legislation would require individuals to obtain acceptable health insurance coverage, as defined in the legislation,” says CBO.
Requiring everyone to buy something is the same as taxing them and then spending the money—except that it doesn’t show up in cost estimates like this one. So keep that in mind.
We regret, of course, that we don’t have a perfect estimate of what the bill would cost you and your family, but hopefully this gives you an idea of what Senate Claus is delivering on Christmas eve.
WashingtonWatch.com Digest – December 21, 2009 – The WashingtonWatch.com Blog
[...] “Senate Claus” Delivers a Health Care Bill—Including an Individual Mandate [...]
Mike in Houston
The Individual Mandate is unconsttutional in every way (not that that would stop Washington from trying it). The Commerce Clause doesn’t apply (is for buisnesses not people), nor does the General Welfare Section. People need to wake up to what is happening.
Ken123
This Bill is the most unconstitutional piece of work I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime. The Constitutional violations are too numerous to mention in this response but, I’m willing to bet it will not pass Constitutional muster in the Supreme Court.
Phil
I read the bill (all 383 pages), and wrote my congressmen supporting the bill as it appears to directly affect me in a positive manner. I am not unemployed, lazy, or Socialist. I am an altruist.
My reward for paying interest in my government, is a bombarding of viruses and bots from the GOP senators I contacted (the public e-mails from their websites). Kinda of sad, that’s their response to my support of something they are paid by the healthcare industry to oppose.
Suzanne
I only wish that I owned an insurance company! That the congress(both houses) would pass a bill that would mandate that every citizen in the country patronize any given industry is ludicrous. If all could afford the cost of health care insurance all would already be insured. Personally I find that insurance is my greatest bill burden. If all my insurance bills are added together, they outweigh every other bill group, real estate taxes, utilities, gasoline, food and household supplies, add them all together and they are less than my insurance bills all added together. Many will be penalized by the government who cannot afford insurance. You can’t get blood from a turnip. I guess we will just have to re-instate debtors prisons to house the CRIMINALS who can afford neither the insurance nor the imposed fines. Or perhaps the government can take their homes in lieu of collecting the fine.
The homeless are hard to fine as there is nowhere to send the bill.
Just exactly how will this work?
Throw the rascals out! Don’t wait until after the next election to see how this will work. They have cleverly arranged it so none of this kicks in until after they have run for re-election!
Donald Bull
This bill is political force at it’s worst. It utilizes only single party opinion, and unfair exclusions to influence
voting for a bill, organized too swiftly at a cost our country cannot afford. It is financial suicide, that should result in expelling all that voted for it from the Senate. No one knows what disastrous spending will
do to this country. I say shame on you Congress!
Donald Bull
Earmarks attached to a needed Military spending bill only prove how selfish and and ignorant our public officials are. You are committing political suicide.
As for Medical Health Reform, you should repeal your
medical benefits to subject yourselves to what you have done to us!
donald cralton
i think it is time that we have an old time lynching party in washington d.c for treason and terrorism; and leave them hanging on pennslyvania ave. for the world to see and let the birds eat their flesh. because each and everyone who supported thie bill is a tyrant and a terrorist.
Bonnie Chisenhall
There are other ways to help the ones that cannot afford insurance. Some of these people could if they would work!!!!!!
Not fair at all. With all the protesting, I do not understand how this could pass!!!!!!!!!
ChuckL
Phil, you are about 2400 pages short of the disastrous bill that Harry Reid has pushed through the Senate.
You’ve got a lot more reading to do. Here’s the whole story.
There are 4 versions of Bill Number H.R.3590 for the 111th Congress
1 . Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009 (Introduced in House)[H.R.3590.IH]
2 . Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009 (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House)[H.R.3590.EH]
3 . Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009 (Placed on Calendar in Senate)[H.R.3590.PCS]
4 . Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Amendment in Senate)[H.R.3590.AS]
Robert Newman
Does this mean we are going to be taxed to death. When they put fees on insurance companies that means, “We the people will be payin the fees for the insurance companies”. I don’t trust any of our politicians in Washington. It appears they would sell their own mother down the river.
liam babington
ther is good reason that Canada and Europe have universal health care…they realized that human life has value…nothing is perfect, go back and watch Sicko… Michael Moore’s movie!! It is amazing how terrorists get BETTER care than the military and the rest of us…I know I USED to be in the Army.
Joe
Phil
You are a moron. The Kool aid has rotted what’s left of a brain corrupted by LSD, marijuana and state run media.
chuck
This bill is not just unconstitutional, it is down right unamerican. The congress, or excuse me, the civil servants, ignore what the majority of the country want. They won’t answer our emails or phone calls. They think we work for them, and pay us, instead of the other way around. They are on everyone elses side that are against the U.S., including the terrorists.
Jill
Do y’all own car insurance? That’s mandated in most states. Throw a fit about that, and then we’ll take your health insurance mandate complaints more seriously.
Mike in Houston
Hey Jill
You are only required to have car Insurance if you “own” a car.
Steve Welch
The so called leaders of this once great country are slowly and deliberate destoring it with their greed and lust for power.
America once stood for a country that others looked up to for guidance and support. We have now become a third world country with the politicians acting like little dictators with their ownn feifdoms.
Americans are a great people and we must stop the madness in Washington.
What is “Deeming,” Anyway? The Health Care Debate – The WashingtonWatch.com Blog
[...] a little history: In December—Christmas eve, specifically—the Senate passed a health care overhaul bill by the tiniest of [...]