{"id":279,"date":"2009-11-19T02:49:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-19T10:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=279"},"modified":"2009-11-19T02:49:00","modified_gmt":"2009-11-19T10:49:00","slug":"reid-has-unveiled-the-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2009\/11\/19\/reid-has-unveiled-the-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Reid Has Unveiled the Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

The combined health care reform bill is here.  To be honest, there\u2019s a lot about this bill that I don\u2019t like.  However, compared to no change at all, I shall support is as the first step in the right direction.  Like Social Security and Medicare, when they were first passed, this will not be the end of needed change, but at least it will open the door.<\/p>\n

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\"health<\/a> Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday unveiled his long-awaited plan for expanding medical coverage to millions more Americans over the next decade, setting the stage for a historic Senate debate on a health overhaul.<\/font><\/p>\n

Reid’s move capped weeks of difficult negotiations as Democratic leaders struggled to keep up momentum behind President Obama’s push to reshape the nation’s $2.5 trillion healthcare system by expanding coverage and beginning to control medical costs.<\/font><\/p>\n

And although Democrats still are searching for crucial votes, the majority leader’s gambit marked an important milestone in the party’s drive to enact the most sweeping change to the country’s healthcare system in more than 40 years.<\/font><\/p>\n

"This is our chance to end a journey that began more than 60 years ago when President Truman said every man should have the peace of mind of having health insurance,” Assistant Majority Leader Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said after Democrats met at the Capitol to discuss the bill.<\/font><\/p>\n

Reid’s legislation, which he crafted by combining bills developed earlier this year by two Senate committees, would cover an additional 31 million people<\/strong> over the next decade, according to senior Democratic aides, who cited a preliminary estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.<\/font><\/p>\n

That would boost the percentage of non-elderly Americans with medical insurance from 83% to 94% over the next decade \u2013 slightly less than the 96% who would be covered by the bill that House Democrats passed last week.<\/font><\/p>\n

Reid’s legislation would also cost less than the House bill, committing the federal government to some $849 billion in new spending over the next decade to expand coverage, aides said.<\/font><\/p>\n

And it would drive down federal deficits by an estimated $127 billion over the next decade<\/strong>, in part based on a series of prescribed cuts in Medicare spending, along with new taxes on healthcare industries, high-end "Cadillac" health plans and wealthy Americans.<\/font><\/p>\n

Reid’s proposal still faces substantial obstacles\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Chicago Tribune<\/a>><\/p>\n

The biggest of those substantial obstacles is the campaign against change by Big Insurance., assisted by their mostly Republican lackeys.  Part of that effort comes disguised as independent organizations.  Rachel Maddow had done a terrific job of exposing who they are and who is behind them:<\/p>\n

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