Democrats, Obama try to resume impetus on healthcare

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus will try to find a middle ground regarding the issue.

Baucus will put forward a legislation that will help in putting into practice President Barack Obama’s top most domestic priority, i.e., health. If this law is put into practice, it would cost the country near to $900 billion over a period of 10 years.

The legislation would provide health coverage to the country’s 47 million uninsured people. This will be done by expanding the Medicaid government health system for the poor so that people below 133 percent of the federal poverty level are able to get the benefits.

Apart from this, the proposal also includes online “exchanges” wherein those who are uninsured and do not get Medicaid could shop for policies at more affordable group rates. This would include tax subsidies for families in the lower-income group.

The proposal would also block insurers from refusing coverage footed on pre-existing terms. It would even increase the Medicare prescription drug coverage for seniors.

The plan prepared by Baucus also aims at decreasing Medicare costs by providing incentives to doctors depending on the level of care provided, not on the number of treatments or tests administered.

Not only this, it will also assist in setting up non-profit insurance cooperatives so as to help cover all those people who are uninsured.

Obama to push for passing of the health care legislation
Democrats, led by Obama, are trying their best to make a final effort to get the health-care legislation passed by this year end.

Since the recess period of a month is going to come to a finish, Obama is preparing to address a joint session of the House and Senate tomorrow so as to bring everyone’s attention back towards the debate and also put forth the details he wants in the bill.

Obama was quoted as saying yesterday in an address to union members in Cincinnati, “Every debate at some point comes to an end. At some point, it’s time to decide. It’s time to act.”

Health care legislation in the line of fire
The controversy on the health-care bill has been raging on for quite sometime now, and has led to a degradation of the public’s view on Congress and Obama.

It seems that the support of the general public is also declining as far the health reform is concerned. A poll conducted by the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll revealed that 45 percent of the population agrees that the country will benefit if Congress passed the health reform. These figures stood at 51 percent in July.

Also, a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that public approval for Obama’s treatment of health care went down to 42 percent in July from 51 percent in April.

It is doubtful if the Congress will be able to fulfill what it has set out to achieve. John Fortier, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, said, “I wouldn’t say we’re back to square one, but the political dynamics of this are worse than they were before the recess.”

Tactics to be used by Baucus
Baucus has time up to Sept. 15 to complete a deal with two other Democrats and three Republicans on his panel. They plan to meet today.

If that does not work out, democratic leaders have said that they might use the method of budget reconciliation to pass some of their proposals with a simple majority in the 100-member Senate, instead of the 60 votes typically needed to advance legislation.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs believes that the administration would be “pleased” if the finance committee is successful in drafting a proposal that could be approved, “hopefully with bipartisan support”.

But Baucus is adamant and said that he does not mind going ahead even if the Republicans do not support.

“I am committed to getting health-care reform done- done soon and done right,” he said after talking with other senators.