This is a class blog for the students of POLSCI 426: Congressional Politics at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

The new congressional healthcare biill?

On Tuesday, the Senate health committee voted 12-11 in favor of a two-page amendment that would require all Members and their staffs to enroll in any new government-run health plan..It took me less than a minute to sign up to require our congressmen and senators to drink at the same trough!Congressman John Fleming ( Louisiana physician) has proposed an amendment that would require congressmen and senators to take the same health care plan they force on us (under proposed legislation they are curiously exempt).
Interesting concept what is good for the people must be good for Congress!!

2 comments:

jonmguse@uwm.edu said...

The problems with this bill are more related to policies than medical care. The problems include the additional costs of medicaid to states, additional costs to insurance companies who will raise rates, possible increases in the deficit if the are not offset by cuts in medicare waste, Obama loves to cite medicare waste. The idea of fining people who cannot or will not purchase a private plan as required by the government, this is challenged on constitutional grounds. The plan that states companies under 50 employees will be exempt, this means if you are a company of around 50 employees you will either cut people or not expand businesses. This does not help the unemployment problem. The problems of coordinating insurance companies doctors and patients on what is free, and when the policies actually go into effect. finally what happens to people who pay the fine and do not get health insurance are they still covered for pre-existing conditions if they walk into an insurance company if they get really sick? There are a lot of things to consider and I think this administration has not given due consideration to a lot of this issues.

DColbert said...

Isn't one of the talking points the fact that, if you already have insurance through your employer, you can keep it? That is, not all of us will be forced into a particular government-run plan if we have decent insurance. Why can't Congress keep theirs, if, as Obama promises, we will all eventually have the same?

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