Senate Health Care Bill Passed

The health care bill passed by the Senate this morning is far from perfect. There's enough pork in the bill to turn off the entire Nation of Islam. The lack of a public option for health care insurance is a real disappointment. The pending cuts to Medicaid and tax increases to fund the bill need to be carefully monitored. And, the battle is not over yet. The House and the Senate still have to reconcile their bills.

As imperfect as the bill is, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin was right when he called it a moral issue:

"The health insurance policies of America, what we have right now is a moral disgrace," Harkin said, according to the New York Times. He noted that medical expenses had driven many people in to bankruptcy. "We are called upon to right a great injustice, a great wrong that has been put upon the American people."

Under the plan, 31 million uninsured Americans would receive health coverage. There would also be some important limits put on the ability of health insurance companies to gouge Americans. For African-Americans, maybe this bill can help reduce the health care disparities that are killing us.

According to the New York Times:

The bill would establish stringent federal standards for an industry that, since its inception, has been regulated mainly by the states. Under the bill, insurers could not deny coverage because of a person's medical condition; could not charge higher premiums because of a person's sex or health status; and could not rescind coverage when a person becomes sick or disabled. The government would, in effect, limit the profits of insurers by requiring them to spend at least 80 to 85 cents of every premium dollar on medical care.

As President Barack Obama noted in his speech from the White House this morning, the bill is the culmination of a "nearly century-long struggle to reform America's health care system." Seven presidents since Teddy Roosevelt first proposed it in 1912 have tried to reform the nation's health care system.

This is a big victory for President Obama.

Watch President Obama's September speech on health care here:

Despite the bill's imperfections, he has shown that he is not just a grand speech maker and that he has the will to push something as difficult as health care reform through. He should now start the new year with the momentum to tackle other issues that are equally important, such as reform of the nation's banking system and getting the economy back on track.

Even though President Obama can now head to his vacation with a sense of accomplishment, Republicans are still declaring that they will do everything possible to try and prevent the two bills from being reconciled. Not a single Republican voted for the Senate bill. They dragged this out for 25 straight days, forcing a vote at 7 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Although President Obama reached out to Republicans to participate, they have chosen to remove themselves from the equation.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Republicans said the bill would impose massive regulatory and financial burdens on taxpayers and businesses and would dig the government even deeper in debt. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) told the chamber just before the vote that Democrats should expect an "earful" from angry constituents when they go home. This fight is long from over," Mr. McConnell said. "My colleagues and I will fight to ensure this bill doesn't become law."

To see how important the need for health care reform is, take a look at some stories from real Americans regarding their struggle with health care at the NAACP's 880 page. The NAACP's campaign for healthcare reform is named 880 because 880,000 African-American lives would have been saved in the 1990s if blacks had the same mortality rates as whites.

Sandra, from Virginia, is a diabetic with high cholesterol, whose company does not provide health insurance. Because of her pre-existing conditions, she can't afford to buy it. Daheem, from Alabama, says he's about to lose his home because of medical bills. Gloria, from Maryland, says her brother with sickle cell does not have health insurance and only sees the doctor via the emergency room.

Why should people lose their homes while trying to maintain their health, place an unfair burden on taxpayers by visiting the emergency room for health care or choose between staying financially solvent or dealing with their diabetes or high cholesterol. All of these stories have one thing in common besides being a national disgrace--they will eventually cost us more money in the long run.

Republicans should end the partisanship and work to improve the bill. Instead of talking about how terrible the bill is, I'd like to see them propose some options or alternatives. Even though they may not like what's in the bill, there's no way we could leave things as is.

The status quo was simply no longer acceptable.

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