Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
Its been about ten days since the House passed its version of health care reform and just now, it is possible to unwind and assess some of the cost/price details that are buried within the 2,000 page bill. Similarly, it is also possible for the general public to begin the process of digesting the ramifications … Read more
Late Saturday night by the slimmest of margins, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3962 otherwise known as the Affordable Health Care Act for America – three votes the other way and the Bill would not have passed. The Bill weighs in at over 2,000 pages (2,034) and represents the first major “stab” at reforming … Read more
This weekend, the House is reportedly set to vote on their version of healthcare reform – H.R. 3962. The bill is a “monster”; nearly 2,000 pages long. The title belies the fact that the Bill doesn’t just attempt to create “affordable health care” – it goes much, much further. For example, embedded within the hundreds of … Read more
Earlier today, Speaker Pelosi introduced the re-tooled House version of healthcare reform, now titled The Affordable Health Care Act. The 2,000 page bill is the result of weeks of backroom negotiations designed to forge a possible consensus, principally among Democrats, and to financially wrangle, a targeted budget neutral spending level. According to Pelosi, the Bill … Read more
If you are a baseball fan, you’ll appreciate the correlation between a baseball game and the present course of healthcare reform. A baseball game starts with anticipation and fanfare; speeches, the throwing out of the first pitch, the national anthem and the players taking the field. The fans settle in and the game begins with cheers … Read more
The Senate Finance Committee this afternoon, on a vote of 14-9, approved the Baucus Bill out of committee, sending it theoretically to a floor vote. Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican from Maine, was the lone Republican vote in support. The Bill, a center of recent controversy in terms of its lack of reported details, incomplete … Read more
This afternoon, the Congressional Budget Office released a statement saying that the Senate Finance Committee Reform Bill (the Baucus Bill) prices out at $829 billion over ten years. At this price-tag, given the revenue assumptions (fees, cuts, taxes, etc.) contained in the Bill, the CBO estimates that the Bill actually produces a modest deficit reduction … Read more
The Senate Finance Committee voted yesterday to eliminate the public option from its reform bill (aka the Baucus Bill) by a margin of 15 to 8. All Republicans and a hand-full of Democrats voted against inclusion. Of note, the Bill’s author, Senator Baucus voted for the removal of the public option stating that in his … Read more
After weeks/months of meetings, Senator Baucus of Montana representing the “gang of six” (three Democrats and three Republicans) released the Senate Finance Committee version of “healthcare reform”. What started as a bi-partisan sub-committee alternative to the House version (HR 3200) ended as essentially, a Baucus bill; legislation lacking any real support from Senate Democrats and … Read more
I know this is supposed to be a blog about healthcare issues, primarily that which falls in the post-acute, long-term care and senior housing world but some stuff in the news right now is just too hard to ignore. After all, healthcare reform does affect long-term care and post-acute care directly and economics, especially the … Read more