Tweet
At 6:30pm ET, Harry Reid will address reporters about the merged health care bill he just released to the Democratic caucus. We know now that the CBO projects the bill costs $849 billion over ten years, would reduce the deficit by $127 billion in the first ten years and $650 billion in the second ten, and would cover 31 million uninsured by 2019, for a total of 94% insured.
We’ll learn more at 6:30.
OK, Reid is at the desk. We just completed a very good caucus. This legislation is a tremendous step forward. Saves lives, saves money, makes Medicare stronger. Traveled a long way, and tonight marks the last leg of this journey. Tasked with health insurance reform. This makes it more affordable for the American people (half of all bankruptcies b/c of health care costs), do it in a fiscally responsible way. Not adding a dime to the deficit, in fact cut the deficit – as much as 3/4 of a trillion dollars over time. This bill will do good things over the next ten years for so many people in our society.
30 million more Americans will have health insurance. We will not just protect Medicare, we’ll make it stronger. Can’t afford to overlook what this is all about. About people without health insurance. Gives anecdote about a constituent from his hometown of Searchlight, NV. 23 year old who got testicular cancer. Now, people can stay on their parent’s coverage through 26 years of age.
This is about small businesses, women (gonna make provisions on women better on the floor). Women should be able to get a mammogram and not wait until 50 years old. Pre-existing conditions are gone.
Bill will be online tonight.
Anecdote about being in Texas last week, guy talking about his daughter who’s 23 with MS. This is a jobs bill. Finish line is in sight.
Chris Dodd: praises work by Reid in merging bill. Regrets that Baucus isn’t there because mother is in. I was asked to fill in for Kennedy. He would be proud. This will provide access and coverage and security. Increase the safety net. I regret Kennedy’s not here to be a part of this. This leg. includes a strong public option, investments in preventive care, long-term care insurance. Comes under the President’s price tag. Saves $127B in first decade, $650B in second. Real savings while increasing access. Will extend coverage to around 98% including Medicare recipients. Fiscally responsible bill, victory for reforms. Gone on for decades, many have tried this, we are on the cusp of doing it. Americans have been waiting for this. I am confident that we will achieve this goal for the American people.
Tom Harkin: Thanks Reid. Pays respects to Dodd for leadership on the bill, bears his imprint. Thanks Baucus on getting bill through Finance Committee, and WH. Great team effort. I chair HELP Committee that Kennedy chaired. Wish I didn’t come by it this way. We need to fulfill Ted Kennedy’s dream, the cause of his life (emotional). It’s a team effort. What’s not to like about this bill? Cover more people, take away abuses of insurance cos., reduce the deficit. Great victory for American people. Optimistic. Failure is not an option. We’re going to get this over the line. Raises the Victory sign for health care.
Dick Durbin: if you watched the reaction, you would have felt as we did. Our chance to end the journey begun by Truman 60 years ago. Thanks everyone. Reid committed to this cause. We can see victory. Different philosophies and beliefs in that room, but that we’re fortunate to be in that room, doing so much good for so many people. Giving people a fighting chance against insurance cos. Extending coverage to highest percentage in our lifetime. Reducing deficit and lowering costs. Because of this bill, Medicare will be stronger and on better financial footing. Benefits will improve quality of your life. We’ll post bill on Internet tonight. Listened to critics, they should post their bill on the Internet as well. Let people compare.
Chuck Schumer: Salutes Reid. We think this bill is better than SFC bill and HELP bill. Takes best of everything. Bill cuts costs, waste and inefficiency that is driving our system to the wall. Cuts costs to Fed. government more than any bill in history. Help people get coverage. Cover 94% of all Americans and reduces deficit. That all equals 60 votes, and we’re going to get there. Everyone in that room felt we had to get there. We have to for the sake of our system. People will look back and say that this proposal turned America around in health care.
Patty Murray: To the thousands of people who have written me with problems in health care, with their personal stories, esp. a little boy whose mom got sick, lost her job, lost her health care and died; he said “don’t let this happen to anybody else.” I want to say that we’re making a major step forward tonight. Tremendous applause for Sen. Reid. Praises him.
Q&A
? about Medicare cuts: every time you cut waste and abuse you strengthen the program.
? about Baucus: I talked to him today, his mother was better. We’ll get him back here when we need him.
? on understanding with moderates on motion to proceed: I’m not speaking for anyone. Talk to them.
That’s it. THere’s a press briefing shortly, I’ll be on the call and will report back.
UPDATE: Video:
37 Comments
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About FDL News Desk
bring it home, Harry.
Never too early to start bitchin!
Wait. All we are getting is platitudes and how much it will save the government. The devil will be in the details.
The devil will be in the details.
Natch.
Waters is talking with Ed Shultz. She notes that there are no women on the stage. Wonders what that says about the reproductive rights issues.
Or, as Winston Wolf said, “Well, let’s not start sucking each other’s dicks quite yet.”
How come the U.S. can’t wage more wars while reducing the costs?
Durbin spits in Rs eyes. Good on him.
No, really? I had no idea.
Baucus is teh man, according to Schumer.
Tell that to the fruit bats.
Thirty million covered.
Covered in what? What about the other 20 million?
From Yes we can.. to No, by God, we ain’t… in a matter of months.
Patty Murray and Debbie Stabenow were there
Fruit bats have a health care bill, too?! Who knew?!
!
Franken walked out behind a woman.
The part about medical bankruptcies being over is bullshit too. May be fewer of them, but when the big nasty multi-million dollar hospital bills come up, you wait and see. Still gonna be medical bankruptcies too.
You’re right. From “Yes we can” to “Nope, fuck it. It’s too hard.” in a matter of months.
Let’s pass this thing.
No Stupak amendment, per multiple sources.
without even looking at it first? no thanks, the number of politicians i trust to act in our interest without citizen oversight is zero.
Yeah, I’d kinda like to know what’s in it before I sing any praises of anything.
If it has Eshoo like protection for PhARMA, it’s bad.
As already said, what about the other 20 million people?
What’s the mandate look like? Is it subsidized at 400% of poverty, or will it screw over the middle class even more with a 150% subsidy?
What’s the public option look like? Will it REALLY provide competition? If not, there’s no reason private premiums won’t rise, SIGNIFICANTLY!
Who’s being taxed for what? If no excise tax, it’s negligent in that regard.
What’s being CUT from Medicare and Medicaid? How does the legislation CUT COST OF DELIVERY? What does it deny, in terms of care?
I got more, but all Pups know the score, and know what a real reform package should contain and not contain.
So, let’s see what the damned details ARE, before we go off the hook and support a potential status quo that empowers private insurance, the stock market, and doesn’t really reform much of anything and only mandates citizens be FORCED to buy something many won’t be able to afford!!!
And if any of the legislation was real, it would have called for ANYONE to be able to enroll in the public option ASAP, and THAT would have provided all the competition needed.
Needless to say, I remain quite skeptical due to previous behavior predicting present and future behavior.
“Here, just sign this, we’ll take care of everything else.”
Tell me yer kidding. Please.
The only thing I wanna pass without seein’ it is gas.
Its really hard not to feel pretty good regarding the ground that was covered.
HOPE that Reid is the Hero I think he is….
(I don’t want to think differently)….
Yes, but the same should hold true before condemning it.
Maybe they are going to do what the Japanese do. If you were listening to NPR this afternoon there was a segment about health care costs. Two leading academics (sorry don’t remember names) were interviewed. The American was surprised that his MRI cost $2000. The Japanese academic revealed he paid 150.00. When asked he noted that his government “sets the price” and that many people use the MRI’s. Later- another said they all buy the same imaging equipment from the same companies whose names we recognize. It just costs more in the USA.
great questions.
LOL!
Maybe more critical is if there were anti-choice bastards ON THE STAGE.
Greed is what motivates the American way of carrying out any sort of transaction, medical or otherwise. It is hard to comprehend why this principal should be so generally adopted since it requires that so many will ultimately be left out.
It is in a way a testament to the power of persuation that people at large are moved to believe in a system that acts to frustate their best interest.
To be willing to put your confidence in what comes out of Congress is madness. If it does not contain measures that markedly reins in private for profit insurers, providers of medical care and drug makers then the bill is inadequate.
Interesting that the motivation is not Christian-cooperative even in this country. Testament is to American ignorance- to as you kindly state “persuasion” along with unrelenting corporate propaganda. Don’t forget we are mainlining just the facts in education now- not knowledge and scholarship.
I expect that the bill will be inadequate. The compulsory aspect for new “members” without capping profits will strangle us. Obama, Bush, set general expectations and tone. If Obama were a community activist at heart- the moral and welfare of our people would be paramount and all of this selling out would be expressly unacceptable. That would be a tone to believe in. He would have plenty of support but does not seek it. They took single-payer off the table.
Thank you for saving me a lot of typing. Other ?’s: So we are all forced to buy insurance from these accursed insurance co.’s. Do we still have to pay huge deductibles? Are there caps to coverage? Just exactly how high are these mandated premiums going to be? Have any of these geniuses thought about the national economic effect of citizens pouring ever more of their hard-earned dollars into the black hole of the cartel? Those are dollars NOT spent in other areas of the economy. Maybe the veal pen can argue that this bill isn’t perfect but represents a crack in the cartel wall. Other than that I don’t see much to hoist champagne over.
That was funny.
“To be willing to put your confidence in what comes out of Congress is madness.”
I’ve come to believe that just living day to day in this country is a state of madness.
The bill also appears to contain the Hagan-Enzi-Hatch amendment on biosimilars…in other words, the Eshoo amendment. Haven’t checked for absolute word-for-word correspondence, but the provision for 12-year data exclusivity appears identical to that in Eshoo. The wording that Jane and allied groups oppose as providing inadequate protection against evergreening is also there intact.
So now Reid and Pelosi officially speak with a single PhRMA/BIO-friendly voice.
[I'm posting this comment in more than one thread here on the bill]
I am no more than a average citizen and Vietnam Veteran. Before I check out, I stand with Firedoglake, Harry Reid and Chuck Shumer. This bill will Save Lives, Save money, Protect Meicare and make Health Care more affordable to the American consumer. I must add that I para-phrase this clip and it will reduce bankruptcies and end the BULL-SHIT of pre-existing conditions. My name is Richard E. McGinnis and my wife and I reside in Lutz, Florida. Hey the Red Sox won in 04 and 07, and I want to be a part of this. Thank you all for putting up with me. Rock and Roll and Jimi Hendrix is the best that will ever live.