A Rocky Start

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:

"I NOW ASK UNANIMOUS CONSENT ALL AMENDMENTS TO THE PENDING BILL BE CONSIDERED OUT OF ORDER UNLESS THEY'RE CONSISTENT WITH THE FOLLOWING TWO PRINCIPLES: THE ADDITIONAL SURPLUSES IN THE SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND GENERATED BY THIS ACT SHOULD BE RESERVED FOR SOCIAL SECURITY AND NOT SPENT IN THIS ACT IN ANY OTHER FASHION,; AND, NUMBER TWO, THE NET SAVINGS GENERATED BY THE CLASS PROGRAM SHOULD BE RESERVED FOR THE CLASS PROGRAM AND NOT SPENT BY ANY OTHER MANNER IN THIS ACT."

SOURCE: Jamie Dupree

Women's insurance amendment gets first Senate vote

A bipartisan amendment to increase insurance benefits for women through yearly screenings gets the first Senate vote Tuesday on health care overhaul legislation.

The amendment — co-sponsored by Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine — would require policies to include a variety of yearly screenings and was inspired in part by controversial recommendations last month that women undergo fewer mammograms and Pap smears to test for cancer.

"My amendment guarantees screening for breast cancer, yes, mammograms," Mikulski said. "We don't mandate that you have a mammogram at age 40. What we say is discuss this with your doctor, but if your doctor says you need one, my amendment says you are going to get one." A vote was expected Tuesday afternoon.

SOURCE: Associated Press > Yahoo News

CBO: Senate bill would increase individual insurance premiums

“The bottom line is this: After 2,074 pages and trillions more in government spending, massive new taxes and a half-trillion dollars in cuts to Medicare for seniors, most people, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will end up paying more or seeing no significant savings,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement. The health insurance industry’s lobbying arms also proclaimed that the report confirmed their similar warnings.

SOURCE: The Hill

HHS would become federal giant under Senate plan

A quick search of the Senate health bill will bring up "secretary" 2,500 times.

That's because Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius would be awarded unprecedented new powers under the proposal, including the authority to decide what medical care should be covered by insurers as well as the terms and conditions of coverage and who should receive it.

"The legislation lists 1,697 times where the secretary of health and humans services is given the authority to create, determine or define things in the bill," said Devon Herrick, a health care expert at the National Center for Policy Analysis.

For instance, on Page 122 of the 2,079-page bill, the secretary is given the power to establish "the basic per enrollee, per month cost, determined on average actuarial basis, for including coverage under a qualified health care plan."

The HHS secretary would also have the power to decide where abortion is allowed under a government-run plan, which has drawn opposition from Republicans and some moderate Democrats.

SOURCE: Washington Examiner

Long, bitter debate ahead for health care bill

Democrats called it a historic opportunity. Republicans called it a sham.
Long-awaited debate over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul kicked off in the Senate with lawmakers trading bitter partisan words over the measure to remake one-sixth of the U.S. economy.

The legislative struggle is expected to last for weeks in a test that pits GOP senators determined not to give ground against Senate Democrats determined to deliver on Obama's signature issue.

The 10-year, nearly $1 trillion legislation includes a first-time requirement for most Americans to carry insurance, greatly expands the Medicaid federal-state insurance program for the poor, and would require insurers to cover any paying customer regardless of their medical history or condition.

On Monday each side offered the first of what are likely to be dozens of amendments, with the measures seemingly designed as much to court a skeptical public as to reshape Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's 2,074-page bill.

SOURCE: Associated Press > My Way News