Despite the public outcry over President Obama's government-run healthcare plan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is insistent on pushing through a government health insurance program that works like Medicare. One healthcare reform expert says Pelosi is not only disregarding the concerns of most Americans, but she's also disregarding the fact that Medicare is $38 trillion in debt and going bankrupt.
Roll Call is reporting that Speaker Pelosi (D-California) is planning to include in the House healthcare bill a new income tax on the wealthiest Americans, as well as a stronger government-run health insurance plan or "public option" than some moderate Blue Dog Democrats desire. Blue Dogs in the House Energy and Commerce Committee had worked out a deal with Chairman Henry Waxman (D-California) to make a public option negotiate payment rates with medical providers instead of dictating them. However, Pelosi reportedly plans to peg public option payment rates to Medicare payment rates. Roll Call also reports Pelosi wants to finish work on the bill this week so it can be scored by the Congressional Budget Office and move to the full House floor by mid-October. Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, says Pelosi's effort to make the bill more liberal shows she is "completely out of touch with reality." "It is absolutely extraordinary to me that politicians who are in charge of key decisions in this Congress about health reform are just wantonly disregarding what the American people were saying as loudly as they knew how and as politely as they knew how during town hall meetings around the country in August," exclaims Turner. "[Those who registered their opposition at those meetings] do not want this monstrosity of a bill," she continues, "a thousand pages of legislation that's going to reform in one fell swoop one-sixth of our economy, with Lord only knows what kind of unintended consequences." Turner says Speaker Pelosi and Democratic leaders are "playing with fire" if they hope to "jam through" their government-run healthcare plan without regard for public sentiment and the economic consequences of the legislation. Results from our related pollWhat do you find most frustrating about the current debateon healthcare reform legislation?
Roll Call is reporting that Speaker Pelosi (D-California) is planning to include in the House healthcare bill a new income tax on the wealthiest Americans, as well as a stronger government-run health insurance plan or "public option" than some moderate Blue Dog Democrats desire. Blue Dogs in the House Energy and Commerce Committee had worked out a deal with Chairman Henry Waxman (D-California) to make a public option negotiate payment rates with medical providers instead of dictating them. However, Pelosi reportedly plans to peg public option payment rates to Medicare payment rates. Roll Call also reports Pelosi wants to finish work on the bill this week so it can be scored by the Congressional Budget Office and move to the full House floor by mid-October. Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, says Pelosi's effort to make the bill more liberal shows she is "completely out of touch with reality." "It is absolutely extraordinary to me that politicians who are in charge of key decisions in this Congress about health reform are just wantonly disregarding what the American people were saying as loudly as they knew how and as politely as they knew how during town hall meetings around the country in August," exclaims Turner. "[Those who registered their opposition at those meetings] do not want this monstrosity of a bill," she continues, "a thousand pages of legislation that's going to reform in one fell swoop one-sixth of our economy, with Lord only knows what kind of unintended consequences." Turner says Speaker Pelosi and Democratic leaders are "playing with fire" if they hope to "jam through" their government-run healthcare plan without regard for public sentiment and the economic consequences of the legislation.
Results from our related poll
What do you find most frustrating about the current debate
on healthcare reform legislation?
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