Thread: House GOP pens 230-page health bill draft

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1

WASHINGTON (AP) - After months spent criticizing Democrats' health overhaul plans, House Republicans have produced a draft proposal of their own. It's much shorter and focuses on bringing down costs rather than extending coverage to nearly all Americans.

A 230-page draft was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. A spokeswoman for Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said changes were still being made before the bill would be finalized in time to offer as an alternative when Democrats begin floor debate on their bill, possibly at the end of this week.


The bill leaves out a number of the key features of the Democrats' 1,990-page legislation, such as new requirements for employers to insure their employees and for nearly all Americans to purchase insurance. It also doesn't block insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions, as Democrats would do.

Instead, the Republican plan increases incentives for people to use health savings accounts, caps non-economic jury awards in medical malpractice cases at $250,000, provides various incentives to states with the aim of driving down premium costs and allows health insurance to be sold across state lines.

"As Leader Boehner has made clear, our proposal will focus on the No. 1 concern of the American people—reducing health care costs, and we do it at a price tag our nation can afford," said spokeswoman Antonia Ferrier, though Republicans have not said how much their bill would cost.

"Our proposal will help struggling middle-class families and small businesses by increasing access to affordable, high-quality health care," Ferrier said.

Democrats immediately dismissed the Republican plan as insubstantial.

The GOP alternative "does little to provide security and stability to all Americans, doesn't provide insurance availability for all Americans, does little to expand access to coverage," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters.

"Ours is vastly superior and we think the American public will think that," Hoyer said.

The GOP draft bill obtained by The AP was dated Monday.

House Democrats, meanwhile, were working overtime to put the finishing touches on their 10-year, $1.2 trillion bill, which they released last week. Leaders were trying to resolve lingering concerns over language to bar federal funding of abortions and ensure that illegal immigrants don't receive government health benefits.

The Republican bill includes a permanent ban on any federal funding for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or threat to the life of the mother, stronger language than the Democratic bill,

Hoyer predicted Tuesday that Democrats would vote within the week to pass President Barack Obama's historic health care remake.

"I'm confident of prevailing and I'm confident of prevailing before Veterans Day"—next Wednesday, Nov. 11, Hoyer told reporters. "I am confident that we are going to pass this bill."

Across the Capitol, senators are waiting to see the final language and price tag on a health bill that Majority Leader Harry Reid and a few other top officials wrote in secret. It's not clear when those details will be available and Reid, D-Nev., may not be able to begin debate on the issue until the week before Thanksgiving.

I wonder if this is like the "budget" they released that didn't have any numbers in it? The number of pages in a bill is really irrelevant and I don't think the House bill is perfect, but I definitely support it over the Republican bill or doing nothing.

Originally Posted by Red_Lizard2

don't like either bill. Also have a problem with the fact it (the article) gives zero information on what the "incentives" would be.

I mean i could offer "poster x" $1 to stop posting, and then spin it to call it an incentive to reduce the posting of "poster x" (not saying thats what being done, but an example)

Just as I thought, the GOP bill is as big of a joke as their numberless budget.

"The Republican bill, which has no chance of passage, would extend insurance coverage to about 3 million people by 2019, and would leave about 52 million people uninsured, the budget office said, meaning the proportion of non-elderly Americans with coverage would remain about the same as now, at roughly 83 percent."

Compare that to the Democratic bill: "The budget office has said that the Democrats’ health care proposal would extend coverage to 36 million people, meaning that 96 percent of legal residents would have health benefits."

More fun facts: "According to the report by nonpartisan budget office, the Republican bill would reduce future federal deficits by $68 billion over 10 years, compared to a reduction of $104 billion by the House Democrats’ legislation."

Barely touches premiums: "and by up to 3 percent in the large group market, which is where 80 percent of Americans get their coverage. "

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.c...p-health-bill/

So the GOP bill doesn't really do anything to change the status quo. The Democratic bill covers more people, reduces the deficit more, stops insurers from using the "pre-existing condition" bullshit, and reduces premiums by far more, among other things. Now, again, I am not saying the Democratic bill is perfect or even great, but it is good and far better that the Republican joke of a bill and doing nothing.