Senate Democrats Have 60 Votes to Debate Health Bill!

Perhaps the merits should have been debated, but now it just seems as much as farce as anything the congress does. I do not think that the bill in the present form will get sixty votes, but with reconciliation it doesn't have to be. I would have preferred that the congress work on the Budget for the rest of Government before tacking on anything new. All agencies except DOD are operating on a continuing resolution.

I don't think this bill can be changed enough in debate to make it something I can support. But let them try. I would have rather seen it killed off the batt and then them go back and re write it.....but we have to deal with what we have....which looking at this bill what we have is a mess. We will see how it works out. But if the mandatory requirement stays in and the 40% tax on premium policies stays in I will most definately NOT support this bill.

What you have in this bill is something for everyone and not all of it related to Health Care Reform. As with most legislation this is more about what can I get than what can be done for Health Care Reform. Take money from one program to benefit a Senator up for reelection. Why do we insist that when something is broken because of government interference and regulation that the solution is more government? Why should the government (State and Federal)tell us what we need to have covered in our Health Insurance. Why should women pay for male hair transplants and not have coverage for Birth Control? Lets let people pick their own Health Insurance coverage.

And to think, Landrieu's vote only cost $100 million. Even anyone who is for this bill should be ashamed of the buying and selling of votes with taxpayer money.

Healthcare reform is something that is seriously needed in this country so, yes, this bill needs to be discussed, debated and refined. There are many who disagree with it's contents in it's current form so how else can the problems be resolved without discussion? I'm sure the folks who want to simply kill it and return to the status quo are unhappy but this needs to be talked about.

I think they've done the right thing. Congress has had way too many years to do something about health insurance and all they have done is sit on their butts. At least if they cannot pass a national health insurance than maybe they can make some huge changes to current health insurance policies.

Congrats Annie. I'm sure you're thrilled to see that bribery is alive and well in congress so long as it gets anything titled "health care bill" passed.

sell outs!

If Mary Landrieu of Louisiana thinks health care is too important to be ignored, why did she have to be bribed to sign on?

...Hi annie, The bill passed this evening 60 to 39, strictly along party lines. It is amazing that those who have adequate health care are the ones who oppose the bill so strongly, in and out of Congress. The "richest", (I put that in quotes because we are actually bankrupt by any stretch of the imagination) nation cannot make some provision to have competition for the major insurance companies, so those without may afford health care coverage. Let those who disparage the process and feel that other things are more important, have a family member come down with a life threatening illness. Over forty years this has been lingering, it should have happened a long time ago. But the rich and the powerful control as usual. In the coming months, I fear there is going to be a further leveling of the playing fields, where money will not be a predominate factor in the well being of human beings. Take care.

I respectfully disagree. We cannot afford health care reform in this manner at this time. This bill should be shelved until a later time. First we cannot afford it - even if I agreed with it we still can't afford it. Second the bill has not had time to be reviewed. Something this massive and expensive needs to be reviewed line by line with everyone who intends to vote on it. Third we have only half a bill. It does not address how people will receive this new health care that we can't pay for. It doesn't address the doctors, nurses, x-ray techs, lab tech, etc..... that will be needed to provide this health care. This bill is causing people not to enter and/or leave these fields due to the lack of reimbursement and other such changes. We can make some changes to our health care to bring about some results. Such as reforming the malpractice laws - this alone with lead to lower health care cost and more reasonable use of resources. We need to address the abusers of the system - the people who don't pay for their health care yet show up in the ER every time they have the sniffles. We have public health departments that are set up to address these people with non emergent needs who cannot pay. We need to take a look at why these departments are not operating effectively and efficiently to meet the needs of the population they are suppose to serve. We already have a lot of good programs out there - but they need to be scrutinized and put back on track rather than reinvent the wheel. We need to clear out medicaid and medicare fraud. There are so many things we can do that will not add such massive debt to our country yet still bring about positive results. Until we try these things putting forth a whole new health care bill is nothing but a waste of money and another step toward socialized medicine. And I cannot and will never support health care for illegal aliens. They need to be returned to their own countries for their health care. I do and will always support health care for legal immigrants.

Do people realize how high unemployment is? Many who have lost their jobs due to this economy. Now do not have health insurance for themselves or their family. Something has to give somewhere.