GOP challenges send health bill back to House

[Eric Johnson]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/25/AR2010032500006.html?wpisrc=nl_politics

http://tinyurl.com/yjmnlfm

By Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 25, 2010; 8:52 AM

Senate Republicans have successfully identified two minor violations of reconciliation rules in the final piece of the health-care package. The violations will force the Senate to change the reconciliation bill and ship it to the House of Representatives for final passage.

But Democratic leaders said the provisions that will be struck -- from the part of the bill dealing with Pell Grants for college students -- do not significantly affect the student loan program or the health-care bill overall.

-more-

[Eric Johnson]

The story goes on to say that the two amendments proposed by Sen Grassley (R-Ia) were not approved.

The first one would require senior leadership and their staff in the House and Senate to use the same insurance exchange process as the rest of us. In the new law, they have been exempted for some strange reason. Cowards!

The second would cover a serious hole in the entire concept. The law now requires any pre-existing conditions to be insurable. The law also levies a fine of $695 on any eligible insured who choses to remain uninsured. These two provisions create a huge loophole in the financial aspects of the law. People can refuse to buy insurance until the moment they go for say major surgery and elect to pay the fine of only $695. Insurance firms will go broke with this loophole.

Eric

[M&K's Retrievers]

..... Insurance firms will go broke with this loophole.

Eric

That's the goal of this legislation which I've pointed out in other threads. Here comes the single payor system.

[luvmylabs23139]

WE have a few hopes.
If the republicans can take the house in November, they can simply not fund any of the 100+ new agencies created in the bill.
The house doesn't have to increase the IRS budget.
The house could cut the budget for HHS.
CUT off the money and this means nothing!

[Eric Johnson]

Nope. If we all do our job in November, the House (and maybe the Senate) will turn-over and then come January, they'll set the appropriation for this monstrosity at $0 and it will be a law without effect.

Eric