Health Care Reform Bills Pass !

Well, it's all over but the shouting (and I expect that'll come from the teabagging opponents of fixing our health care system). The House of Representatives passed both the Senate health care bill with 219 votes (all Democrats) and the reconciliation bill with 220 votes (again all Democrats). The Senate bill nows goes to the president for his signature, and the reconciliation bill goes to the Senate where it is expected to pass in a week or two.

I am happy the bills passed. They are far from perfect, but it is a start and they do accomplish some good things. For instance:

-Private insurance companies can no longer deny insurance coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

-Private insurance companies can no longer drop a person's coverage because they have contracted a serious and expensive illness.

-Working class people who cannot afford the expensive private insurance will get some government help to purchase health insurance.

-It will give millions of people insurance coverage who do not have coverage now.

-It protects those with very serious and/or lingering illnesses by removing arbitrary caps on what insurance companies will pay.

But I hope that Congress realizes that these bills, while accomplishing some good things, do not fix our broken health care system. Much more needs to be done. The bills do nothing to lower the cost of insurance or slow down the rising of insurance premiums. It also leaves the private insurance companies in charge of making health care decisions (instead of doctors) for millions of Americans.

While I would still like to see a single-payer health insurance system (like making Medicare available to all Americans), I think at least an option for enrolling in a public insurance plan should be available. Hopefully, Congress can address this in the not too distant future. This would have a downward effect on all insurance premiums, and give Americans the option of getting the private insurance companies out of their health care decisions.

We now know health care reform can happen. All we have to do now is finish the job.

(The picture above shows the moment the House vote for health care reform got to the 216th and winning vote.)