In spite of the Republicans finding a points of order against the reconciliation bill, the Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate are confident that the reconciliation fix will pass easily again through the House. If that happens, it means that the GOP weren't able to win here, and that this is a very short-lived victory for them.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday he's confident the House will approve a measure making final fixes to healthcare law when it comes back to the House.
Hoyer said he expected the House to vote today to re-approve the healthcare reconciliation bill after Senate Republicans successfully raised a point of order against that bill, setting up another House vote.
"I expect to get this bill back from the Senate sometime this afternoon, and I would expect several hours after we will have the bill on the floor, and we will pass the bill and send it to the president," the number two House Democrat said.
This is good news regarding what happened last night when the GOP raised a point of order on the Byrd rule:
Republicans managed their first successful point of order on early Thursday morning, when, after hours of debate, Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin ruled that some provisions affecting the Pell Grant program were out of order under the budget reconciliation rules governing the Senate debate.
Once the reconciliation bill passes, it means that the subsidies for the middle class and low-income will have been increased, that the excise tax has been fixed, the special deal for Senator Nelson will have been nixed, and that families and students will have student loan reform. These are important changes to the Senate health bill.
However, more has to be done on this issue. This Senate health bill is only the start in the foundation towards real health care reform. After all, private insurers are already trying to game the system by exploiting loopholes in the Senate health bill that allows a private insurer not to cover a child's pre-existing condition by simply leaving that condition out of the insurance policy coverage.
The good news is that the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, will be issuing regulations that fixes that loophole. However, what happens four or eight years from now if there's a Republican administration? Then all of those regulations can be undone, and revised to the benefit of private insurers and Republicans.
That's something that we all will have to work on and keep on eternal vigilance to make sure it doesn't happen in that manner.
Anyways, in light of news that Democrats in the House have faced death threats from teabaggers, please continue to thank these Democrats for doing the right thing in voting for the health bill (AND the reconciliation bill)!
219 Democrats did the right thing in the House of Representatives by voting to change the status quo in our health system.
They're now facing death threats and harassment from the teabaggers. Please show them that we have their back by thanking them, and telling them that there are more of us than there are of the teabaggers.
Will you please donate $5, $10, or $20 to help us whip Congress into doing the right thing on health care reform?
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