Just read this headline at FOX breaking news online. During the past week, other news has taken precedence on the networks and in many of the blogs, but the Obama health care bill is still very much top priority. With a Senate vote nearing, it is even more important that we make our opinions known by phoning, emailing, and faxing our Senators and also our Representatives. ~~~ S. Lane
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Read more here and click on link for entire article at The Wall Street Journal:
Senate on Verge of Health Care Bill
Senate on Verge of Health Care Bill
Measure With Stiffer Penalties on Employers and Public Plan Could Come This Week
By JANET ADAMY and GREG HITT
WASHINGTON -- Top Senate Democrats are close to finalizing their health bill and could unveil a measure as soon as early this week that would include stiffer penalties on employers who fail to provide health coverage.
Senate leaders plan to submit the bill to the Congressional Budget Office for a cost estimate as soon as Monday, and make the legislation public as soon as Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
Associated Press
Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer, left, Harry Reid, center, and Patrick Leahy head to a news conference on health insurers on Capitol Hill last week.
Details of the legislation could change, but its broad outlines are becoming clear. Employers with more than 50 workers wouldn't be required to provide health insurance, but they would face fines of up to $750 per employee if even part of their work force received a government subsidy to buy health insurance, this person said. A bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee had a lower fine of up to $400 per employee.
The bill to be brought to the Senate floor would create a new public health-insurance plan, but would give states the choice of opting out of participating in it, a proposal that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada backed last week.
The bill is expected to expand health coverage to tens of millions of Americans by giving low- and middle-income Americans subsidies to offset the cost of insurance, and expanding the Medicaid federal-state insurance program to cover a broader swath of the poor. Most people would be required to buy insurance or pay a fine, though exceptions would be made for those deemed unable to afford it.
Also expected are new rules on insurers to prevent them from denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions and from dropping customers' insurance once they become ill.
Mr. Reid spent the weekend shoring up support for the bill from Democrats in the chamber. But some key moderate Democrats signaled Sunday that they remain uneasy about main planks of the legislation. "I certainly am not excited about a public option where states would opt out," Sen. Ben Nelson (D., Neb.) said on CNN's "State of the Union."
The bill is the culmination of days of meetings between Mr. Reid, other top Senate Democrats and White House officials, who melded two health bills that passed through Senate committees into one piece of legislation.
In both the House and Senate, Democratic leaders are showing determination to bring legislation to floor votes in November, with President Barack Obama saying he wants to sign a bill enacting his top domestic priority before the end of the year. The House is expected to unveil the latest version of its health bill as soon as this week.
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