Kennedy Health Care Reform Bill.

[kthx]

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Really, I don't know what you're saying. Are you saying the govt. is in cahoots with the Insurance companies to provide a bigger, less efficient system of health care? That's what the Obama administration is saying. Govt. subsidies to private insurers hasn't made health care any cheaper, nor has it made it any more productive. The reform Obama is suggesting is a public option that would remove money from a persons paycheck in order to pay for health insurance they wouldn't receive otherwise. That's all. It's an option whether you choose to pay for it or not.

Barack Obama Campaign Promise No. 55:
In the Works
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Require large employers to contribute to a national health plan

"Large employers that do not offer meaningful coverage or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the national plan. Small businesses will be exempt from this requirement."

Sources: Obama health care plan

Subjects: Corporations, Health, Market Regulation
Updates:
Health reform bill requires employers to contribute

Updated: Thursday, July 16th, 2009 | By Angie Drobnic Holan

After months of talking about health care reform, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced major legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system. House Democrats unveiled the 1,000-plus-page bill, called America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, on July 14, and it includes most of President Barack Obama's key proposals on health reform.

One of Obama's promises was to require large employers to contribute, and the House bill includes that. If large employers don't offer health care, they'll have to pay a tax that's about 8 percent of payroll. Small businesses with a payroll of less than $250,000 are exempt; the tax phases in on payrolls between $250,000 and $400,000.

To be sure, there's a long way to go — maybe months — before the bill becomes law. It has to pass the House and get through the Senate, where many changes could be made.

Nevertheless, the bill marks significant, measurable progress on Obama's promise, and we rate it In the Works.

Sources:

Thomas, HR 3200 , introduced July 14, 2009

U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, House Democrats Introduce Bill to Provide Quality, Affordable Health Care for All Americans , July 14, 2009

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, Markup of H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act , July 16, 2009

Ignorant people should actually read what he wants to do before claiming they do.

[Summa]

"Large employers that do not offer meaningful coverage or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the national plan. Small businesses will be exempt from this requirement."

I think you read this wrong. To me this is basically a measure set in place to prevent large companies from skimping their employees on health care. Essentially it says "the health care you provide needs to be up to certain standards or you must provide substantial assistance to your employees in buying their plans or else there will be large penalties". They aren't forcing companies to contribute 8% of their payroll, they are simply enacting a measure to prevent large companies (who likely can afford good coverage) from screwing their employees over with shitty coverage that is substantially worse than the public option.

[Lock]

Large companies are fucking their employees over way to much and there needs to be something done to regulate this.

Wal-Mart does not even give its managers health care. It's quite sad. Any employees under that are not even eligible to apply for health care which is just completely bullshit.

[Izor]

Do you have any evidence of this? I would say our military spending is a far bigger waste than SS and Medicaid. After all, there's nothing less profitable (to the American people) than spending billions each month to bomb brown people.

Would you rather make SS privatized? In that case, what would happen if the business holding your investment goes bankrupt, or pulls a Bernie Madoff and scams your ass? Then you're out on your retirement like all those assholes that put their savings into 401k's and investment portfolios. Furthermore, plenty of Govt. run programs operate effectively and without complaint from you, I'm sure. For instance, how are your roads? Do you like the fact that it's illegal for someone to pillage your shit when you go to work? Or the fact that you can't work more than a certain amount of hours in a week for under a certain pay level?

Our DoD spending is not going anywhere.

How is social security anything but a giant Ponzi scheme? Our money is paying our parents and our childrens money will eventually be paying us. Whoever is the last person to hop on board and pay into it is fucked.

What is efficient about the government??? You've never worked with or for the government to have a reference point about this. Do you understand the pencil whipping that goes down for people to keep their jobs and contracts with the government just because they're buddies with the person rating on them? You're a joke, you know nothing about how government operates and has operated for years. Anyone who knows anything can tell you the government is about as inefficient as it gets.

[Cops]

I liked reading this thread and appreciate the honesty from people in regards to the American health care system. I just don't see what there's to gain when someone refuses to admit there's any problems with how things are being run.

[Epinephrine]

I liked reading this thread and appreciate the honesty from people in regards to the American health care system. I just don't see what there's to gain when someone refuses to admit there's any problems with how things are being run.

I think more of the people with horror stories need to speak up. Actually I think Obama needs to address the issue more head on. All the polls say that the majority of Americans would support a public healthcare system, so why is it so hard to actually get it done?

The special interests and alarmists like kthx/izor are too loud and are drowning out everyone else.

Obama is doing a bad job of this, because as president and as someone who campaigned on healthcare reform as one of this signature issues, he needs to be the leader of this and not just let congress do whatever it wants as he's been mostly doing.

[Infrared]

Don't get why people from other countries know so much about our politics

[Galleleo]

Because if we don't help, you'll slide down to a third world country, or maybe they will even create a special fifth world category for you! You are special after all.

[Epinephrine]

Don't get why people from other countries know so much about our politics

People from other countries know a lot about other countries period. We could be debating another large and important country and I'm sure a lot of people would chime in.

[Izor]

Really Epi? I bet none of us know the prime minister of china or whatever the fuck title they call themselves without google

[kthx]

The only leaders of other countries I know are from South Park references.

Anyways Epine, I don't know how things work in the fucking terrible country of Canada, but here the President tries not to do whatever the fuck he wants if it isn't popular with the public because it will get him impeached. Congress "does what the fuck they want" but they have people yelling at them, filling up their emails, and inboxes with hundreds of thousands of emails and phone calls saying they don't want this. Again, I realize Canada only has a mock government and that you are basically a slave state to the UK so follow their shitty rules but that isn't how things work in the best country in the world.

[Epinephrine]

Really Epi? I bet none of us redneck americans know the prime minister of china or whatever the fuck title they call themselves without google

fixed.

[Epinephrine]

The only leaders of other countries I know are from South Park references.

Anyways Epine, I don't know how things work in the fucking terrible country of Canada, but here the President tries not to do whatever the fuck he wants if it isn't popular with the public because it will get him impeached. Congress "does what the fuck they want" but they have people yelling at them, filling up their emails, and inboxes with hundreds of thousands of emails and phone calls saying they don't want this. Again, I realize Canada only has a mock government and that you are basically a slave state to the UK so follow their shitty rules but that isn't how things work in the best country in the world.

Then I guess Obama must be doing a bang-up job and doing what basically everyone in the USA wants. Why are you complaining all the time?

kukuku

[Vatican Assassin]

This just in...Sometimes politicians dodge questions that might turn off possible voters. Shocking!

Hey squeezer do you think you can make an argument without the condescending sarcasm?

[Zerzera]

I wish the college dropouts/army boys knew the difference between liberalism and socialism.
Especially since most of the "conservative" posters here take a stance that's actually liberal conservatism (or straight out liberal), pass them off as conservative and then continue to pass socialist opinions off as liberal.

You got the theory all mixed up.

Asking for the government to pay the medical bill of your tumorous girlfriend after she deserted, for instance, is socialism. The freedom to question the government on this, or any matter, is liberalism.
Conservatism would be if your government was an Irish preacher that took the law straight from the bible.

Your current president might be liberal, he's mostly socialist.