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| February 4, 2009: In an overwhelming, bipartisan vote, the US House takes a small step forward - toward universal healthcare for Americans... |
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The House yesterday overwhelmingly approved a bill extending health insurance coverage to 4 million uninsured children. The move gives newly elected President Obama a key win in his efforts to revamp the crisis riddled profit driven multiple-tier private health care system in the US, and perhaps a step toward the promise of universal healthcare coverage.
The bill was passed in a vote of 290-135. The move was bi-partisan, with 40 Republicans also backing it. While moving in the right direction, the bill calls for spending less than 10% of the amount spent recently, under the previous administration, to provide tax payer funded universal healthcare to the bottom line of the US banking industry. The additional $32.8 billion cost per this bill will be invested in the State Children's Health Insurance Program. To cover the increase in spending, the bill would boost the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes by 62 cents, to $1.01 a pack (ed: This amount is far short of the overall financial impact of tobacco on health care costs and lost productivity) In late 2007, former President George W. Bush twice vetoed similar bills. The Senate passed the same bill last week. President Obama made healthcare improvements a top priority for his first 100 days. Passage of this bill is one step in his push for universal coverage by the end of his first term. Universal healthcare coverage, using the Canadian and West European models, would be a welcome relief for the average US citizen. Universal healthcare will also benefit the American economy and US employers who are faced with health care costs under the present broken system increasing at more than 3 times the rate of inflation. E.&O.E. |
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