Comments from NAHU…
House Passes Healthcare Reform Measure By 219-212 Tally.
In what media reports and analyses are casting as a historic development and a major win for President Obama, the House Sunday night passed the Senate-approved healthcare reform measure by 219-212. The AP (3/22) notes that after passing the bill, the House proceeded to approve “key changes” to it, “part of a prearranged agreement to guarantee passage of the historic legislation. The changes passed by a 220-211 vote. That bill now goes to the Senate for final approval, where it only requires a simple majority to pass.”
Most stories are describing the bill in largely favorable terms — and the vote as a triumph of the political system as a whole. The vote, reports USA Today (3/22, Wolf, Fritze), “assured that about 32 million Americans will gain health insurance coverage, and millions more will win protections against losing theirs.” The Los Angeles Times (3/22, Levey, Hook, Silva, Muskal) reports that “House Democratic leaders proved they could hold the majority caucus together,” though “thirty-four Democrats opposed the bill, as did all Republicans.” An AP (3/22, Woodward) story observes, “Rarely does the government, that big, clumsy, poorly regarded oaf, pull off anything short of war that touches all lives with one act, one stroke of a president’s pen. Such a moment has come.”
It was, Bloomberg News (3/22, Litvan, Rowley, Jensen) notes, “the most sweeping US healthcare legislation in four decades,” and “the biggest victory yet for…Obama.” The AP (3/22, Espo) notes that the President “watched the vote in the White House’s Roosevelt Room with Vice President Joe Biden and about 40 staff aides. When the long sought 216th vote came in — the magic number needed for passage — the room burst into applause and hugs. An exultant president exchanged a high-five with his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.”
The Hill (3/22, Swanson, subscription required) notes that the President addressed the nation saying, “Tonight, at a time when the pundits said it was no longer possible, we rose above the weight of our politics. … This is what change looks like.”
The Los Angeles Times (3/22, Nicholas) reports, “Rarely does a president bet everything on a single card, but…Obama did it on healthcare,” and “what became clear in the…debate is that Obama is a president with a combative stubbornness, one that was not often visible in his cool, above-the-fray public demeanor.”
In a front-page story, the New York Times (3/22, A1, Bernard) reports, “The uninsured are clearly the biggest beneficiaries of the legislation, which would extend the healthcare safety net for the lowest-income Americans.” Meanwhile, “for people already covered by a large employer — most Americans, in other words — the effect would not be as significant. And yet, just about everyone might benefit from tighter insurance regulations.” The Times adds, “There is no question that the legislation should benefit consumers in various ways.” In a separate front-page story, the New York Times (3/22, A1, Pear, Herszenhorn) notes that “Democrats hailed the vote as historic, comparable to the establishment of Medicare and Social Security and a long overdue step forward in social justice.”
McClatchy (3/22, Lightman, Douglas) says that “within a year, insurers” will “be barred from denying coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions, imposing lifetime limits on coverage and dropping people from coverage when they get sick.” The bill also “provides more help with insurance premiums for lower- and middle-income consumers and expands Medicaid funding to states.”
Battle Moves To Senate, Courts. Politico’s (3/22) Carrie Budoff Brown, in a blog entry, reports that “the Senate is preparing to take up the package of fixes to the Senate bill as early as Tuesday, according to Majority Leader Harry Reid’s spokesman, Jim Manley.” However, “Senate Democrats and Republicans still need to sit down together with the parliamentarian to review the list of potential items that could be subject to the Byrd Rule — a step that precedes the consideration of a reconciliation bill.”
The New York Times (3/22, A17, Zeleny, Stolberg), meanwhile, reports, “The next chapter in the healthcare fight will play out not only in the midterm elections, but also in the courts. Attorneys general in three states — Virginia, Florida and South Carolina — have indicated they will file legal challenges to the measure, on the grounds that it violates the Constitution by requiring individuals to purchase insurance.” In an interview, Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli “said he intended to base his challenge on two grounds: that the federal bill conflicts with a newly passed state law that says no Virginian may be compelled to buy insurance and that Congress does not have authority to impose the mandate.” Meanwhile, “the White House and Democrats were preparing to counter the legal arguments and coordinate a state-by-state response to any prospective challenges.”
