Question: Given the events of this past week, do you really think we will get another shot at HCR

[WCGreen]

if we abandon the current Senate bill?

Now I am not advocating for the efficacy of this cobbled together bill from Hell, but I would like to know, in a thoughtful and realistic way, how we could get anything else passed given the circumstance and the mood of the country.

In addition, if we fail this time when all the cards were, at one time at least, stacked in our favor, when do you honestly, honestly think another realistic chance of passing and implementing any kind of HCR will be?

Personally, I would put the Senate Bill on hold with the House and try to pass incremental change such as eliminating pre-existing condition discrimination, erasing life-time caps, expanding Medicare to those 60 and older who cannot get insurance in the private sector. I would also raise the income level so that Medicaid for children would be expanded (fully funded to the states), revisit the COBRA program so that newly unemployed people won't have to kick in all of their unemployment compensation just to cover the cost of COBRA and stop the practice of cherry picking customers by Insurance Companies.

Each of these suggestions would be presented in separate bills.

Make the republicans vote, with recorded up or down votes, on these or similar measures. Keep the Senate Bill inactive in the House and if we cannot get these provisions through, then get our House Caucus together and get them on board with the Senate Bill. I don't even know if that is possible given the archaic rules in place in both Houses of Congress. But given what I know, this is what I would do.

This is what I would do, given the mood of the country.

This is serious stuff and deserves to be discussed in a thoughtful and intelligent manor. I know it is a very emotional time, but now more than ever, we need cool heads discussing what could very well be a generational opportunity. Lives are literally at stake. We may never get another chance, given the recent Supreme Court Ruling. So what say you DU, give us your best ideas. I gave you mine.

I am not going to comment so please do not call me out. I am not going to put this in my journal until the comments stop.

If this thread sinks without any meaningful discussion, well, then so be it.

Just to let you know, I am going to post this over in GD as well.

Please, DU, let us put our best foot forward...

[dkf]

1. Hcr as written results in cognitive dissonance.

First we tell the public of the worst excesses of health insurance companies like preexisting conditions and recission. Then we tell the public they must buy this product.

Everyone knows corporations find loopholes and feel no need to treat customers fairly. Why should we want to be forced to pay companies that have a history of bring unfair?

[customerserviceguy]

2. It all depends on the economy

If it improves by 2012 (I personally think it's too late for this year), then we get our supermajority back in that election, and we make that the first thing to focus on in 2013. If it doesn't improve, then it won't make any difference what we pass today, because the Repuke Congress and President Palin will undo it all anyway.

[robcon]

3. HCR is over until our next supermajority.

Probably in the 2nd Obama administration.

[Armstead]

4. I agree with you about breaking it into smaller bills -- It would get some things passed or...

...it would show the Republicans for the schmucks they are.

They wold have a hard time explaining, for example, why they do not support a bill that would prevent insurers from accepting people because of age or pre-existing conditions.

[CanonRay]

5. I think it's dead

unless they go back to square one, and pass it by reconcilliation.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

6. on the third day it rose again

it needs to be gutted and put through as an emergency measure for the POOR - people are losing their jobs every day. The Senate bill was written by the corporations.

cap insurance premiums and a tax health insurance companies heavily with a windfall tax. This will help pay for start up funding for state health systems. Hopefully then health insurance companies will die on the vine.

Be bold Democrats!

[WCGreen]

7. One kick for the evening crowd.

[AlinPA]

8. A simple split in the bill of budgetary-financial and other "rule based items" such as

pre-existing conditions, selling insurance over state lines (to possibly attract R votes), etc.

Go to reconciliation with the first part and follow up with the second.

We get what we want with the reconciliation and make it hard for R's to vote against the 2nd part.

It should be done tomorrow.

That's my simple minded way to do it.

If we don't do it now, Health Care Reform is dead for a very long time, decades maybe, given the SCOTUS decision.

[Robeson]

9. I think its finished.