[Oe List ...] Health Care -current state in Congress

[Janice Ulangca]

Colleagues,

August 27 I attended a meeting where a representative of a national coalition for healthcare reform gave a 2 hour power point presentation on the bills currently in congress.  HCAN - Healthcare for America Now is a coalition of liberal groups - unions, community organizations, Latino and African American organizations, etc.  Their web site is www.HealthCareForAmericaNow.org    What they stand for can be found by clicking the About Us tab at the top.  Seems like a very good list to me.  Whether you agree with their positions or not, you might find the  page on the current step of the legislative process useful.  They say they update this page frequently - it was last updated August 26.  That version is copied below.  Links to the full text of bills are on this page.

As you may know, there is no single health care bill now.  So there is no definite bill to either support or oppose.  Things are moving fast, though.  So phone calls are important - stating what is important to you.  Lobbyists are certainly active - we'd better be.

Janice Ulangca
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>From the HCAN web site:
Completed Steps
Click on each completed step to see where we've been and what we've accomplished towards our goal of winning quality, affordable health care for all. 


Step 1: Initial Proposals 

Step 2: Committees Hold Hearings/Draft Legislation 

 


CURRENT STEP - Step 3: Committees Pass Legislation

Because health reform legislation is so complicated, five different committees - three in the House and two in the Senate - are entitled to have some say in the legislation. Each House and Senate committee in charge of different parts of health care reform has been holding hearings and drafting legislation. Committees consider their first draft, usually called the Chairman's mark, in a process called "mark-up." During these committee meetings, members propose changes to the Chairman's mark (amendments) and then vote on final approval in their committee. The committees may consider hundreds on amendments in the process. 


Once each committee completes its process, the two Senate committees will combine their bills and work out any differences to bring one bill to the Senate floor. The same process will be happening among the committees working in the House. The committees involved in health care reform have pledged to work together to minimize differences and make this process easier.  

 

Where We Are Now 

In the Senate, the HELP Committee has passed a health reform bill (full text, pdf) that includes a strong public health insurance option. (Click herefor Health Care for America Now's statement on the HELP bill.) The Finance Committee is expected to begin the markup process when they have agreed on a starting draft. After both committees pass bills, they will be combined together to be moved to the Senate floor for amendments by the whole Senate and a full vote. 

In the House, the Chairmen of the three committees of juristiction - Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor - have released a combined "tri-committee" bill. The bill meets all of Health Care for America Now's principles (fact sheets, changes from House draft [pdf], committee summery of the bill [pdf]). All three committees held hearings on the bill draft in June and each are marking up the package now. Like in the Senate, the committees will combine their bills into one package and take it to the House floor for a vote. The House Ways and Means Committee (roll call), Education and Labor Committee (roll call), and Energy and Commerce Committee (roll call) have passed the health reform bill, HR 3200, and referred it to the full House. 

When Congress gets back from recess on September 8th, the House will vote on HR 3200. The Senate should also refer a bill to the floor for a vote around the same time. Both committees in the Senate will have to vote out bills by the October 15th reconciliation deadline to maintain the reconciliation option. 

After both houses pass a bill, the House and Senate will resolve their differences in "conference." When they agree to one bill, it goes back to the Senate and House for final votes, then to president Obama for his signature. 


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