To reverse the reform of the health insurance bill
<p>Experts claim that Democrats in the Senate have approximately 48 hours to get the ball rolling on masters in healthcare reform for it to pass by the end of the year. Majority Leader Harry Reid’s goal is for the bill, which seeks to provide most Americans with a health insurance plan, to be passed by Christmas. The rush is due to several factors; among them is the myriad amendments pending in the Senate, which all must be voted on for inclusion in the final bill. Many of these amendments are controversial, including the ban on federal subsidies for any health insurance plan covering abortion proposed by Ben Nelson, and the coalition of liberal and moderate Democrats’ Medicare buy-in alternative for those between the ages of 55 to 64. <br /><br />Another new amendment was recently introduced by Sen. Byron Dorgan. Dorgan’s amendment would allow health insurance plans and patients to import prescription drugs from countries with lower prices, such as Canada. Unlike the United States, these nations have price controls keeping the cost of medications low. The Dorgan proposal will lessen the burden on millions of Americans forced to spend several hundred or even thousands of dollars annually on essential medications. Unusually for health care legislation, the drug importation amendment has strong bi-partisan support. Co-sponsors include Olympia Snowe, the Republican Senator who has expressed limited support for masters in healthcare reform in the past.<br /><br />The progress of seemingly popular legislation with appeal to the general public has been slower than expected. Although the idea has been floated by senators in the past (most notably a pre-presidency Barack Obama), drug company lobbyists are standing in its way. Earlier this year, the Obama administration struck a deal with the pharmaceutical firms: they pay $80 billion in extra taxes and agree to lower the prices on some popular medications while reducing its public opposition to reform; in exchange, the government allegedly agreed to avoid further regulation of the industry in the bill. Negotiation is important, but that particular deal appears somewhat unseemly. What is even worse is that those negotiations have become increasingly pointless–the heavily opposed public option looks to be dead in the Senate water, and the Medicare buy-in may not be too far behind.<br /><br />masters in healthcare reform is also being held back by many Democratic senators waiting for a report from the Congressional Budget Office. Their analysis is supposed to be released this week, and will focus on the cost impacts of various alternatives proposed by the "Gang of 10" moderate and liberal party members. Several so-called "Blue Dogs" have expressed concern over the increased debt that may result from reform legislation, at least in the short run. A favorable report will speed the legislative process along by convincing independent Joe Lieberman to come on board. Lieberman has said that although he wants masters in healthcare reform to pass as soon as possible, he will most likely oppose any provision allowing middle-aged individuals to pay premiums into the Medicare <a rel="nofollow" onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(’/outgoing/article_exit_link’);" href="http://www.vitalonehealth.com">health insurance plan</a>, citing the program’s well-known problems with solvency. <br /><br />Once the Senate manages to come to an agreement, more needs to be done in the 10 days before its self-imposed deadlines. The bill then returns to committees in the House of Representatives as well as the Senate for Congress to meld both bills together into a single piece of legislation that will be signed by President Obama at the start of the new year. This will be difficult to say the least, as the House’s version contains both a public option <a rel="nofollow" onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(’/outgoing/article_exit_link’);" href="http://www.vitalonehealth.com">health insurance plan</a> and stricter regulations against using the proposed health insurance subsidies to buy a plan with abortion coverage; the current Senate version has neither. At least a few days for congressional wrangling and horse-trading prior to the holiday break need to be factored into the timeline.<br /><br />Many, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, are understandably skeptical of this push. The Republican believes that the Democratic party is being presumptuous in its attempt to jam through politically unpopular legislation during a period when fewer Americans are taking notice of national politics. Party leaders have ad