Well, ladies and gentlemen, Reid announced today, right on schedule, a senate proposal on the issue of national. Healthcare, pulling in at under the $1 Trillion mark set by President Obama ($849 Billion) and, as expected, facing staunch opposition by the republican senate who hasn’t had an opportunity to read this bill fully yet (let’s hope they do before they arbitrarily say ‘no!’ Let’s hope… but let’s also be realistic)

You can read more about this, if you choose, at http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/18/health.care/index.html.

What I wanted to bring you was this: http://help.senate.gov/BAI09A84_xml.pdf

As promised, the bill is available, as all previous bills, for public view well before the votes.

One thing I noticed, or rather, noticed a lack thereof, thumbing through this 615 page bill, was any phrase containing the words “public” and “option”.   Sec. 3104, Allowing State Flexibility does state “(a) OPTIONAL STATE ESTABLISHMENT OF GATEWAY.—During the 4-year period following the date of enactment of this section, a State may— (1)(A) establish a Gateway (as defined for purposes of section 3101); ‘‘(B) adopt the insurance reform provisions as provided for in title I of the Affordable Health Choices Act (and the amendments made by such title); and ‘‘(C) agree to make employers who are State or local governments subject to sections 162 and 164 of the Affordable Health Choices Act. ‘‘(2)(A) request that the Secretary operate (for a minimum period of 5 years) a Gateway in such State;‘‘(B) adopt the insurance reform provisions as provided for in subtitle A of title I of the Affordable Health Choices Act (and the amendments made by such subtitle); and ‘‘(C) agree to make employers who are State or local governments subject to sections 162 and 164 of the Affordable Health Choices Act; or ‘‘(3) elect not to take the actions described in paragraph (1) or (2).”

This tells me that, as discussed earlier, there is a ‘trigger’ and an ‘option’ on the table to allow individual states to opt in to a national program or gateway. This probably won’t stand the debate that’s surely to hit the senate floor and more on this will come to light as the debate continues.

Other questions are what, exactly, will this bill cover in terms of service? Well, it’s rather long to post here (I suggest viewing the .pdf, pg 70, about halfway down the page to see the entire text) but here is some of the language:

‘‘(i) REQUIRED ELEMENTS FOR CONSIDERATION.—‘‘(1) ESSENTIAL HEALTH CARE BENEFITS.—In issuing recommendations on the matter described in subsection (h)(1), the Council shall— ‘‘(A) ensure that recommendations on the matter described in subsection (h)(1) reflect an appropriate balance among the categories described in such subsection, so that benefits are not unduly weighted toward any category; and ‘‘(B) take into account the health care needs of diverse segments of the population, including women, children, persons with disabilities, and other groups.”

‘‘(2) MINIMUM QUALIFYING COVERAGE.—In considering the matter described in subsection (h)(2), the Council— ‘‘(A) shall— ‘‘(i) exclude from meeting such criteria any coverage that— ‘‘(I) provides reimbursement for the treatment or mitigation of— ‘‘(aa) a single disease or condition; or ‘‘(bb) an unreasonably limited set of diseases or conditions; or ‘‘(II) has an out of pocket limit that exceeds the amount described in section 223 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for the year involved; and ‘‘(ii) establish such criteria (taking into account the requirements established under clause (i)) in a manner that results in the least practicable disruption of the health care marketplace,consistent with the goals and activities under this title; and ‘‘(B) may provide for the application of different criteria with respect to young adults.”

Yes, the red text is highlighted for a reason. I think it’s self-explanatory.

There is much, much more but I haven’t read the bill in its entirety yet. I am, however, offering it to all of you so that you may read it and find the issues you wish to debate.

Of course, this bill will morph into several new editions before it even ahs a chance to make it to the next stage.  But let us not allow that little fact to keep us in the dark on what, exactly will be debated, rather than allowing the media to tell us what they want us to hear.

Peace!