HEALTH CARE REFORM - Continues

The battle on health care reform wages on. I believe it is not a matter of if but only a matter of when we will see congress present us with the bill. And by the bill I mean the particulars of the new system which they will begin to put into effect and the cost that inevitably will have to be absorbed by the taxpayer.

On Friday, 9/4/09 Baucus ( the Senate’s chief democratic negotiator on a health care bill) said the members of his group agree on several big-picture items, including the need to control costs, provide access to affordable coverage for all Americans and ensure that health care fixes don't add to the deficit. The negotiators have been working on a pared-back bill that would cost under $1 trillion over 10 years and drop contentious components, such as the government-sponsored insurance plan that liberals insist must be in the legislation. Since the Republican leaders are solidly opposed to Obama's approach to the health care reform, the GOP negotiators are under tremendous pressure not to cooperate.

Unfortunately I have not seen any concrete evidence that the plan will make health care more cost effective and quality conscious. The emphasis continues to be making it more universally available. This issue is not only going to get politically much bigger and increasingly more contentious but significantly more important to every American who will be accessing the health care system. Stay tuned , you are going to want to know how this will affect you!