President Obama Signs Reconciliation Health Bill
Tags: Health care, Health insurance, Nancy Pelosi, President Barack Obama, Signing Ceremony, United States Congress
President Obama put the final touch on the last piece of the puzzle for this attempt at health-care reform, by signing into law the "fixes" bill, or reconciliation bill, passed last week after it passed the House, then the Senate, and then the House again.
It was a long and arduous journey for the health reform debate and time will tell what the political fallout will be, but it is a testament to the will of this Congress and President's administration that either part of the health-care legislation passed at all. The President thanked Nancy Pelosi above everyone else to begin his comments before he signed the bill, as it was only 4 months ago that it was considered impossible for the House to pass the Senate bill. It was her strength of leadership which enabled the House to pass something they earlier derided as unacceptable and her reputation on the line when she helped craft the "fixes" bill she insisted the Senate must pass, for the House to have any chance of passing the original Senate bill.
The reconciliation bill removed some of the most panned legislation, like the Cornhusker kickback, which was a state exemption on any Medicare cost hikes insisted upon by Democratic Senator Ben Nelson in return for his vote for the Senate bill in December. The "fixes" bill also lowered the fine to be levied on those who don't purchase medical insurance by 2014 to $695 from $750, all while expanding coverage to 32 million currently uninsured people.
Interestingly, the President spent much of his time focusing on the student loan legislation which was tacked onto the reconciliation bill, praising how it will save money while increasing Pell grants, strengthening the college system. The bill cuts out the payment to banks acting as middlemen for student grants on behalf of the government, saving a significant amount of money that are to be reinvested into student loan programs, while giving students expanded options for repayment. Students will be able to cut the amount owed back to the government by volunteering for public service and, or military service.
In any event, watch the speech and signing ceremony below:
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It was a long and arduous journey for the health reform debate and time will tell what the political fallout will be, but it is a testament to the will of this Congress and President's administration that either part of the health-care legislation passed at all. The President thanked Nancy Pelosi above everyone else to begin his comments before he signed the bill, as it was only 4 months ago that it was considered impossible for the House to pass the Senate bill. It was her strength of leadership which enabled the House to pass something they earlier derided as unacceptable and her reputation on the line when she helped craft the "fixes" bill she insisted the Senate must pass, for the House to have any chance of passing the original Senate bill.
The reconciliation bill removed some of the most panned legislation, like the Cornhusker kickback, which was a state exemption on any Medicare cost hikes insisted upon by Democratic Senator Ben Nelson in return for his vote for the Senate bill in December. The "fixes" bill also lowered the fine to be levied on those who don't purchase medical insurance by 2014 to $695 from $750, all while expanding coverage to 32 million currently uninsured people.
Interestingly, the President spent much of his time focusing on the student loan legislation which was tacked onto the reconciliation bill, praising how it will save money while increasing Pell grants, strengthening the college system. The bill cuts out the payment to banks acting as middlemen for student grants on behalf of the government, saving a significant amount of money that are to be reinvested into student loan programs, while giving students expanded options for repayment. Students will be able to cut the amount owed back to the government by volunteering for public service and, or military service.
In any event, watch the speech and signing ceremony below:
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