US Passes Health Care Reform at Long Last
Jakarta Globe, March 23, 2010
Washington. President Barack Obama’s Republican foes in the US Senate on Monday were preparing to battle the last piece of his historic health care overhaul after Democrats ushered in the most sweeping US social policy changes in more than four decades.
The House of Representatives passed the core of Obama’s plan late on Sunday, but with a stand-alone package of changes that Senate Republicans planned to fight in hopes of bruising vulnerable Democrats ahead of elections in November.
Overturning the plan, which the president was expected to sign as early as today, was a mathematical impossibility in this election cycle because Republicans cannot win the two-thirds majority needed to override Obama’s veto.
On Sunday, House Democrats voted over unanimous Republican opposition to provide medical coverage to tens of millions of Americans in an epic political battle that could define the differences between the parties for years.
The vote sent the measure to President Obama, whose yearlong push for the legislation has been the centerpiece of his agenda and a test of his political power.
The bill will affect virtually every man, woman and child in the United States in some way, from the 20-somethings who constitute one of the largest uninsured groups to poor, childless adults who don’t qualify for Medicaid in most states to professionals who could see their benefits shrink.
NY Times, Washington Post, AFP
0 comments:
Post a Comment