After many months of thoughtful deliberation, the Senate Finance Committee – the fifth and final committee responsible for health care reform – has passed a proposal that has both Democratic and Republican support.
The Finance Committee considered hundreds of amendments and the legislation includes ideas from Democrats and Republicans.
The bill is not perfect, and we still have a lot of difficult work ahead of us. But the work of the Senate Finance Committee has brought us significantly closer to achieving President Obama’s core goals.
The Finance Committee’s bill would offer increased stability and security to those who have insurance, affordable options for those who don’t, and as the Congressional Budget Office reported last week, it would slow the growth of health care costs in the long term and it will not add a penny to our deficit.
It reins in some of the worst practices of the insurance industry, like the denying coverage because of a preexisting condition,
and it would create an insurance exchange that will make coverage more affordable for the uninsured.
The Finance Committee’s progress is the culmination of the work of five Congressional committees over the better part of year. We
have reached out to a variety of stakeholders – doctors and nurses, businesses and workers, hospitals and even drug companies – to find
common ground.
We are closer than ever before to passing comprehensive reform, but we’re not there yet. We are going to keep working and keep engaging one another with the spirit of civility and seriousness that this subject deserves.
We will deliver reform health insurance reform to the American people this year.
Alice Germond
Secretary, Democratic National Committee
430 So. Capitol St., SE
Washington, DC 20003
202/863-7183
