House healthcare bill under $900 billion: Pelosi

[red states rule]

As with every government program, take $900 Billion and multiply by four - then you might have a more accurate cost





WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday new estimates showed a healthcare overhaul drafted by Democrats would reduce the U.S. budget deficit over 10 years and cost less than $900 billion.
The preliminary estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office moved Democratic leaders closer to finishing a merger of three separate healthcare reform bills into one for debate on the House floor.

The budget watchdog had been asked to analyze a healthcare bill with three different versions of a government-run insurance option as leaders worked to merge bills on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

"The preliminary estimates we've seen from the CBO enable us to make our choices knowing that whatever choice we make will reduce the deficit and will pay for the bill," said Pelosi, who did not release the estimates.

"We're very excited by the CBO scores," she said, predicting House Democratic leaders would finish their work on the merger soon.

The three bills passed this year all included a government-run public insurance option and were above $1 trillion in cost.

Pelosi said Democratic leaders would not bring forward a bill that did not meet Obama's goal of $900 billion and has repeatedly said the final House bill will include a strong government-run health insurance option.

She asked CBO to provide estimates on three versions of the option -- one based on reimbursement rates paid to healthcare providers under Medicare and two that would rely on reimbursement rates negotiated with the providers.

Pelosi said House leaders were still waiting on some information on one of the options, but all three would be under $900 billion.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE59J6C020091020?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true

[red states rule]

Looks like Pelosi is drunk with power and wants the Federal government to take over the healthcare industry come hell or high water

More proof the lefts goal is not lowering the cost of healthcare ins - but to control healthcare ins




Pelosi Pushes Ahead With Calls for Government-Run Health Plan

The House Speaker is standing her ground on demands for a government-run plan, even as President Obama's advisers signaled over the weekend that the "public option" is just that -- desirable, but not mandatory in the massive health care overhaul being debated in Congress.

By Cristina Corbin
FOXNews.com


If a government-run health insurance plan winds up in the trash bin when all the debate in Congress is over, it won't be due to any lack of effort on Nancy Pelosi's part.

The House Speaker is standing her ground on demands for a government-run plan, even as President Obama's advisers signaled over the weekend that the "public option" is just that -- desirable, but not mandatory in the massive health care overhaul being debated in Congress.

The inclusion or disappearance of a government plan to compete with private insurers will leave one of the Democratic power-brokers basking in the credit -- or blame -- for the $1 trillion, 10-year government program that has divided Americans for months.

If the "public option" is in the final bill, "Obamacare" could be re-labeled "Nancycare."

Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said inclusion of the option will put Pelosi's stamp on Obama's biggest domestic policy proposal since taking office.

"If the public plan passes, Pelosi has won because it's obvious it's not being pushed in the Senate and the White House," Sabato told Foxnews.com.

Not so, said Democratic strategist Bob Beckel, a Fox News contributor who managed Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign.

"If it ends up being in there in some form, certainly the House was the one that pushed it, but ultimately it ends up in Obama's lap," Beckel said. "Obama is going to [have] ownership of the health care bill, whatever it is."

Pelosi has publicly remained a strong proponent of a government-run plan to compete with private insurance companies -- even as Obama's closest advisers say it is not the most important element of health care reform.

White House adviser Valerie Jarrett said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that Obama believes the public plan is still the "best possible choice," but she said he's not insisting it be included in the final legislation.

Similarly, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said the government-run option is "not the defining piece of health care."

Pelosi's views on the necessity of a government-run plan "have not changed," spokesman Nadeam Elshami told Foxnews.com Monday. "The House is committed to passing a public option and we will go to the negotiating table with a public option."

Stephanie Lundberg, press secretary to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Pelosi's lieutenant, also said the House version will include the government-run option.

"We are currently in the process of working out how that will be structured. They're having discussions on the Senate side and it's in one of their bills so it is a possibility that it will be included."

In a conference call with constituents last Thursday, Pelosi trumpeted the need for a "public option," saying, "I think it's very clear from our conversations with the members that the votes are there for a public option." She added that she sent a "a number of versions" of a government-run plan to the Congressional Budget Office for cost estimates

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/19/white-house-downplays-need-public-option-pelosi-pushes-ahead-government-run/

[actsnoblemartin]

well, for someone who doesnt like democrats, you sure are a nice donkey

:laugh2:


Looks like Pelosi is drunk with power and wants the Federal government to take over the healthcare industry come hell or high water

More proof the lefts goal is not lowering the cost of healthcare ins - but to control healthcare ins

[red states rule]

Once again the liberal media is dealing from the bottom of the deck to push the Obama agenda





Is the WaPo Stuffing Its Own Ballot Box for the 'Public Option'?

The Washington Post touted a new poll on Tuesday that popular support is increasing for a government-run "public option" health care system – just as liberal Democrats try to push that into the Senate Finance Committee bill. The headline was "Public option gains support: Clear majority now backs plan." So it’s not surprising, as Ed Morrissey found at Hot Air, that the Post is stuffing its poll sample with a few extra Democrats:

The sampling comprises 33% Democrats, as opposed to only 20% Republicans. That thirteen-point spread is two points larger than their September polling, at 32%/21%. More tellingly, it’s significantly larger than their Election Day sample, which included 35% Democrats to 26% Republicans for a gap of nine points, about a third smaller than the gap in this poll. Of course, that’s when they were more concerned about accuracy over political points of view.

The Post’s poll (illustrated by a chart) found respondents favored a public option "to compete with" private insurance by a margin of 57 to 40 percent. But even with the polling sample tilted toward the Democrats, some less favorable findings weren’t in the headline, as Dan Balz and Jon Cohen reported:

Overall, 45 percent of Americans favor the broad outlines of the proposals now moving in Congress, while 48 percent are opposed, about the same division that existed in August, at the height of angry town hall meetings over health-care reform.

Not only that, but what if the public favors liberal reform, but not the means to finance it?

But if there is clear majority support for the public option and the mandate [to buy private insurance], there is broad opposition to one of the major mechanisms proposed to pay for the bill. The Senate Finance Committee suggested taxing the most costly private insurance plans to help offset the costs of extending coverage to millions more people. Sixty-one percent oppose the idea, while 35 percent favor it.

The Post suggested their sample size, with 20 percent of Republicans, is merely a sign of GOP weakness. Morrissey dissented:

Remember when I wrote that poll watchers need to remember the recent Gallup poll on party affiliation? Gallup polled 5,000 adults and found that the gap between Democrats and Republicans had closed to the smallest margin since 2005, six points, and had been reduced more than half since the beginning of the year. [That included leaners toward either party.] For the WaPo/ABC poll, though, their sample gap has increased almost 50% during that time.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2009/10/21/wapo-stuffing-its-own-ballot-box-public-option

[avatar4321]

Do they honestly think that if their costs are accurate and it's "only $900 billion" that's going to make it any less then a colossal waste of spending?