Results tagged “health care” from EdLabor Journal

Both the New York Times and the Washington Post highlighted the looming deficit problems for states and localities and how it could mean a loss of nearly 300,000 teachers' jobs nationwide.

In the New York Times editorial, Saving the Teachers, they say:

Last year’s $100 billion education stimulus plan insulated the public schools from the worst of the recession and saved an estimated 300,000 jobs. With the economy still lagging and states forced to slash their budgets, Congress must act again to prevent a wave of teacher layoffs that could damage the fragile recovery and hobble the school reform effort for years to come.

In March, Representative George Miller, a Democrat of California, introduced a jobs bill that included a $23 billion school rescue plan. Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat of Iowa, has since introduced a similar plan fashioned as an emergency spending bill. The House version is the better of the two.

The need for a second school stimulus plan was underscored on Monday by a new analysis from the American Association of School Administrators, which reported that cash-strapped districts were prepared to cut as many 275,000 jobs in the 2010-2011 school year.

The loss of that many paychecks — and the resulting decline in consumer spending — could kill off still more jobs in the communities where teachers and other school employees live.

(emphasis added)

Harold Meyerson wrote about the school recession in the Washington Post:

The worst recession since the 1930s is clobbering the nation's schools.

In Indiana and Arizona, the legislatures have eliminated free all-day kindergarten. In Kansas, some school districts have gone to four-day weeks. In New Jersey, 60 percent of school districts are reducing their course offerings. In Albuquerque, the number of school district employees is down 10 percent. In the D.C. suburbs, Maryland's Prince George's and Virginia's Prince William counties have increased their class sizes.

The Local Jobs for America Act allocates $23 billion this year to help states support 250,000 education jobs. And it does a lot more for local communities like funding for firefighters and police.

Both the New York Times and the Washington Post highlighted the looming deficit problems for states and localities and how it could mean a loss of nearly 300,000 teachers' jobs nationwide.

In the New York Times editorial, Saving the Teachers, they say:

Last year’s $100 billion education stimulus plan insulated the public schools from the worst of the recession and saved an estimated 300,000 jobs. With the economy still lagging and states forced to slash their budgets, Congress must act again to prevent a wave of teacher layoffs that could damage the fragile recovery and hobble the school reform effort for years to come.

In March, Representative George Miller, a Democrat of California, introduced a jobs bill that included a $23 billion school rescue plan. Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat of Iowa, has since introduced a similar plan fashioned as an emergency spending bill. The House version is the better of the two.

The need for a second school stimulus plan was underscored on Monday by a new analysis from the American Association of School Administrators, which reported that cash-strapped districts were prepared to cut as many 275,000 jobs in the 2010-2011 school year.

The loss of that many paychecks — and the resulting decline in consumer spending — could kill off still more jobs in the communities where teachers and other school employees live.

(emphasis added)

Harold Meyerson wrote about the school recession in the Washington Post:

The worst recession since the 1930s is clobbering the nation's schools.

In Indiana and Arizona, the legislatures have eliminated free all-day kindergarten. In Kansas, some school districts have gone to four-day weeks. In New Jersey, 60 percent of school districts are reducing their course offerings. In Albuquerque, the number of school district employees is down 10 percent. In the D.C. suburbs, Maryland's Prince George's and Virginia's Prince William counties have increased their class sizes.

The Local Jobs for America Act allocates $23 billion this year to help states support 250,000 education jobs. And it does a lot more for local communities like funding for firefighters and police.

A New York Times' editorial today notes that the health care reform bill is already changing the behavior of the health insurance companies and that is a big win for consumers.

Americans are already starting to see the benefits of health care reform. The new law requires health insurance companies — starting in September — to end their most indefensible practice: rescinding coverage after a policyholder gets sick. In recent days insurers and their trade association have rushed to announce that they will end rescissions immediately.

That is very good news for the thousands of people who each year pay their premiums but lose their coverage just when they are likely to run up big medical bills.

...

The insurers were wise to short-circuit the criticisms and end rescissions now. This follows a recent agreement by many companies to start letting dependents stay on their parents’ policies until age 26, which isn’t required until September. Under pressure from the White House, the industry has also agreed to cover children with pre-existing medical conditions as soon as new rules are issued.

Many of the other major provisions of reform don’t kick in until 2014, but it is already changing the behavior of insurers. That means more security for many Americans who might otherwise find insurance unaffordable or unavailable.

Additionally, consumers in California in the individual market will see a reprieve of the 39% increase in their premiums by Anthem Blue Cross.

WellPoint Inc. said it would revise its request for steep rate hikes in California's individual market, after a state regulator said it found flaws in the company's application.

The proposed premium increases by the company's Anthem Blue Cross unit would have affected more than 700,000 consumers, who would have seen their rates go up by as much as 39%.

Learn more about the benefits of health insurance reform for you and your family.

On this blog, we have highlighted many of the benefits to all Americans under the new health reform law. Today the New York Times joins in, highlighting another key change, free preventative care under new plans. The new health reform law requires new private plans to cover preventive services with no co‐payments and with preventive services being exempt from deductibles.

As the New York Times reports:

The new law also aims eventually to improve health insurance for everyone. By now you have probably read or heard about big changes like the rules that will require insurers to cover everyone who applies, regardless of health status, and forbid them from dropping people when they get sick.

You may not yet be aware, though, of another notable improvement to insurance, a change that could save a consumer or family hundreds of dollars a year. Under the new law, insurers must offer preventive services — like immunizations, cancer screenings and checkups — to consumers as part of the insurance policy, at no additional out-of-pocket charge.

The idea is that healthy Americans will be less costly Americans.

“This is transformative,” says Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, a nonprofit organization for large employers. “We’re moving from an insurance model that was based on treating illness and injury, to a model that’s focused on improving an individual’s health and identifying risk factors.”

The trend toward offering free preventive care has been gaining steam for a decade among large companies that provide employee health benefits. “Employers recognize that if they want to control costs, they have to persuade their workers to be healthier, including their children,” Ms. Darling said.

Three out of four large companies now offer free preventive health services to their workers, according to a 2009 survey by Mercer, a benefits consulting firm. Smaller employers, though, and individual health plans have been less likely to offer free care of any type.

Learn more about the new health reform law and how all Americans will benefit. Also, see this PDF for more information about preventing disease and improving the public's health.

This year, President Obama and a Democratic-led Congress have:

ALLOWED EXTENDED COVERAGE UNTIL AGE 26 THROUGH YOUR PARENTS: Reform allows you to stay on your parents’ health care plans until your 26th birthday (PDF). Between now and 2014, this only applies if your employer doesn’t offer you coverage. Beginning in 2014, it applies to all young people, even if you get insurance through your job. This will help to cover the one in three young adults who are uninsured.

LOWERED YOUR COSTS WITH FREE PREVENTATIVE CARE FOR BETTER HEALTH: Reform means free preventive care to all people insured under new plans (PDF), and invests in preventing illness and disease instead of just treating them when it’s too late and costs more. Simple prevention can stop a small health problem from getting worse as you get older.

GIVEN YOU NEW PATIENTS’ RIGHTS THAT SAVE YOU MONEY: This year, reform eliminates lifetime limits on how much insurance companies cover if you get sick, and tightly restricts yearly limits (PDF). In 2014, reform caps what insurance companies can force you to pay in co‐pays & deductibles, bans "gender rating" that allows women to be charged more for the same coverage, and bans new group plans from having eligibility requirements that have the effect of discriminating in favor of higher wage employees—who tend not be younger workers.

GIVEN YOU SECURITY THAT YOUR  HEALTH CARE IS NOT TIED TO A JOB: Reform means affordable health insurance is available to those without job‐based coverage, starting in 2014, and provides substantial premium assistance (PDF) to those who still can’t afford it. Young adults are just starting jobs and careers, and often don’t have access to job‐based coverage. Even when they do, they often can’t afford health insurance—or must endure a waiting period as a new employee.

ENSURE YOU HAVE HEALTH CARE WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST – WHEN YOU'RE SICK: You can no longer be dropped from your plan if you get sick. If you have a “pre‐existing condition,” beginning in 2014, you can no longer be denied coverage or charged higher rates (PDF) —and between now and 2014, you can enter an interim high‐risk pool to get insurance. This year, discrimination is banned for children under age 19 who have pre-existing conditions.

PROVIDED YOU A CHOICE OF COMPETITIVE PRICES AND PLANS: Reform creates Health Insurance Exchanges, or marketplaces (PDF), you can shop in if you don’t get insurance through your job. Starting in 2014, you get the benefits of group purchasing power like big businesses have.7

MADE IT EASY WITH ONE-STOP SHOPPING: Insurance "Exchanges" or marketplaces will allow you to simply and easily compare prices and health plans online (PDF) and choose what’s right for you. The typical young adult risks losing coverage when you change jobs, move, or hold a part‐time or temporary job. Under reform, it doesn’t matter.

PAID FOR REFORM SO YOUR GENERATION’S NOT STUCK WITH THE BILL: Health insurance reform is actually projected to lower the deficit by $1.3 trillion (PDF) over the next two decades. It lowers health care costs over the long term—so it makes sense it lowers the cost to taxpayers.

Yesterday was a milestone for students and taxpayers. President Obama signed the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 into law.

The Denver Post reports:

President Barack Obama signed into law the last piece of his mammoth plan to overhaul health care Tuesday and, with the same pen strokes, achieved a far-reaching change in the way most Americas help pay the cost of a college education.

Both the health care provisions and revamping the loan program for college students were sandwiched into a single piece of legislation — the budget-reconciliation bill approved last week by the House and Senate.

The San Francisco Chronicle summarizes how students and taxpayers benefit from these new student loan reforms.

President Obama signed important and welcome changes to the nation's campus loan program. The reforms should save the country billions and give more students a crack at a college degree.

Why it took so long is a minor scandal. Since the 1970s, federal money was doled out to banks to lend to students. In practice, though, the banks collected a healthy fee and fobbed off the bad loans to the government. It was a no-lose deal for these lenders.

But it endured, largely through fierce lobbying from lenders such as Sallie Mae. This year, the dam broke. The Senate and House voted to put Washington in charge of the loans, a shift estimated to save $68 billion over 10 years. That will allow loan limits to rise slightly, expand Pell Grants to defray tuition bills for needy students and invest $2 billion in community colleges.

But the changes didn't come easily, despite the sustained and gallant efforts of Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez.

Which is what made the signing ceremony all that more enjoyable. The Washington Post reported on the "ebullient mood" of the signing ceremony:

Pelosi vigorously clapped back at the crowd as camera flashes popped. When Obama later singled Pelosi out, calling her "amazing," the crowd jumped to its feet again. (Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) got a standing ovation, too).

Learn more about the reforms to federal student loans as well as the fixes to the health care reform legislation.

The New York Times highlights the important of including the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act in the budget reconciliation package passed by the House last night to getting both health insurance reform and the federal student loan reform done.

The New York Times says:

Lots of Democrats can point to lots of different moments when they think the health care bill was brought back from the brink of collapse.

But for a number of senior House Democrats, the crucial turning point was a meeting the night of March 9 in the offices of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It was supposed to be a strategy session with Senate Democratic leaders about the budget reconciliation procedure that Democrats were planning to use to make final changes to the health care bill and push them through the Senate on a simple majority vote.

Instead, the session focused entirely on the question of whether to include another of President Obama’s top legislative priorities — a sweeping overhaul of federal student loan programs — in the reconciliation package.

The budget resolution approved by Congress last spring provided for completing both major health care legislation and major education legislation through reconciliation, which adjusts federal policy to meet specific goals for reducing the deficit.

A trio of House leaders — Representatives James E. Clyburn, the Democratic whip; George Miller, the chairman of the Education and Labor Committee; and Xavier Becerra of California, the vice chairman of the Democratic caucus — argued strenuously in favor of including the education proposal.

...

Although overshadowed by the larger health care fight, the inclusion of the education bill may have been a decisive factor, especially at a time when House Democrats were exceedingly distrustful of their Senate colleagues and were essentially being forced against their better judgment to approve the Senate’s health care bill as the base law to which they would later make changes.

The student loan overhaul was very popular in the House. And because it would save tens of billions of taxpayer dollars by ending subsidies to private commercial banks, it offered a purely populist message at a time when public anger at Wall Street is running high and many liberals were disappointed that the health care bill would not include a public option, or government-run insurance plan.

Mr. Clyburn, who as the whip is the party’s main vote-counter, argued forcefully that the student loan measure would help generate support for the health care package.

...

For some Democrats, the student loan plan is the hidden triumph in the health care fight, and the late-night meeting earlier this month was the crucial moment. “It was an fascinating conversation about what the Democratic Party represented,” one Democrat said.

“Members of Congress have a clear choice,” Mr. Miller said in a floor speech on Sunday night. We can side with the American people by making health insurance and college more affordable and accessible, while creating millions of jobs and reducing the deficit. Or we can side with the insurance companies and the banks. That’s it. That’s the choice. I’m siding with the American people.”

Learn more about the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Chairman George Miller wrote two op-eds today about how the reforms to federal student loans fits well with the budget reconciliation and health insurance reform package being considered in Congress.

In the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Chairman Miller said:

If Congress makes the right call this week, students and taxpayers will win out.

In the coming days, the House and Senate will take a critical up or down vote on historic health insurance reforms. Tied to them will be the most significant reform of our federal student loan program in a generation. It will make federal aid more effective and cost-efficient for students, families, and taxpayers, without increasing the deficit.

Congress should support both measures.

In the San Francisco Chronicle, Rep. Miller wrote:

Our bill is good for taxpayers. It would eliminate these needless subsidies and instead have the government initiate student loans, as it does today, and private banks service them. Consider that the government now funds 88 percent of all federal student loan volume. There's simply no reason to keep giving banks a handout.

Our bill is good for students. The federal government has already proved to be a more reliable lender for students in the midst of economic instability. All of the savings generated from switching to direct lending will go to help students pay for college and reduce our deficit.

Our bill is good for jobs. It would preserve private-sector jobs by allowing banks to compete for loan servicing contracts - and could even bring overseas jobs back home. Unlike loans made by banks, direct government loans must be serviced by U.S. workers.

Today's New York Times editorial asks, "what happens if Congress fails to enact legislation. Are [Americans] really satisfied with the status quo? And is the status quo really sustainable?"

It ends with:

If reform is defeated, it seems likely that most of the proposed experiments designed to cut costs — first within Medicare and then throughout the rest of the health care system — will die as well. The legislation needs to be passed to establish a structure to force continuing improvement over the years. That is the best chance of restraining soaring medical costs that threaten the solvency of families, businesses and the federal government.

Any change as big as this is bound to cause anxiety. Republicans have happily fanned those fears with talk of “dangerous experiments” on the “best health care system in the world.” The fact is that the health care system is broken for far too many Americans. And the country cannot afford the status quo.

Today's New York Times editorial asks, "what happens if Congress fails to enact legislation. Are [Americans] really satisfied with the status quo? And is the status quo really sustainable?"

It ends with:

If reform is defeated, it seems likely that most of the proposed experiments designed to cut costs — first within Medicare and then throughout the rest of the health care system — will die as well. The legislation needs to be passed to establish a structure to force continuing improvement over the years. That is the best chance of restraining soaring medical costs that threaten the solvency of families, businesses and the federal government.

Any change as big as this is bound to cause anxiety. Republicans have happily fanned those fears with talk of “dangerous experiments” on the “best health care system in the world.” The fact is that the health care system is broken for far too many Americans. And the country cannot afford the status quo.

Rep. Rob Andrews was on Fox News this morning talking about the health care summit at the White House tomorrow.

Updated: The Speaker's Office has a new post about the latest Kaiser tracking poll that shows Americans Continue To Support Health Insurance Reform.

The Washington Post compared the President's health insurance reform proposal to recent polls and found that the American people support, sometimes overwhelmingly, the provisions in the proposal.

Quoted in it's entirety below (links and emphasis in the original):

The USA Today and New York Times both highlight how the status quo is unacceptable in our health insurance system.Costs are rising at double-digit rates and eating into workers' wages. Doing nothing would mean family budgets crippled, businesses falling behind and state and federal governments going broke. But that doesn't have to be the case. The Affordable Health Care for America Act ensures affordability for the middle class, accountability for insurance companies, and accessibility for all Americans.

As the USA Today says:

The purpose of insurance is to spread risk as widely as possible, at the lowest cost for everyone in the insurance pool. That's exactly what health bills currently stalled in Congress would do by requiring everyone to buy coverage, and helping lower-income people afford the premiums. Costs would be stabilized; everyone would be protected.

In exchange for millions of new customers, insurance companies agreed to quit doing many of the things that make people hate them, such as refusing to cover people with pre-existing conditions and limiting coverage in ways that can bankrupt people when they become seriously ill. Having a larger, more stable group of customers would also reduce the need for abrupt and massive premium hikes.

Health reform legislation would also set up online exchanges where individuals and small businesses could buy policies. The medical insurance market would become more competitive: Companies couldn't turn applicants down, so it would be easier to jump to a different insurer if one hiked rates exorbitantly.

Further, the measures would require insurers to spend at least 80% of their premium income on paying claims, instead of on administrative and marketing costs. California's requirement is now 70%.

Learn more about the health insurance reform bills before Congress and how they will improve Americans access to affordable health care and increase accountability for health insurance companies.

The Los Angeles Times ran an editorial this morning highlighting the massive increases in premiums for Anthem Blue Cross' customers. They say Anthem Blue Cross' actions offer the best argument yet for Congress to complete work on a comprehensive health insurance reform bill.

In the editorial entitled, Reform, meet Anthem Blue Cross, they say:

Anthem's official explanation for the hikes is that rapid increases in the cost of treatments and greater demand for healthcare services are driving up expenses at an "unprecedented" rate. It also asserts that the recession has prompted many healthy people to give up their insurance, leaving fewer policyholders to cover the cost of caring for a sicklier group. Those are valid complaints, but they don't automatically justify jacking rates up to the roof. In fact, Anthem's rate increases are contributing to the problem by pricing younger, healthier people out of the market for individual policies.

Chief Executive Angela Braly of WellPoint Inc., Anthem's parent company, told the Wall Street Journal that lawmakers should find more effective ways to prod healthy people to buy insurance, promote competition among health care providers and put the brakes on rising costs.

As the Los Angeles Times points out, the bills passed by the Senate and House do exactly that.

[The bills] would bar insurance companies from cherry-picking customers and denying coverage for preexisting conditions, enabling people to switch insurers easily. The bills also would promote competition and clarity in pricing through a new marketplace for individual policies.

The health insurance reform bills would also expand health insurance coverage to between 30 to 35 million Americans, prevent insurance companies from dropping coverage during life-saving treatment, ensure that laid-off workers won't lose insurance and eliminate annual or lifetime caps on coverage. And that is only a sample of how these reforms ensure affordability for the middle class, accountability for insurance companies, and accessibility for all Americans. Read more about the House's Affordable Health Care for America Act.

Yesterday, Chairman Miller attended a round table meeting led by Michelle Obama about how to end childhood obesity.The San Francisco Chronicle reports that he said the first lady will bring "great credibility and great ideas" to a campaign that will include a major rewrite this year of the multibillion-dollar federal nutrition program, including school lunches and breakfasts.

"We have an opportunity to do something dramatic," Miller said.

The first lady said the effort will focus on four areas: improving health at schools, increasing children's physical activity, improving access to healthy food and making it more affordable to poor children - a challenge she described as difficult - and teaching people to make better choices about what they eat.

After the meeting, Chairman Miller issued this statement about ending childhood obesity.

“Nothing is more important than our children’s health, but for too many families, healthy meals fall to the wayside as they struggle to make ends meet.  Our nation’s school meal and child nutrition programs provide millions of children with nutritious meals and help them develop healthy life habits – and will be critically important in the fight against childhood obesity. As we work to rewrite our child nutrition laws this year, we must focus on eliminating any barriers to these programs, so that all eligible children have access to healthier foods and nutrition education whether in school, child care, or at home.

“Improving child nutrition and tackling childhood obesity will be a challenge, but no one is better equipped to take it on than our First Lady. She has already done wonders to raise public awareness of the benefits of gardening and healthy eating and I applaud her for choosing this as her first key policy initiative. I look forward to working with the First Lady on this initiative and am committed to working with my colleagues in Congress on a bipartisan, comprehensive reauthorization of our child nutrition laws.”

Below Chairman Miller talks about his apple "theft" from the White House meeting with the First Lady and how excited he is to work with her to end childhood obesity.



The Education and Labor Committee has jurisdiction over federal school meal and afterschool meal programs, the Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and community-based programs such as the summer meals program and the child and adult care food program.

In case you missed it, the Contra Costa Times (CA) covered Chairman Miller's speech to business and other local leaders yesterday.

Regarding health insurance reform, Chairman Miller said:

A key voice in the House health insurance legislation negotiations has vowed to keep fighting for the beleaguered bill, decrying what he called a bad strategy of kowtowing to a 60-vote supermajority in the U.S. Senate.

"I think we'll have a bill this year," said Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, after his feisty and occasionally defiant speech to business and other local leaders Monday morning. "I don't know the exact timetable. There are a lot of discussions going on, but I think we will end up getting the votes."

Regarding the legislative process and the 60-vote supermajority rule in the Senate, Chairman Miller said:

The imposition of a supermajority hurdle "empowers the weakest people with worst claims," Miller continued.

When lawmakers must have 60 votes in order to debate a bill, Miller said, it foments bad deals such as Nebraska trading its support for an exemption from paying the costs of caring for poor children.

"The minute you to go to majority rule, you become more bipartisan," he said. "The extremes know you don't need them.

If you are interested, watch Chairman Miller's speech and Q&A (53:13)

In the New York Times editorial this morning, Don't Give Up Now, the editorial board argues that:

Congress is achingly close to passing legislation that would cover most uninsured Americans and provide much more security for all Americans — guaranteeing that if they lose their jobs they will be able to buy affordable policies and can’t be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

If the Democrats quit now, so close to the goal line, the opportunity for large-scale reform could be lost for years. Meanwhile, the number of uninsured, currently more than 46 million, will keep going up and the cost of health care will continue to soar.

Chairman Miller made the same point in his op-ed, health insurance reform remains critical to economic growth. "Health care costs are unsustainable; they’re still crushing families, small businesses and large companies. When people lose their jobs they lose their health insurance. People with jobs and who want coverage but find out they have a pre-existing condition still can’t get coverage. Businesses large and small come before Congress every day and tell us how they’re going to have to drop coverage for their employees or go out of business."

And Americans know this intuitively. A new poll by Kaiser Family Foundation found that although Americans are divided about health insurance reform proposals overall, they become more supportive when told about key provisions. The poll concluded that "majorities reported feeling more favorable toward the legislation after learning about key elements such as the availability of tax credits for small businesses, the creation of health insurance exchanges, the inability of insurers to deny people coverage because of pre-existing conditions and the move to close the Medicare drug benefit’s 'doughnut hole.'”

Both the Senate and House bills include all the above provisions and many more to ensure affordability for the middle class, accountability for insurance companies, and accessibility for all Americans. Learn more about the House's Affordable Health Care for America Act.

For the past year, the Democrats have been working tirelessly to reform health insurance yet, the GOP struggles for consensus on health care according to a report on NPR today.

“But there’s just one problem, says health policy analyst Len Nichols of the nonpartisan New America Foundation. If you take most of the ideas that Republicans are shopping around at the moment, ‘then we’re back to policy that, frankly, was rejected by Republicans when they had a majority”

Meanwhile Democrats in the House and the Senate have each produced legislation that will:

• Ensure that 30 to 35 million Americans will have health insurance coverage.
• Prevent insurance companies from discriminating or charging more because of a preexisting condition.
• Prevent insurance companies from dropping coverage during life-saving treatment.
• Ensure that laid-off workers won't lose insurance.
• Eliminate annual or lifetime caps on coverage.
  

Chairman Miller and House Leaders are committed to crafting the strongest final bill possible for American families.

A lot of things may have changed in light of the Massachusetts special election upset Tuesday, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the health insurance crisis in America. We must address this crisis.

Health care costs are unsustainable; they’re still crushing families, small businesses and large companies. When people lose their jobs they lose their health insurance. People with jobs and who want coverage but find out they have a pre-existing condition still can’t get coverage. Businesses large and small come before Congress every day and tell us how they’re going to have to drop coverage for their employees or go out of business.

All of these problems remain, and so does our need to address them.

Today seems like a good time to pause and reflect on exactly why health insurance reform is vital for America.

• Health insurance reform means you never have to be sick, without a safety net because it offers protections against insurance company discrimination and losing coverage when you get sick.
  
  
• Health insurance reform means you will continue to have access to health insurance even if you lose your job. Find out how that would work with our interactive graphic on health insurance reform.


• Health insurance reform means relief for small businesses and employers as well as jobs for Americans. According to a study by Harvard and USC economists, health insurance reform would save money and boost jobs which is probably why business leaders support health care reform plans.
  


• Health insurance reform means at least 30 million more Americans will finally have health insurance. The uninsured would have access to health insurance plans as soon as the bill becomes law.


• Health insurance reform mean lower drug costs for seniors which explains why seniors and doctors groups have thrown their support behind the health care bill.
  

Learn some more of the specifics behind the Top 10 Health Reform Benefits Every American Should Know About or take a quiz on the urgent need for reform. (below)

Following the news that broke via the official House health insurance reform Twitter ID (@healthreformnow), the Politico reports:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer officially announced Thursday that the final health care bill will be posted online for 72 hours before the vote.

“The House Democratic Leadership is committed to having the final health insurance reform legislation online for 72 hours before the House votes, for all Members and the American people to review," the pair said in a statement. "We will continue the transparent process this landmark legislation has had for months.”

This is just another step in the open and transparent process of creating this legislation. In the 111th Congress, the Committees responsible for drafting legislation, Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor have:

• Spent nearly 100 hours in hearings on health reform
• Heard from 181 witnesses (both Democratic and Republican)
• Spent 83 hours in Committee markups
• Considered a total of 239 amendments (both Democratic and Republican); approved 121

During the House vote, the full House spent 9 hours debating the legislation in a bipartisan fashion, including allowing the minority a substitute bill to be offered, debated, and voted on.

Putting the final health insurance reform bill online for 72 hours continues in a long line of publicly available materials during this process.

• Draft bill was available online for 25 days before H.R. 3200 was introduced
• H.R. 3200 was posted online for 30 days before the first Committee markup
• H.R. 3200 was posted online for 107 days before introducing the merged bill
• Text of the reintroduced bill, H.R. 3962, was posted online on October 29, 2009, 9 days before the Floor vote
• The Democratic leadership made the Manager’s Amendment (introduced November 3, 2009) available online for a full 72 hours before the Floor vote
• The text of H.R. 3962, as passed by the House, has been available online since passage on November 7, 2009
• A side-by-side comparison of key differences between the House-passed and Senate-passed bills has been available online since December 29, 2009.

Ellen Miller on the Sunlight Foundation's blog said:

Think of posting something on line for 3 days as a ‘safety valve’ – a final chance for citizens, media, lawmakers and lobbyists alike to look at the whole package giving everyone one last opportunity to raise questions and concerns about the bill. If readers are in an advocacy mode they have time to mobilize others in support or opposition, and/or take action in whatever form they see fit.

There is no measure more important to debate in the open than health care, and this is a moment when we all need to be champions for public, online disclosure and engage with our government. With 72 hours, the buck can actually stop with citizens the way our Founders intended. We know that Congress do it because congressional leadership has already done so at other critical points in this debate.

This is what real transparency would look like.

And that is exactly what Democratic House Leadership is striving for.