Hello Mamas,
I by no means wish to start having a philosophical or political debate about the HC reform law, but what resources have you found to be helpful in explaining the details of the actual bill that passed the House and Senate? I usually seek out sources from both the Right and the Left, but with this particular issue the info from the media seems to be so skewed that even my usual sources cannot be relied upon. Any ideas??
**Please do not give any opinions about the legislation, just links or organizations I can look up. If I want opinions I can turn on CNN, FOX or MSNBC**
This is what I read:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0322/Health-ca...
Unbiased, not preachy, not lefty or righty. Just the facts broken down.
I don't have any answers but I am so glad you asked this question ! I have been so confused about it all and am also wanting to know what all this includes. I'll be watching to see what information you get.
You can read it for yourself here: http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf
I know a lot of people are saying that it is too long to read, but it is our responsibility as citizens of a democracy to put a little effort into it. I've read more than 12000 pages of Harry Potter, so I guess I can do this for my country. :)
Thanks for asking this question.
Not sure if anyone provided this link yet, but this gives a very specific breakdown of the bill. Just the facts. And in an almost simple language form for people like me :)
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0319/Health-ca...
I have found these sites helpful
Washington Post has a calculator to show what may change for you as an individual.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/wha...
New York Times is running an excellent Q&A for small businesses
http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/send-us-your-hea...
These articles don't explain the bill in detail but are more about how it will affect most Americans. The White House website also has a lot of concise info .
Unbiased? LOL! I'm not sure that is even possible. But here are two opposing links. I would read them both and see what sounds right to you.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/health-care
http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/republican_party_health_...
Hi K.,
Check this out - I found it helpful.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2010/mar/...
I second factcheck.org. I haven't done any reading on it recently, but in the past it always seems about as unbiased as it can be. I am one of those people that gets irritated at the bias even when I agree with the person doing the editorializing. I think it makes far more sense to present the facts rationally and let people come to their own conclusions than to try to convince them of things, it just puts people off. So I am very sensitive to bias in most cases, and I think it is a decent resource.
My business insurance agent (whom I do not have health insurance with) sent me a document last evening explaining the new law. I thought it was a fairly clear and unbiased document. I'm looking for a way to attach it but there doesn't seem to be that option. If you email me I can send it to you in an email.
K.
This is the best place to get info on the reform.
Kaiser Family Foundation
It is unbiased and where the professionals get info from.
You can get information at the President's web site.
The law firm of Ropes and Gray sent me a great summary of what is in the bill. There are no opinions attached. I have no idea what this firm's position is on reform but the attached link gives you a factual side by side comparison of the house bill and the senate bill and what was actually passed. I have sent this to many friends both dems and repubs as it is totally neutral and just the facts. Hope it helps!
http://www.ropesgray.com/files/upload/HealthReformBillCom...
Many of the sources listed below have biases in both directions. I would try both Politifact.com or Factcheck.org. They are both good sources that do an excellent job separating fact from fiction.
I'm with Deanna G.- glad you asked this question and I just wanted to compliment all of the people who posted. I found all of the answers to be unbiased and very polite! Good job, mamas!
I don't think they have released the whole thing to the public yet. As I understand, there may be "fixes" still....
Here's the whole thing...
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:H.R.3590:
Good luck reading it all. I tried. LOL.
I'm not sure if the U.S. GAO has done any analysis on the bill, but they probably did. Check out www.gao.gov to see. GAO is the research arm of congress. Even though they are under congress, they're non-partisan.
I don't think there are any unbiased resources to study the new legislation.
here's some links
http://lionandlambministry.com/index.php/component/conten...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18238850/House-Health-Care-Bill...
http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/03/19/fact-sheet-th...
The Senate just passed the Reconciliation bill according to CBSnews.com.
Here's a goverment sponsored URL on health care reform:
http://www.healthreform.gov/
I don't know if actually has the details of the bill made public - you may want to check with your State's Representatives and Senators to see if they can point you in the right direction.
The live feed of the actual Senate proceedings on Reconciliation have been televised on CBS (among other news sites) to see what is being debated without opinion. I've had it on the past two days as the legislation will impact me professionally, and I've been trying to learn as much as possible.
You can follow it on Twitter (enter #HCR in search field) to see what people are saying, but it's mostly steeped heavily in opinion.
I know much of what's been debated in the Senate these past 2 days has actually not had to do with health care but have been related to provisions on the GI Bill, Pell Grants and Student Loans.
