Watchyoo Talkin About, Willis?

It is amazing to me that many of those in the health care debate appear to not realize that there are at least five versions of so-called “reform”, and that even the most discussed, H.R. 3200, has been referred to five committees and has been marked up to the extent that what is in the bill now is just a shadow of the original.

H.R. 3200 was introduced by Representative John Dingell (D-MI) on Tuesday, 7-14. It consists of 1,017 pages and has eight co-sponsors.

The Budget Committee had this bill referred to them, but what if anything they did with it is anybody’s guess. The status on Thomas Dot Gov still shows it as being “referred”, with no markups. The same goes for the House Oversight Committee.

The House Ways and Means Committee was afforded their chance to mark up the bill, and offered their own substitute bill. This is where it is really getting murky. The “Chairman’s Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute” (released Thursday, 7-16) is 794 pages, yet the “Ways and Means Staff description of the changes to be included in the Chairman’s Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute” describes the substsitute as consisting of additions and clarifications. Seems to me this would add to the size of the original bill, not detract from it. But heck, I’m new at this, and after all, I’m a just a part of the angry well-dressed mob. I’m sure all of our Representatives are on top of it.

The bill was also dealt with quite expeditiously in the House Committee of Education and Labor, where 42 amendments were introduced, most of which passed. It was reported favorably out of the committee, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Not only was there an amendment in the nature of a substitute, there was also an amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute ! The substitute consisted of 1,040 pages. If you add in the amendment to the amendment (3 pages), that makes the bill a total of 1,043 pages.The final vote was 26 to 22 on Friday, July 17th..

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce and a full five days of markups on H.R. 3200. Day One consisted of testimony. On Day Two, 5 amendments were introduced. On Day Three, 17 amendments were introduced. On Day Four, 45 amendments were introduced. On Day Five, 39 amendments were introduced. All of these various amendments were either agreed to, not agreed to, withdrawn, or ruled non-germane.

Heh. I think that ruling an amendment as being “non-germane” is kind of like saying this, only in politico-speak:



It is interesting on this last day that some veterans’ concerns were addressed. The Committee Press office states that:

“The Energy and Commerce Committee also accepted amendments by Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) during the markup of the legislation to further clarify that those who participate in the VA system will be exempt from the requirements of the legislation.”

Veterans appear to be off the hook.

The House Energy Committee offered its own amendment in the nature of a substitute on Friday, 7-31 which consisted of 1,026 pages.

So what, exactly, is the “health care reform bill”. And what is in it? Is it the original bill, or one of the bills offered as substitutes by the various committees involved? What was put in and what was taken out and what language was modified in each version? And I am only talking about this one bill; there are numerous others floating out there, including the Senate version(s) which add even more complexity to this boondoggle of a debate.

What the hell are we talking about here? Does anybody know? And why are some pushing for a “vote” on something that does not have a final shape or form? It is like voting for a ghost.

For example, is Section 401 of H.R. 3200 still intact as introduced ? This section deals with taxes on individuals without “acceptable” health coverage. If it is still in its original form, Hot Air blogger kbanaian has a few questions:

If my adult child is a dependent of mine, am I required under HR 3200 to buy insurance for her or him?

If I become unemployed at any time during a year, am I required to get a qualified plan or enter a government plan to avoid this tax? (It appears this proration clause I ended on does impose that requirement. If someone can find a place where it says you’re not taxed, please point me in the right direction.)

If I am a millionaire and I choose to self-insure, am I required to pay both the 2.5% tax (which, you will note, is capped at average insurance premiums as determined by your Health Choice Commissioner) and the 5.4% surcharge in Sec. 441? Do you have an estimate of the amount of legal tax avoidance that will occur if you raise taxes by that amount?

Who is required to document that I have the appropriate coverage? (This will be a test of whether they read 401. It’s up to the Treasury Secretary. Follow the link for the exact language.) Doesn’t this increase in paperwork defeat the purposes of cost control?

Hey, watchyoo talkin' about, Willis? Does anyone really know?