Preliminary Health Bill Passes

Late yesterday the Senate version of ObamaCare was brought to the House where, under extreme pressure from Obama and ranking Democrats it eeked a marginal victory. As best I can tell, it enacts universal health coverage by making it unlawful not to buy it, and gives nearly $1T over the next 10 years to someone--time will tell exactly who will be the beneficiaires. To my mind, it spends $1T perpetuating all of the current problems, in exchange for one minor benefit: that one cannot be denied insurance based on pre-existing conditions. Presumably one can still be denied for other reasons. Time will tell what will be done to limit costs.

There is still plenty of maneuvering in to be expected, by both parties. The Democrats might still focus on a Public Option agenda. The package may cost them votes in November, but if it hadn't passed, I would guess it would have been worse. If there is one thing worse than bad legislation, it is failing to pass it.