Health care fight heats up

The political jockeying is ramping up as the House prepares to vote on its sweeping health care bill as soon as Saturday.

Not a single Republican is expected to vote for the Democratic bill, which would cost $1.2 trillion bill over 10 years, require employers to insure their employees, and prohibit insurance companies from dropping coverage for sick people.

Instead, House Republicans are promoting their own belated bill -- including in a marathon online town hall today -- that focuses far more on cutting costs than covering uninsured Americans.

(Democrats, meanwhile, issued a dismissive slap at the online town hall. "We're planning a twelve second town hall to explain every last detail of the GOP health care plan," Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement. "According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the Republican 'plan' would do no nothing to stop insurance companies from denying care to Americans with pre-existing conditions or other profit protecting practices, do less to reduce the deficit and leave more people without insurance than there are today. They might as well call it the Do Nothing Act of 2009.")

House GOP Leader John Boehner is bragging about an independent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that says the Republican health care plan will lower premiums by as much as 10 percent and reduce the federal deficit by $68 billion over 10 years.

“When it comes to reforming health care, controlling skyrocketing costs is the American peoples’ top priority. Now CBO has confirmed that the Republican plan will lower health care costs for American families, and that’s good news for everyone struggling in today’s economy. The choice now could not be clearer: Speaker Pelosi’s plan raises costs. Our plan lowers them," Boehner said in a statement.

“Not only does the GOP plan lower health care costs, but it also increases access to quality care – including for those with pre-existing conditions – at a price our country can afford. The cost of the Speaker’s bill, now at $1.3 trillion and counting, is a debt that will be paid for by our kids and our grandkids. The American people deserve a better solution, and Republicans’ smart, fiscally-responsible plan gives them exactly what they want."

Boehner, however, does not mention that the CBO analysis found that the Republican plan would only decrease the number of uninsured Americans by about 3 million by 2019, leaving about 50 million without coverage. The Democratic bill, by contrast, would cover an estimated 96 percent of Americans.

UPDATE: Also, thousands of protestors, many of them "tea party" anti-tax activists, are holding a rally outside Congress in opposition to the Democratic bill and President Obama's plan. They say it would extend government control over health care and lead to higher taxes.

Speaking to the rally, Boehner called the Democratic health care bill "the greatest threat to freedom" he had seen in his 19 years in Congress.

He warned that it would lead to a government takeover with bureaucrats making health care decisions.

"I'm going to stand with you and all freedom-loving Americans," he said, holding up a copy of the Constitution and reading from the preamble about the "right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

According to the Associated Press, protestors' signs included one that said "Waterboard Congress," along with echoes of the rallying cry at August town halls with lawmakers, "Vote no to government-run health care."

One protester carried a placard reading, "Bury Obamacare with Kennedy," a reference to Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, who died of brain cancer in August and who called universal health care the cause of his life.

A liberal-labor coalition is rebutting the GOP plan with a new TV ad that slams it as a bill to protect insurance company profits.

"This just in: Republicans in Congress have introduced the Health Insurance Industry Profits Protection Act," the announcer says in the ad from Americans United for Change.

"The Republican bill lets insurance companies continue denying care for preexisting conditions," the announcer continues in the faux newscast. "Republicans will still let insurers raise premiums four times faster than wages. And health care will remain unaffordable for most Americans."

"Well folks, it looks like when it comes to health care, the party of no is now, the party of no change."

The AARP, a powerful lobby for seniors, officially announced its endorsement today of the House Democratic bill, despite concerns about potential cuts for members enrolled in Medicare "plus" plans.

The group, however, focused on the provisions that it says will "curb insurance companies’ discrimination against older Americans and Medicare improvements that strengthen benefits while protecting the program for future generations."

“Our goals have always been to make health coverage more affordable for our younger members, those aged 50 to 64, and to protect Medicare for seniors,” Deborah Banda, AARP Massachusetts state director, said in a statement. “Having reviewed the Affordable Health Care for America Act, we believe it meets these goals by improving benefits for people in Medicare – including closing the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap, the dreaded “doughnut hole” – and making health insurance market reforms to help ensure affordable health coverage for every American.”