parsa khan's List: REV Media Mashup: Health Compare 11.24.09

When Senate Democratic leaders first went behind closed doors to complete the health care legislation, the only women in the room were either committee staff members or officials from the White House. The senators there — Harry Reid of Nevada, Max Baucus of Montana and Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut — reflected the Senate’s predominant history as an old-boys’ club.

The health care bill that the Senate will begin debating next week is the result of numerous compromises that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., worked out to unite Democrats behind a procedural vote Saturday that brought the legislation forward. But many lawmakers still have problems with portions of the bill and have indicated that unless it is amended they may not support it when it comes up for a final vote.

The House contender for a new health reform law is a done deal, while Senate Democrats have moved its version of a bill to the Senate floor. Once the final Senate bill passes, the next step is to reconcile the differences between the two bills, followed by the voting of both chambers on the compromise legislation. If it passes, it will head to President Barack Obama's desk for his signature. Every health care consumer, whether insured or uninsured, has a stake in the outcome of this process. "Some people say, 'I have good insurance today, so how does this affect me?' The problem is that many of us have good insurance through our jobs," says Stuart Altman, professor of national health policy at Brandeis University. "Then all of a sudden you lose your job, and you're caught in the same situation as everybody else (without insurance). You have to shop around for a policy."

In Washington, Congress goes around and around about health insurance reform. In South Florida, employees can see the impact of rising health care costs during open enrollment, the time when workers choose health insurance and other benefits. Health insurance costs are only up 5 percent since 2008, but have risen 131 percent since 1999, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on health care issues.