There is a “but” in there and it is the fact that a person isn't eligible for medical coverage immediately upon becoming medically disabled. What about those who can't get their medications or see doctors? What happens to people who lose their jobs? Yeah, sure, there is COBRA but how many can actually afford those prices? I couldn't.

I wish there was a way to get 60 votes for cloture and keep all the things we like in the bill. I wish we had started out with a more progressive/liberal bill. I wish we had a way to force Senators and Representatives to live in our shoes for just a month or so. I wish, I wish, I wish…… but it doesn't happen. POTUS never campaigned on a public option or single payer. He kept saying all should have access to the same health care as those in Congress. Looks like we may.

Is it perfect? No!!! Do we care? Yes!!! Was Medicare perfect when first passed? No!!! Is it perfect now? No!!! If we don't start somewhere, we never get to the finish line.

Keep up the fight and keep putting the information out there; I appreciate the work you do to keep us informed.

There is a “but” in there and it is the fact that a person isn't eligible for medical coverage immediately upon becoming medically disabled. What about those who can't get their medications or see doctors? What happens to people who lose their jobs? Yeah, sure, there is COBRA but how many can actually afford those prices? I couldn't.

I wish there was a way to get 60 votes for cloture and keep all the things we like in the bill. I wish we had started out with a more progressive/liberal bill. I wish we had a way to force Senators and Representatives to live in our shoes for just a month or so. I wish, I wish, I wish…… but it doesn't happen. POTUS never campaigned on a public option or single payer. He kept saying all should have access to the same health care as those in Congress. Looks like we may.

Is it perfect? No!!! Do we care? Yes!!! Was Medicare perfect when first passed? No!!! Is it perfect now? No!!! If we don't start somewhere, we never get to the finish line.

Keep up the fight and keep putting the information out there; I appreciate the work you do to keep us informed.

I wish you well in your pursuit of the perfect. May you be victorious. I mean that. I'm counting on you to make it happen for us. If possible, could you make it happen in the next six months or so? If not…well, then add our names to the wall of the revolutionaries who died waiting.

I'm not so sure that this metaphor applies equally well to legislation, where the product is at least as important as the process. The “winning” is more important, perhaps, than it is in dance and drumming.

I'm concerned that the Senate's #HCR bill, as it stands, does NOT truly place us “us all on a level playing field.” While I can't profess to know any longer exactly what's in the bill, I believe that insurance companies will still be allowed to bill middle-aged adults at rates up to three times higher than younger adults. That's not a “level playing field.”

Given our government's history with regulation of corporate finances, I'm concerned that the “regulation” upon which this bill is predicated is a pipe dream, an abstract theory, and not an achievable reality.

And I'm still puzzled as to why the move to strip anti-trust exemptions from the private medical insurance monopoly has been aborted. Clearly, medical insurance companies are monopolistic. Clearly, they don't deserve to be exempt from anti-trust laws.

It seems to me that one of the shortest roads to forcing private insurance companies to become competitive would have been to subject these corporations to the same anti-monopolistic rules that most other industries must comply with. Why was that dropped?

At any rate, I'm also concerned about folks being subject to fines for opting out of insurance. That was a legitimate stance to take when a not-for-profit insurance option was made available. To force all Americans to buy private insurance (which I contend will never truly be regulated)–or be fined–is just plain wrong.

I completely “get” your argument for persisting in the good fight, and for supporting the Senate's bill for its merits. I understand that this flawed bill may (if all goes well) provide a foundation upon which to build. Yet, I'm not entirely convinced that the bill doesn't have the potential to harm as much as it does to help. I'm having difficulty sorting through rhetoric and hyperbole to find the hard data, the facts.

All I can say for now is: I sure do hope you're right that this bill provides a “level playing field” for all Americans. I haven't seen the evidence that it will. Maybe you can point me to some data or resources that'll help me clarify this issue.

maybe you didn't realize that YES they have to insure you. There is a limit though…they can only raise you premium 300% more if they consider you risky or just old…well, you can refuse and just pay the government fine. either way they penalize someone for not having enough green to pay the CEO's bonuses or their 33% administrative costs that have NOTHING to do with health care. BTW, there are no private insurers who provide more efficient service.

The list goes on and on… this is a terrible piece of legislation. If they can't do better than this, they need to let it die. Maybe in the meantime Obama will grow a backbone and actually lead an effort to reform healthcare.

This isn't a reform bill…it is a payoff to the lobbyist from both the White House and the Senate. This isn't about sucking it up, it's about refusing to let the Dems bargain real reform for campaign contributions. It needs to die.

really!