Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.
It’s been a long road, but later today President Obama is expected to sign health reform legislation into law. That’s not the end of the story though. The bill the President will sign today is only a piece of the reforms Democrats hope will soon be the law of the land.
The bill being signed today was originally passed by the Senate last December and cleared the House over the weekend. It sets up the bulk of the health reform framework, including a health exchange to purchase insurance and an individual mandate for coverage. But as part of the deal that ensured passage of this bill in the House, Democrats there insisted on drafting a separate package of changes to the Senate bill. This package includes increased subsidies for purchasing insurance and some added insurance protections, among other provisions. Now that bill must make it through the Senate.
Hear about all this and more in this week’s edition of the Policy & Practice Podcast.
Take a listen:
— Mary Ellen Schneider (on Twitter @MaryEllenNY)
