Do Americans want Pages or Solutions?

Does anyone else wonder why all of these Health reform bills are so long? Why must the house bill be over 2,000 pages? At some point we lost our way in this debate. It has become apparent that these bills are just a collection of a thousand different ideas jammed into a single bill. In fact, there are many times in the bills where they even contradict each other.

Most Americans want the legislators who are voting on this bill to actually read it. I say, how about the ones putting these bills together actually read it. This is the single largest piece of legislation in US history and still not a single person can tell you exactly what is in the bill.

It does not matter what side of the fence you are on in this debate, we should all want a bill that is clear, concise and one that works.

There is much that is lost in this debate. There are plenty that both parties agree on. Everyone knows we need some sort of reform to deal with costs. Both parties know we need elimination of pre-existing conditions. They all agree we need to cover as many Americans as humanly possible, especially the ones who need it most. Those are points we almost all agree on.

The biggest battle is between government running health care vs the private sector running health care. This is a legitimate debate. This should be debated fairly. However it cannot be when you have these bills that are so unclear and so vague. It leaves each side debating over bills that do not make sense.

All three of the bills proposed to congress right now are not even slated to go into action until 2013. Why are we rushing out bills that are this long and this unclear? It is beyond comprehension that a bill of this magnitude is packed into a 2,000 page mess.

I will leave you with an actual paragraph from the House bill.

“(a) Outpatient Hospitals – (1) In General – Section 1833(t)(3)(C)(iv) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395(t)(3)(C)(iv)) is amended – (A) in the first sentence – (i) by inserting “(which is subject to the productivity adjustment described in subclause (II) of such section)” after “1886(b)(3)(B)(iii); and (ii) by inserting “(but not below 0)” after “reduced”; and (B) in the second sentence, by inserting “and which is subject, beginning with 2010 to the productivity adjustment described in section 1886(b)(3)(B)(iii)(II)”.

Excuse me?????