US Congress - Long Road, Short Time >Page 1, 2
Affordable Prescription Drug Benefits for Medicare Beneficiaries:
The only senior's prescription drug benefit bill to be voted on so far is H.R.
4680, the Medicare Rx 2000 Act. The bill was passed by the House on June
28 by razor-thin 217
- 214 vote. It has been read twice in the Senate and is ready for debate.
The President is not happy with the House-passed plan to provide a prescription drug benefit for seniors. In this June 22 Press Release, the White House press secretary explains the President's contention that the Republican-backed plan relies on faulty economic projections and fails to help middle-class retirees. (President Challenges Congress to act now on national healthcare policy - June 22, 2000)
House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX), defends the "bipartisan" Republican plan. Armey calls the President's alternatives the "big-government, cookie cutter" solution. In this press release, Rep. Armey suggests that a voluntary drug benefit plan will result in better health care. (President Misrepresents Bipartisan Prescription Drug Plan - June 14, 2000)
Raise The Minimum Wage:
President Clinton wants Congress to pass legislation to increase the
minimum wage by $1 -- from $5.15 to $6.15 per hour -- in two equal steps over
the next two years. (See: Clinton
Asks Congress to Raise Minimum Wage)
On March 9, the House did just that, but rather than offering a stand-alone bill, the minimum wage increase was added as an amendment to H.R. 3801, a Republican-backed $112 billion tax cut bill that the President has promised to veto should it pass as-is in the Senate. President Clinton has repeatedly stated that he would veto any legislation containing large tax cuts because they would drain money from Social Security and Medicare.
House Republicans argue that the tax package will help offset the costs of raising the minimum wage to businesses. Many GOP lawmakers consider the wage increase a "job-killer" and a roadblock to new investment and expansion of the economy. (See: House Passes Minimum Wage Increase - Tax Cut)
Enact A Meaningful Patient's Bill Of Rights:
This legislation would ensure that persons covered by HMO and similar
health care plans have some form of legal recourse when they are harmed as
a result of a health plan's actions.
According to the White House, "This legislation, endorsed by over 200 health care provider and consumer advocacy groups, is the only bipartisan proposal currently being considered that protects state-based accountability provisions already available under current law and includes: protections for all Americans in all health plans; protections for patients accessing emergency room care from financial sanctions; guarantees that assure access to necessary and accessible health care specialists; and meaningful enforcement mechanisms that ensure recourse for patients who have been harmed as a result of a health plan's actions."
There are currently two versions of this bill: S. 1344, approved by the Senate on July 15, 199 and H.R. 2723, approved by the House on Oct. 7, 1999. A House-Senate Conference Committee is attempting to iron out differences in the two bills. (See: Patients Rights Acts of 1999: House & Senate Differ)
Reference Links - Related Articles
Articles on Trade With China
Read what About Guides have to say on opening up trade with China.
Where do About Guides stand on gun control? Find out here.
It's the process of dividing up our tax dollars and it must be done again every year. From your About Guide.
The President asked Congress to increase the minimum wage by $1 -- from $5.15 to $6.15 per hour -- in two equal steps over the next two years. From your About Guide.
So, the House did. But, not the way the President had in mind. He says he will veto the bill unless the Senate changes it. From your About Guide.
Differences between House and Senate versions of the Patients Rights Act of 1999, from your About Guide
President Clinton announces his new Medicare drug plan. From Senior Health Guide Marian Eure.
Senior Health Guide Marian Eure reports on the President's plan to bring Medicare into the 21st century.
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