Healthcare Reform: The Devil’s in the Details

By Martie Hevia | Blue Beach Song™

As usual, I am disappointed with both sides of the aisle, but there is a bill in the House and one in the Senate that are required reading. However you stand on the issue, you need to educate yourself on the particulars of these two bills and if you don’t like what you find, then write your Senators and Congressmen/women and let them know specifically what you don’t like or what you want them to do. That is our right and our duty.

A terrific website to check out is www.opencongress.org where you can track what your Congressional Representatives and Senators are doing and where you can read the exact text of each bill they propose. You can also track the changes made to the bills as they progress through the different committees, backroom deals, and open compromises.

The text of the Healthcare Reform Bill in the House, H.R.3962, Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009, can be found and read at: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3962/show. The Senate bill, which passed on Christmas Eve, H.R.3590, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, can be found and read at: http://www.opencongress.org/senate_health_care_bill.

In addition to reading the full text and summaries of these and other bills, the Open Congress website also offers the resources so that you can vote on your support or disapproval of the bill; you can write your representative; you can check out which way the representatives voted; you can get email alerts on any changes or actions on the bill; you can track the money trail; you can read comments, blogs, and news articles related to the bill; and a great deal more.

Could it be any easier? Of course not, a click here, a click there, and you fulfill your right and responsibility to be an informed citizen. No excuses, get informed, read the bills or their summaries, and write your representatives and Senators. Easy.

[NOTE: To find and write to your Congressional Representative, go to: Write Your Representative – U.S. House of Representatives Website. And to find and write to your Senator, go to: Senators – U.S. Senate Website.]

Martie Hevia © 2009 | All Rights Reserved