Congressman Boyd votes against Healthcare Reform

On Saturday, Nov 7, the U.S. House of Representatives made history by becoming the first house of Congress to pass comprehensive healthcare reform in the history of America.

Hotly debated over the course of several months, the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” narrowly passed the House by a vote of 220 to 215, the intent of which is to provide overdue relief to Americans struggling to buy or hold on to health insurance.

A 193-page report published by the Institute of Medicine in May 2002, eight years before Obama’s election as President, demonstrated the need for healthcare reform. The report titled “Care without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late” revealed that an estimated 18,000 adults in the USA die each year because they are uninsured and cannot get proper healthcare.

The House passed the measure, and they should have if for no other reason but to save lives, however U.S. Congressman Allen Boyd (D) representing Florida’s Second District in the House voted against the reform.

“My vote is not a vote against responsible reform. Rather, it is a signal that our work in Congress is not yet complete. Reducing the cost of healthcare services must be the focus of any reform package, and I will continue working, as I’ve always done, to fix what’s wrong with our healthcare system, to continue what’s right, and to ensure Americans have access to affordable, quality coverage they need.” Boyd said.

The House Bill will in fact protect and strengthen Medicare; stop insurance companies from denying affordable coverage because of age; prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions or dropping coverage; limit how much insurance companies can make you pay out-of-pocket; and provide affordable health insurance options for those who don’t have insurance.

The debate over the need for national health insurance first surfaced in 1912, when then former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt included the issue as part of his platform while running for a third term as a Progressive Party candidate, and in 1992, President Bill Clinton (D) pushed for healthcare reform but well-organized opposition from the health insurance industry and others doomed the initiative.

As part of his 2008 campaign for the Presidency, Obama promised to do something about the like of affordable healthcare, and in March of this year while hosting a healthcare conference at the White House, the President told those gathered.

“The problems we face today are a direct consequence of actions that we failed to take yesterday”. “We have tried and fallen short, we've stalled for time, and again we have failed to act because of Washington politics or industry lobbying.” Obama said.

Leading up to the historic House vote, some of the major organizations to throw their support behind the measure were the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), and the American Association of Retired People (AARP).