Healthcare Digest 5/2: Florida House Democrats Stall for Healthcare Reform

My political leanings are pretty evident in these write-ups. So it breaks my heart to see Florida Democrats acting in the way they’re acting.

On Tuesday, we learned that Florida House Democrats “demanded that every bill be read in full to protest the stalemate on healthcare reform.” This sounds like a tactic your teen would pull as part of that Testing Boundaries and Exploring Limits phase.

“It’s unfortunate that we have had to take such unusual action today, but my Democratic colleagues and I believe that a drastic situation requires drastic tactics,” House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston of Plantation said in a statement.

Does it, Perry? And if it does, is that really your best move?

The Republican response was sort of awesome: “House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, responded by plugging in a computerized auto reader to recite the bills in full.” (Fun fact: the robotic autoreader is named Mary.)

Yesterday, Florida House Democrats continued their stalling tactics. This time, holding readings from the Constitution as well as a return to the “read every bill in full aloud” to prove their point.

For the Democrats, it’s all in service of healthcare. Republicans are doing what Republicans do, which is: everything possible to keep healthcare reform from happening. “House Republicans…have decided to reject billions of healthcare dollars from the federal government.” This position would be fine if Republicans had both the reputation and a long-standing history of small government. However, they’re only small government when it means thwarting a Democrat-proposed plan.

According to the Miami Herald, “The stalling tactics could threaten several pieces of legislation in the waning days of the 60-day legislative session, which ends Friday.”

Thursday’s Headlines:

A Set-Back for Employer-Sponsored Healthcare Programs: “Employer-sponsored healthcare plans cannot include most ‘wellness programs’ as part of minimum coverage requirements, dealing a setback to many businesses, according to new federal rules for U.S. President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul starting next year.” [Reuters]

Wait, What?: “This randomized, controlled study showed that Medicaid coverage generated no significant improvements in measured physical health outcomes in the first 2 years, but it did increase use of health care services, raise rates of diabetes detection and management, lower rates of depression, and reduce financial strain.” [Mother Jones]