if it be not to come, it will be now;
if it be not now, yet it will come:
the readiness is all."
Hamlet, Act 5 Scene II
The House votes today on final passage of health care reform. MSNBC reports that Democrats DO have the votes to pass this bill. Passage would occur in two votes - one to pass the Senate bill as passed on Christmas Eve 2009, and the second on a package of amendments agreed with the Senate.
The United States is alone among developed nations in not offering its citizens comprehensive health care, with nearly 50 million Americans uninsured.
Although the bill before Congress does not provide universal health care, it should expand coverage to about 95 percent of Americans. It would require most Americans to carry insurance with subsidies for those who can't afford it, expand the government-run Medicaid program for the poor, and create new places to buy health care.
Even so, the reform is likely to be judged alongside the boldest acts of presidents and Congress in domestic affairs. While national health care has long been a goal of politicians and presidents stretching back decades, it has proved elusiveThe readiness is all....
