The Sanders Amendment

Posted on 12/19/2009 at 7:15 pm by Bob Cesca

This is really great stuff. Bernie Sanders has successfully added $10 billion for primary care. Some details:

-Forgives medical school debt for doctors who choose primary care, increasing the number of primary care doctors by 20,000.

-More than doubles the number of primary care clinics.

-Eases the burden on Medicaid.

-Creates primary care access for 25 million Americans.

Senator Sanders is also working with Ron Wyden to establish the groundwork for state-based single-payer plans. These are the kinds of improvements that can be added to this work in progress over time — another reason why passing this bill is so important to the long-term effort.

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  • J M Ashby

    WowForgives medical school debt for doctors who choose primary care?That is huge.

  • http://nanotyrnns.blogspot.com/ Nanotyrannus

    KILL THE BILL!!!!

  • camel54

    I would like to second what JM said above, “Wow…That is huge.” It is without a doubt the best news I have heard regarding this bill in some time.As a tangent, please contact Diane Feinstein and your own reps to voice your support for her BPA 2009 bill. Good health care reform starts with us getting poison out of our children’s foods. Now if we could just tack on an amendment to outlaw HFCS we’d be shittin’ in high cotton.

  • Dr. Squid

    If I weren’t 41 with 2 small kids, I’d go to med school for that.

  • IntoxiNation

    That is good news, but now it looks like the bill is even in more peril. The House pro-choice caucus isn’t happy at all, and that is 190 members.http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/73099-pro-choice-caucus-leaders-have-serious-reservations-on-abortion-compromiseIf they decide to oppose the bill when the vote for the conference report comes that would be the end of it. The only other option would be the much dreaded “ping-pong” option, bypassing conference and making the Senate bill the defacto legislation. That will quickly turn into a heavy political price tag if it happens, which is why the WH has opposed such a move.

  • http://nanotyrnns.blogspot.com/ Nanotyrannus

    It also sound, Intoxi, like Nelson will withdraw his “support” for the bill if it’s significantly changed in conference.

    “Nelson also warned that if in conference with the House the bill is ‘materially changed’ from what he agreed to he reserves the right to withdraw his support and vote against cloture the next time around.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/19/ben-nelson-press-conferen_n_398092.html“

    This is what kills me about the Senate right now. These dickheads had their chance to offer up amendments that either were passed or rejected. Once rejected, however, they shift into dickhead mode and then just hold things hostage procedurally.I want Nelson out of his fucking seat. I want him and Landrieu, Baucus, Lincoln and any of the other Democrats that have repeatedly tried to torpedo this in order to be gifted concessions, to have to fight like hell to keep their seats. I want their insufferable fence-sitting to be thrown back in their faces every time they utter the phrase “we passed a monumental health care reform bill.” I want them to be constantly reminded that we have not forgotten their selfish shitheadery once their re-election comes ’round.