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Late this past Wednesday Senate Majority leader Harry Reid released the Senate’s version of the highly anticipated health care bill. According to analysts, the bill is designed to appeal broadly to moderates, and also to reduce the government deficit. Senator Reid referred to it as a jobs bill. But details of the bill reveal that it is fairly similar to the House version that passed recently, including a government-backed insurance plan, or a so-called public option. According to the Boston Globe, the bill “would require almost everyone to have insurance, penalize employers who failed to provide affordable coverage to their employees, and prohibit insurers from discriminating against people because of preexisting medical conditions. On the issue of abortion coverage, the Senate bill is less restrictive than the House version.” Predictably Republicans are determined to oppose the bill and some have even threatened to require the entire 2000 page bill to be read out loud on the floor of the Senate, an act that could take days. A procedural vote on whether to bring the bill to the Senate floor may take place as early as tomorrow.

GUEST: Clark Newhall, doctor, lawyer, and Executive director of Health Justice

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