I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
A major health care reform bill, something that President Barack Obama championed while on the campaign trail last year, has passed out of the U.S. Senate’s Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP).
U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat from Silver City, sits on the HELP Committee and praised the bill’s passage.
“This strong public option proposal will ensure that there is real competition between public and private insurance plans. It is an important safeguard, the goal of which is controlling escalating health care costs and extending coverage to millions of Americans for whom health insurance has been out of reach,” Bingaman said in a statement.
The public option is a bone of contention between Senate Democrats and Republicans on the bill. Republicans say it is a step towards socialized health care, while Democrats say the public option is the only way to pass a bill that would provide universal coverage and hold down costs.
A public option would give Americans a choice between their own privately-run health care and a government-run program. According to the Congressional Budget Office, only less than five percent of Americans would choose the public option.
Polling has shown that the public supports the public option.
The bill passed the HELP Committee on a party-line vote, 13-10, with Democrats voting for the bill and Republicans opposing it.
President Obama also released a statement on the bill’s passage.
“This proposal will bring down costs, expand coverage, and increase choice,” Obama was quoted as saying. “Through a health insurance exchange, families and small businesses will be able to compare prices and quality so that they can choose the health care plan that best suits their needs.”
A health bill is expected to come out of the Senate Finance Committee in the coming weeks — another committee on which Bingaman sits.
