President Obama has told the American people the basic outline of his ideal health care plan.  However, Democrats and Republicans in congress and the senate have introduced alternatives.  These other options either tweak the plan Obama has proposed or completely changes it to lower the overall cost to taxpayers and the burden on the economy. 

Republicans claim the Democrats are ignoring their efforts to introduce alternative legislation.  For example, Senator Jim DeMint’s (Republican-South Carolina) proposed Health Care Freedom Act would force interstate competition and allocate $5,000 to families who aren’t covered by their employers to buy their own health insurance.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Charles Rangel, accuses Republicans of simply bashing the Democrats’ proposed plans instead of offering feasible alternatives.  Rangel is encouraging Republicans to get together and discuss a bipartisan bill to appease the Democratic majority. 

For now, Capitol Hill remains on their August break.  Yesterday, President Obama made a firm promise to the American people that a health care reform bill will be passed and signed before the end of the year.  We will just have to wait and see which bill prevails.

Click here to read the entire Associated Press article: Health Care Reforms Americans Will Never See