Some of the difference in the healthcare bill (the Senate bill) approved in the House of Representative on Mach 21st and signed into law by President Obama on March 23, and the reconciliation bill to be approved by the U.S. Senate, are stated below:  

Health Insurance Mandate (Individuals): The approved bill mandates all Americans to get health insurance or pay a penalty of $495 in 2015 and $750 in 2016. Under the reconciliation bill, those refusing to purchase health coverage would pay a lesser fine of $325 and $695 respectively. Under the Senate bill the fine represents the lesser of 2 percent of an individual’s salary and under the reconciliation bill the lesser of 2.5 percent. 

Health Insurance Mandate (Employers): Under the Senate bill, if an employer with more than 50 employees doesn’t offer coverage, he or she must pay a penalty fee of $750 for every full-time employee he or she hires. The reconciliation bill amends that fee to $2,000, but effective after the first 30 employees. 

Expands Drug Coverage for Seniors: The reconciliation bill offers seniors on Medicare increased coverage for prescribed drugs, than was approved under the Senate bill. 

Increase Taxes on the Wealthy: The reconciliation bills places an additional 3.8 percent Medicare tax on unearned incomes like dividends on investments earned by the wealthy. This is in addition to a higher Medicare payroll tax levied under the Senate bill on people earning over $200,000 annually and families earning over $250,000. However, although the reconciliation bill still supports a tax on high-end (Cadillac) insurance plans, to appease trade unions who complained that the tax would be a burden on some of their members, it raises the income threshold on which the tax would become effective and delays the implementation of the tax from 2016 to 2018. 

Increase Taxes on Health Industry Companies: The reconciliation bill proposes increasing fees paid by some medical manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and health insurance companies over the life of the bill. These fees are higher than those proposed in the Senate bill. 

Expands National Coverage: Approval of the reconciliation bill, means that 32 million uninsured Americans will be covered the new health reforms. The goal is that by 2019, 95 percent of Americans, excluding illegal immigrants, would have health insurance. 

Increase Student Loans and Grants: Although not a direct health benefit, savings realized under healthcare reform would provide colleges with more access to loans and grants. The reconciliation bill includes the provision approved in the original House healthcare bill to reform the students loan program for college students. The bill proposes an end of government subsidies to the student loan guarantee agency Sallie Mae (SLM Corp.). Instead, college students would get their loans directly from the federal government. The funds saved from the subsidies would be used to expand Pell Grants to students who pass a financial needs test.

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The census is here. Some of us have already received our census forms in the mail. The question to ask yourself, before deciding not to participate is: Will I count? To count does not stop at a numerical value, to count also means to matter, to have value and to have what is rightfully yours.

So, while some might view the census as a government intrusion, it is necessary to note that the government has to be aware of the number of persons living in certain areas so they can provide adequate amenities to serve them.

“The U.S. Census decides important things, such as how many members of Congress Florida will have, and how much funding Washington will give to places like Lauderhill,” NAACP president Ben Jealous said.

“Communities of color have historically been undercounted in the census,” which is why the organization has launched the “Yes We Count” campaign, which has engaged people nationally to ensure that Blacks count in 2010, he added.

Jealous is just one of the many leaders from myriad organizations that are pushing the census and encouraging Blacks (and other minorities) to “stand up and be counted.”

The census, in addition to counting the population, helps to determine where and how government spends money on schools, hospitals, and senior centers.  If people fail to participate in the census, an inaccurate count will send the wrong message to the government and families will not have enough resources to sustain them in their communities.

According to State Rep. Hazelle Rogers who serves on the Statewide Census Complete Count Committee, “This is one of the most important civic duties we have.”

Additionally, a press release from her office, stated, “For the first time in the history of the census, the report from the census will be given to a president who understands the need for immigration reform and healthcare for all.  As elected officials, we will use the information gathered to set policies that will affect your lives for the next 10 years.”

This speaks directly to diversity and how America’s landscape has change racially and ethnically.

In fact, the Caribbean-American Community, in an attempt to have their numbers counted, is pushing for Caribbean nationals and people of Caribbean descent to include their individual countries or write ‘Caribbean’ in a space provided under the Question #9 (the race question), to show national origin.

“Communities of color are the ones who stand to benefit the most from the census, but historically we have been undercounted,” Jealous said.

Minorities including Blacks, Native Americans and Asians have been listed among the hard-to-count segment of the population, and as a result, communities with large minority groups end up getting less resources than they need to adequately function.

A poll released in January by the Pew Research Center showed that one in five persons say they will not participate in the census, because they are not interested and some because they do not trust the government. It also said it is more likely that younger people ages 18-29 and lower-income people will not participate.

Another concern is that illegal immigrants may not want to participate in the count because they fear that this will be used to locate and deport them. However, officials emphasize that the Census is confidential. The census mailer states that the information cannot be shared with any government agency such as the CIA, INS, FBI or ICE. Participants, it said, are protected by Title 13 of the U.S. Code and all census workers have taken an oath to maintain confidentiality, which if violated can result in jail time of up to five years and/or a fine of up to $250,000.

Rogers said, “An accurate and comprehensive portrait of the new and diverse America is up to each of you and I encourage you to stand up and be counted.”

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U.S. House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated that the House could cast its greatly anticipated vote on the Healthcare reform bill on Saturday, March 20. In the meantime, House Democratic leaders are busy attempting to get reluctant representatives to change their minds and vote for the bill. 

Sources close to the Democrats indicated that up to Wednesday the required 216 House votes required to pass the bill was still short by 12. However, some representatives who, originally could not be persuaded to vote for the bill have changed their minds. This includes Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, who is now saying said he believes "health care is a civil right." Last year he voted against the House healthcare bill, and referred to the Senate bill passed In December, as something that would aid private insurers. A relatively new representative, John Boccieri of Ohio, has been reported as saying that he prefers to vote on what he perceives as an imperfect Senate bill than doing nothing. 

Another potential hold out who could be persuaded to vote yes, is Representative   Jason Altmire, Pennsylvania, who said on a TV morning show on Wednesday that he could vote for the revised version of the bill, but wants first to see the final version and the cost of the reforms as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The Senate bill was estimated at $875 billion. Altmire said he would not vote for the bill if added “even one penny” to the national deficit. The White House and Democratic leaders have consistently said the bill will not add to the deficit, and in effect, should reduce the deficit over a 10-year period.

Other procrastinating House Democrats are wavering because of concerns that the Senate bill does not include sufficient subsidies that would help lower-income families who cannot normally afford coverage, when having health insurance becomes mandatory.  

Rep. Dale Kildee, (D-Mich.), a pro-lifer who voted yes for the House bill in November, said he is casting a yes vote for the bill. He said after speaking to his priest, family and friends and reading the abortion language in the bill over a dozen times, he can vote with a free conscience. 

He said, “We must not lose sight of what is at stake here – the lives of 31 million American children, adults, and seniors who don’t have health insurance.”  He added that, “There is nothing more pro-life than protecting the lives of 31 million Americans. Voting for this bill in no way diminishes my pro-life voting record or undermines my beliefs. I am a staunch pro-life member of Congress – both for the born and the unborn.” 

South Florida Democratic representatives Kendrick Meek, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Alcee Hastings are expected to vote for the bill.  

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Following what President Barack Obama called a “very productive” meeting between himself and Haitian President René Préval at the White House on Wednesday; President Obama sought to put into perspective the great loss that Haiti suffered in the devastating January 12 earthquake.

Obama said, “To offer just some perspective on the awful scale of Haitian loss, it’s as if the United States, in a terrible instant, lost nearly 8 million people; or it’s as if one-third of our country – 100 million Americans – suddenly had no home, no food, or water.  That gives you a sense of, relative to the populations, what has happened in Haiti.  No nation could respond to such a catastrophe alone.  It would require a global response.  And that’s exactly what we have seen these past two months.”

But despite the overwhelming support given to Haiti since the disaster, both presidents, who addressed reporters in the Rose Garden, agreed that the situation there remains dire, as there are no illusions that the crisis is over.  Many Haitians still desperately need shelter, food and medicine.  And with the spring rains approaching, those needs are expected to grow, especially with the threat of waterborne diseases in the wet months.  The challenge now is to prevent a second disaster.

Préval, who has been on a mission over recent weeks seeking additional aid, along with his delegation offered an update on the status of relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts and the challenges ahead in a disaster that, Obama said, “even now, defies comprehension.”

President Préval said that in the meeting with President Obama, he discussed Haiti’s immediate priorities which include protecting “people who are homeless and must be relocated,” and preparation for the rainy season which last week caused the deaths of 15 people. He said, simultaneously there is the need to rebuild Haiti, focusing on decentralization, particularly offering healthcare, education and jobs to all Haitians, regardless of where they live in the country, “in order to prevent migratory flows towards the big cities and towards Port-au-Prince.” Préval said he hoped that the participants at the United Nations meeting scheduled for March 31 to discuss Haiti’s reconstruction, will share “this philosophy, this vision, of decentralization.”

The Haitian president said he and his American counterpart also discussed the formation of a donors’ trust fund; the implementation of which would be executed by one agency.  He told President Obama that he knows that Haitians can count on him to be the advocate of that idea during the UN conference “in support of our vision.”

Obama commended Préval and the Haitian people for their “courage and determination” after the disaster and thanked his administration, Congress, humanitarian organizations and medical and military personnel for their role in the relief efforts. He also thanked “individual Americans, who gave what they could to support Haiti even in difficult economic times.”

President Obama pledged that America’s commitment to Haiti’s recovery and reconstruction will endure.  He told Préval, “America will be your partner in the recovery and reconstruction effort.”

President Préval thanked President Obama, Congress, U.S. organizations, the American people, and the international community for their “swift’ response in assisting Haiti. He said the material aid, moral support and psychological support, helped Haitians realize that “we were not alone and that provided us great comfort in our distress.” He also expressed sympathy and condolences, to Americans who had family members killed and injured during the earthquake.

Immediately after the earthquake, President Obama committed $100 million to the relief efforts and authorized the intervention of U.S. troops and other personnel to assist. Since then, over 200,000 people have been reported killed, including Americans, Canadians, and people from several other countries; and some million Haitians have been left homeless. The U.S. has reportedly spent over $500 million on relief efforts since the quake.

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