Well, hallelujah, the House of Representatives passed a healthcare bill yesterday! But now what?  I mean, seriously, there are still a lot of obstacles on this  road to health care reform. The House bill is just one version and there still isn’t a final bill from both the House and the Senate.  Add to that, the House bill is quite different from the bill the Senate came up with, namely the Senate lets states opt out of the public option and the Senate’s version doesn’t raise taxes.

Additionally, the new House bill has an amendment that was put in to appease pro-life Democrats who threatened to torpedo the bill if the amendment didn’t pass.  Well, guess what? Pro-choice Democrats are already talking about stripping the amendment from the final bill. 

And last, but certainly not least, this House Bill has to be married to the Senate bill and then there will be a vote on it in both the House and the Senate. President Obama seems optimistic that there will be a final bill that comprehensively reforms health care and he’ll be able to sign it into law by the end of the year.

I wish him luck.