Pelosi makes good on healthcare promise

Truthout - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled an $894 billion health-care reform bill Thursday that includes a government-run insurance program, otherwise known as a "public option," that is far stronger than the public plan unveiled earlier this week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Unlike the Senate bill, the legislation touted by Pelosi does not provide individual states with an "opt-out" provision. The House bill requires that Americans purchase insurance (or pay a 2.5 percent penalty based on their annual income, subject to a "hardship exemption") and large businesses to provide employees with coverage. The bill melds three separate pieces of legislation House committees passed earlier this year.

It comes in at just under the $900 billion ceiling President Obama set and, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill will reduce the federal deficit by at least $30 billion over 10 years. Read more.