A final vote on the Senate's health care overhaul bill is expected Thursday morning.If approved, the measure will have to be reconciled with House legislation after the holiday break.Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth of Louisville says he disagrees with some elements of the Senate measure, but still considers it "a huge step forward.""There was just a survey that came out last week that one out of three Kentuckians is uninsured. That's a tragic situation. Those people are getting care in the most expensive ways and we're all paying for that. So this program, the Senate bill, and certainly the House (version), will eliminate a lot of that. Ninety-four percent of the people in the country will be insured," Yarmuth said.Republicans in Congress argue that both Democratic-led plans are too expensive and would give the government too much control of the health care system.Yarmuth says he's hopeful that a bill will clear Congress before the president's State of the Union address late next month.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.