Winners:
- Nebraska - gets permanent federal funding for the Medicaid expansion, at the expense of the rest of the Union, a bribe for Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).
- Vermont, Massachusetts and Hawaii - get partial, short-term federal funding for Medicaid expansion.
- University of Connecticut - gets $100M for hospital construction, thanks to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).
- Louisiana - $300M in increased federal Medicaid subsidies, in order to buy the vote of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA).
- Medicare providers (physicians and hospitals) in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah - will get paid more than other states under the reimbursement formula.
- Medicare Advantage members in Florida - will get to keep their coverage, while the program gets deep cuts in the rest of the country.
- The American People - new taxes, worse health care, more government control... what's there to like?
- The American taxpayer - 400 billion dollars in new taxes.
- Unborn babies - abortions will still be paid for with taxpayer funds (particularly on Indian reservations).
- Future generations - those who will have to pay for this in the future (which includes young Americans like myself).
- Tanning salons - will get hit with a 10% tax (to replace a discussed-but-dropped tax on cosmetic surgery).
- People making over $200,000 a year - Medicare payroll tax increased by 0.9%.
- Insurance companies - must spend at least 85 cents per dollar on medical costs, leaving 15 cents for overhead, salaries, stock-holders, et cetera.
- Generic drug makers - name-brand companies won 12 years of protection from their generic competitors.
- State budgets - Medicaid expansions will be a budget-breaker, in a time when 49 of 50 states are facing budget shortfalls (some of them quite severe), and states like California are facing bankruptcy.
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