Two House Committees Approve Health Care Bills

Three health care bills are working their way through Congress. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions approved its bill this month. Two House committees have approved bills, and a third is still working. The Senate Finance Committee is also working on a plan. Many decisions have yet to be made and the details are in flux. Health care options vary by state, making it difficult to gauge the proposals' impact on various groups. Below, some of the ways the measures will affect certain types of households , New York Times reports.

However, since he took office in January, President Barack Obama has made clear that he views this year as the best opportunity in decades to overhaul the nation's ailing health-care system; more recently he has stressed that he wants the House and Senate to pass their respective bills before their month-long August recess. That, to say the least, is not going according to plan. The Senate said last week it will not make this deadline and the House is also looking increasingly unlikely to produce a bill by then , TIME reports.

Historically, presidents have been able to enact big, transformational change under two conditions: when they have solid majorities in Congress or in a time of crisis.

President Barack Obama arguably has both of those advantages, giving him the best environment to try to push through health care reform and other high-profile campaign promises. And yet, the health care reform effort has become a painstaking exercise on Capitol Hill, with every proposed provision tested not just on its policy merits but on the votes it might pick up and those it could lose , Politico reports.