The bill passed by only five votes – 220-215, after 39 Democrats refused to be bullied into supporting this monstrosity. And a monstrosity it is.

It requires all Americans to enroll in a “qualified plan.” If you get your insurance at work, your employer will have a “grace period” to switch you to a “qualified plan,” one which is designed by the secretary of health and human services.

What’s more, it provides that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the secretary of health and human services will decide what a “qualified plan” covers and how much you’ll be legally required to pay for it. Would you sign a bank loan that allowed the banker to decide 18 months later the interest rate and repayment terms?

The bill makes it clear that, although the “qualified plan” is not yet designed, it will be of the “one size fits all” category. The bill claims to offer choice, but the benefits are the same. Only the co-pays and deductibles differ. The bill says that when you file your federal income tax returns, you will have to include proof that you are in a “qualified plan.” If not, you will be fined thousands of dollars.

In one effort to “pay” for the so-called public option, the bill eviscerates Medicare by an estimated $500 billion. This at a time when the Baby Boom generation is getting ready to retire and enroll in Medicare.

But not to worry. Because Washington bureaucrats will decide what kind of care retirees can get – meaning how much or how little of it.

Rationing will be right around the corner.

Three sections of the bill initiate programs to reduce payments for patient care to what it costs in the lowest cost regions of the country. Boy, we can see doctors flocking to treat all those new Medicare Baby Boomers.

Of course, the Pelosis of this world tell us with certitude how much the total cost of this government boondoggle will cost the taxpayers. Don’t believe a word of it.

Rather, let history be the guide. In 1965, when Congress was considering Medicare legislation, the House Ways and Means Committee estimated that the hospital insurance portion of the program, Part A, would cost about $9 billion annually by 1990. But the actual cost by 1990 was $67 billion a year.

That same committee predicted the entire cost of Medicare by 1990 would be about $12 billion. Actual medicare spending in 1990 was $110 billion – off by nearly a factor of 10.

Two sections of the Pelosi plan establish racial and ethnic preferences in awarding grants for training nurses. Gee, we thought the Obama presidency was supposed to be post-racial.

The Pelosi plan forces the states to spend more on Medicaid at a time when state budgets are taking body blows from the sour economy. So, state taxes will have to go up or other state functions will have to absorb even more losses so the Medicaid welfare program can grow.

The Senate now takes up its own health plans in earnest – the president gave those deliberations a rah-rah send-off on Sunday. All we can hope is that Majority Leader Harry Reid can’t muster the 60 votes he needs to pass a Senate version of the monstrosity that would be government-run health care.

When the vast majority of Americans find out what’s in store for them, the politicians who support this madness will find themselves looking for employment elsewhere.