All Entries Tagged With: "health care"

Olympia Snowe confirms she’ll filibuster health reform

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) said on Sunday she will join Republicans in filibustering the Senate health care bill, claiming the process has been moving too fast.

“I deeply regret that I cannot support the pending Senate legislation as it currently stands,” Snowe said in a statement, announcing that she won't allow it to proceed to a final vote.

She cited “continued concerns with the measure and an artificial and arbitrary deadline of completing the bill before Christmas that is shortchanging the process on this monumental and trans-generational effort.”

Snowe’s affirmation comes one day after Senate Democrats announced their unified support, along with the two independent senators, for the bill. As things stand, every Republican is projected to filibuster it.

Full Story Olympia Snowe confirms she’ll filibuster health reform | Raw Story.

Dean No Longer Urging Dems To ‘Kill’ The Bill: ‘Let’s See What They Add To This Bill And Make It Work’

Dean No Longer Urging Dems To ‘Kill’ The Bill: ‘Let’s See What They Add To This Bill And Make It Work’

This morning, Howard Dean walked back from earlier statements encouraging Democrats to “kill” the Senate health care bill. On Thursday, Dean wrote that “this bill would do more harm than good to the future of America,” but during his appearance on Meet The Press, Dean argued that yesterday’s manager’s amendment significantly improved the legislation. “I would let this thing go to conference committee and let’s see if we can fix it some more,” Dean said:

Well, let’s start with the positive things. Over the last week, there were things that were improved. There were some cost containment mechanisms that were gutted. They got restored. I would certainly not vote for this bill if this were the final product, but there are, the House bill is quite a good bill. This bill has improved over the last couple of weeks, I would let this thing go to conference committee and let’s see if we can fix it some more…so there are a lot of things that need to be fixed, but if they are fixed you may actually get the foundation of a bill, coming out of the House. If most of the House provisions survive, then we can have a bill that we could work with….I hope this isn’t the compromise that’s been achieved. I think we have yet to see the compromise that we could achieve.

Watch a compilation:

Full Story Think Progress » Dean No Longer Urging Dems To ‘Kill’ The Bill: ‘Let’s See What They Add To This Bill And Make It Work’.

Dean hopes health bill can be fixed after Senate vote

Dr. Howard Dean did not allow NBC’s David Gregory to corner him into advising other Democrats to vote no.

He wouldn’t vote for the Senate’s current health insurance reform bill, but he isn’t giving up on the process. After the Senate passes their bill, Dean hopes that provisions in the House’s version of the bill can be combined with the Senate bill to create major health care reform.

“I would certainly not vote for this bill if this were the final product, but the House bill is quite a good bill. This bill has improved over the last couple of weeks. I would let this thing go to conference committee and let’s see if we can fix it some more,” Dean told Gregory Sunday.

Full Story Dean hopes health bill can be fixed after Senate vote | Raw Story.

National Organization for Women opposes Senate health bill

A leading women’s group called on senators on Saturday to defeat its healthcare reform bill.

The leader of the National Organization for Women (NOW) excoriated the language in the health bill curtailing federal support for insurance plan covering abortions, which was inserted to win the 60th vote of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).

“The so-called health care reform bill now before the Senate, with the addition of Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Manager’s Amendment, amounts to a health insurance bill for half the population and a sweeping anti-abortion law for the rest of us,” NOW President Terry O’Neill said in a statement.

Full Story National Organization for Women opposes Senate health bill – The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room.

Senate healthcare bill now relies on regulation

Without a ‘public option’ to compete with private insurers, the government would instead police the industry. But do regulators have enough authority to make a difference?

Reporting from Washington – When Senate Democratic leaders agreed this week to remove a public insurance plan from their massive healthcare bill, they did more than quash a liberal dream of expanding the government safety net. They effectively pinned their hopes of guaranteeing coverage to all Americans on a far more conventional prescription: government regulation.

The change sprang from a compromise made to placate conservative Democrats wary of a new government program. But shorn of a “public option,” the Senate healthcare bill has reverted to a long-established practice of leveraging government power to police the private sector, rather than compete with it.

Despite the resistance among Republicans and conservatives to more government regulation, even the insurance industry has agreed to broad new oversight of their business in exchange for the prospect of gaining millions of new customers.

Full Story Senate healthcare bill now relies on regulation — latimes.com.

OPS: Sounds more like a way for congressional extortion of the corporations

Her Brother Dead For Lack Of A Battery, Pittsburgh Woman Returns To Washington

Since she lost her brother in March, Georgeanne Koehler’s vocation has been to tell people how he died: slumped over his steering wheel because his defibrillator battery ran out.

William Koehler, who worked as a pizza deliveryman and would have turned 58 in the spring, couldn’t afford to replace the battery because he lost his insurance when he lost his job as an electronics technician in 2003. No insurer wanted anything to do with his arrhythmia. That’s why Georgeanne Koehler, a 63-year-old hospital worker in Pittsburgh, found herself standing in front of the Capitol steps on a frigid Thursday in Washington, D.C. — her third visit in three months.

“I’m here to talk about my brother,” she said, holding a small piece of poster board with his photo. “Without health insurance, he couldn’t get necessary cardiac care to keep him alive. This is the face of uninsured Americans whom we loved most dearly. Without meaningful reform, there will be many more. We just don’t know their names yet.”

Full Story Her Brother Dead For Lack Of A Battery, Pittsburgh Woman Returns To Washington.

AFL-CIO President: Senate Bill As Is Will Die In The House

The head of the most powerful union group in the country said on Thursday that the Senate version of the health care bill will not survive a vote in the House without substantial changes.

Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, told the Huffington Post that both he and his members are “extremely disappointed” with the compromises conservative Democrats extracted from Senate leaders. Rather than formally opposing the bill, he expressed confidence that it will change before passage

“If the Senate bill in its current form went to the House it would go down,” he declared.

“I can tell you this,” he added. “The plan as it currently is would not get much support from the American worker unless it is improved.

“So that is another line they are going to have to deal with. Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi I think will adequately represent everybody involved. And I think that is a better model for a bill.”

Full Story Trumka: Senate Bill As Is Will Die In The House.

Poll: Voters Reject Health Care Mandate Without Public Option, Medicare Buy-In

“This poll shows voters in full-blown revolt against the Senate bill”

A new poll suggests that voters are not pleased by the idea of health insurance mandates without a public option or a Medicare expansion.

Conducted by Research 2000 for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), the survey finds only 33 percent of likely voters favor a health care bill that does not include a public health insurance option and does not expand Medicare, but does require all Americans to get health insurance. Slightly more Democrats — 37 percent — favor the idea, while only 30 percent of Republicans and 31 percent of independents do.

Meanwhile, if the public option and Medicare buy-in are added, 58 percent of people support the idea. The number of Republican supporters drops to 22 percent, but independent support rises to 57 percent and Democratic support to a whopping 88 percent.

“This poll shows voters in full-blown revolt against the Senate bill,” said PCCC co-founder Stephanie Taylor. “Only one-third of voters support mandates without a public option, while nearly two-thirds want the public option and Medicare expansion. This will be a disaster of epic proportions for Democrats in 2010 if it's not fixed — fast.”

Full Story Poll: Voters Reject Health Care Mandate Without Public Option, Medicare Buy-In.

Slouching Toward Health Care Reform

Robert Reich –

“Don’t make the perfect the enemy of the better,” says the President and congressional insiders when confronted with the sorry spectacle of a health-care bill whose scope and ambition continue to shrink, and whose long-term costs to typical Americans continue to grow. They’re right, of course. But by the same logic, neither the White House nor congressional Democrats will be able to celebrate the emerging legislation as a “major overhaul” or “fundamental reform.” At best, it’s likely to be a small overhaul containing incremental reforms.

Real reform has moved from a Medicare-like public option open to all, to a public option open to 6 million without employer coverage (still in the House bill), to a public option open only to those same people in states that opt for it, or about 4 million (the original Harry Reid version of the Senate bill), to no public option but expanded Medicare (the Senate compromise) to no expanded Medicare at all (the deal with Joe “I love all the attention” Lieberman).

In other words, the private insurers are winning and the public is losing.

Full Story Robert Reich’s Blog: Slouching Toward Health Care Reform.

Dorgan Exploring Mystery Of Who Killed His Reimportation Legislation

Sen. Byron Dorgan is unhappy that his amendment to the Senate health care bill on reimportation, which at one point appeared to have the votes for passage, failed after a late intervention from the Democratic leadership to preserve a deal with the drug industry. But Dorgan goes much further in pointing fingers specifically at the Obama Administration for the defeat, even intimating that the White House wrote a letter from the FDA about safety without the Commissioner’s knowledge.

Last week, he said he heard rumors that the FDA was going to send a letter objecting to drug importation on safety grounds, which he has said is a bogus reason. He said he called FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, who said she knew nothing about such a letter.

He said his timeline shows that a letter, signed by Hamburg questioning the safety of drug imports, was sent 24 hours later to a few senators who opposed importation. That piece of paper became a rallying cry for other senators who voted down Dorgan’s amendment.

“I think the letter was prompted, probably drafted somewhere else,” like “the White House” Dorgan said.

That’s a pretty inflammatory charge. According to the story, the White House has not responded to it. They haven’t yet responded to my query, either.

As David Sirota notes, the FDA is an agency that’s supposed to be insulated from politics, and yet this looks extremely political, if Dorgan’s charge is accurate. Either Hamburg was lying when she said she didn’t know what Dorgan was talking about, or she was cut out of the drafting of the letter entirely. If there’s a better explanation, I’d like to hear it.

Full Story FDL News Desk » Dorgan Exploring Mystery Of Who Killed His Reimportation Legislation.

Nation’s Largest Union: Change Health Care Bill Or Else

The nation’s largest union group said Thursday that it will not support the Democratic health-care bill unless “substantial changes” are made to the current Senate version.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement to reporters that without a public option for insurance coverage or an employer mandate – and with a tax on high-end insurance plans that some union members get – the health care legislation supported by Senate Democrats falls far short of meeting his group’s standards.

“[For] this health care bill to be worthy of the support of working men and women, substantial changes must be made,” said Trumka. “The AFL-CIO intends to fight on behalf of all working families to make those changes and win health care reform that is deserving of the name.”

The remarks are a strong indication that the coalition of pro-health-care-reform groups has begun to fray. Earlier in the day, Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern penned a letter to his fellow union members in which he called out President Barack Obama for abandoning his own principles of reform.

Full Story Nation’s Largest Union: Change Health Care Bill Or Else.

Sanders: ‘As of this point’ I’m not voting for the bill

In what may be a huge setback for the Democratic leadership, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Wednesday on the Fox Business Network that “as of this point” he cannot vote for the Senate health care bill after the concessions recently made to Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT).

“He wants to strengthen the bill,” Michael Briggs, Sanders' Communications Director, wrote in an e-mail to Raw Story. “With the public option and Medicare buy-in off the table, he is focused on strengthening provisions on community health centers.”

“He wants to dramatically increase support,” Briggs added, “for the primary care facilities that provide doctors, dentists, mental health counseling and low-cost prescription drugs on a sliding-scale basis — and he is working to improve a provision that would let states experiment with single payer or other innovative programs to deliver comprehensive, affordable health care more efficiently and economically.”

But the Senator made no promises about how he'll ultimately vote, saying “we'll see” what happens.

Full Story Sanders: ‘As of this point’ I’m not voting for bill | Raw Story.

Ben Nelson follows Lieberman in opposing health compromise

Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) has followed the fastidious Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) in withdrawing his support from the Senate health care compromise, which jettisoned the public insurance option in favor of a Medicare buy-in program for people 55 years and up.

“I am concerned that it’s the forerunner of single payer, the ultimate single-payer plan, maybe even more directly than the public option,” Nelson said on Sunday in an appearance on CBS’ “Face The Nation.”

The Nebraskan also declared he’s concerned about the potential costs of the provision.

Nelson and Lieberman both appeared on the program, and said that the Medicare expansion provision doesn’t have 60 votes in the Senate.

It bears pointing out that they are the only two non-Republican members of the upper chamber that have thus far opposed it — with their support, there would be 60.

Full Story Ben Nelson follows Lieberman in opposing health compromise | Raw Story.

OPS:  It’s time to throw Nelson and Lieberman out of the Democratic Party.  They are not Democrats – they are Judas Goats

Outline Of Senate Health Bill Agreement Emerging

Senate Democrats emerged from a caucus-wide meeting Wednesday evening tight-lipped about the elements of the “broad agreement” that has been reached on health care reform – in some cases literally so: Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) declined to answer questions by pointing at his sealed lips.

There's a reason for the opacity. If details of the policy proposals sent to the Congressional Budget Office are leaked, the CBO no longer feels as if it needs to keep the analysis confidential. Keeping the many pieces secret for a few more days gives Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) the opportunity to share them first with colleagues and combine them in a way that gets all 60 members of the caucus on board.

Reid reiterated the importance of confidentiality during the meeting. Fortunately, HuffPost spoke to Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) before the gathering began.

Full Story Outline Of Senate Health Bill Agreement Emerging.

It’s official: Democrats drop opt-out public option

After days of secret talks, Senate Democrats tentatively agreed Tuesday night to drop a government-run insurance option from sweeping health care legislation, several officials said, a concession to party moderates whose votes are critical to passage of President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

In its place, officials said Democrats had tentatively settled on a private insurance arrangement to be supervised by the federal agency that oversees the system through which lawmakers purchase coverage. Additionally, the emerging agreement calls for Medicare to be opened to uninsured Americans beginning at age 55, a significant expansion of the large government health care program that currently serves the 65-and-over population.

At a hastily called evening news conference in the Capitol, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., declined to provide details of what he described as a “broad agreement” between liberals and moderates on an issue that has plagued Democrats’ efforts to pass health care legislation from the outset.

With it, he added, the end is in sight for passage of the legislation that Congress has labored over for months.

The officials who described the details of the closed-door negotiations did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss them publicly.

Full Story It’s official: Democrats drop opt-out public option | Raw Story.

Watered-down ‘public plan’ emerges in Senate

“It’s one of those kind of things in the middle that doesn’t make everybody very happy but that’s our compromise,” said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, a participant in the compromise talks. “It’s something I’m going to probably have to live with.”

Latest compromise bears little resemblance to liberals' original vision

They may still call it a “public plan,” but private insurers — not the government — would offer coverage under a compromise Democrats are considering to win Senate passage of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

The latest idea bears little resemblance to the original vision outlined by liberals, and embraced by Obama, during the 2008 presidential campaign. That called for the government to sell insurance to workers and their families in competition with industry giants like UnitedHealthcare.

But instead of Medicare-for-the-masses, it would be Blue Cross Blue Shield or Kaiser Permanente, albeit with a government seal of approval from the department that handles the health plan for federal employees, including members of Congress. The Office of Personnel Management — OPM — would become an instantly recognizable federal acronym, like FDA and CDC.

Full Story Watered-down ‘public plan’ emerges in Senate – Capitol Hill- msnbc.com.

CBO report estimates premiums for group insured will stay flat or drop 3% if Senate HCR bill passes.

Honorable Evan Bayh
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator:

The attachment to this letter responds to your request—and the interest expressed by many other Members—for an analysis of how proposals being considered by the Congress to change the health care and health insurance systems would affect premiums paid for health insurance in various markets. Specifically, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation have analyzed how health insurance premiums might be affected by enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as proposed by Senator Reid on November 18, 2009. I hope this information is helpful to you. If you have any further questions, please contact me or the CBO staff. The primary staff contact for this analysis is Philip Ellis.

Sincerely,

Douglas W. Elmendorf

———————————————-

Employment-Based Coverage

The legislation would have much smaller effects on premiums for employment-based coverage, which would account for about five-sixths of the total health insurance market. In the small group market, which is defined in this analysis as consisting of employers with 50 or fewer workers, CBO and JCT estimate that the change in the average premium per person resulting from the legislation could range from an increase of 1 percent to a reduction of 2 percent in 2016 (relative to current law).6 In the large group market, which is defined here as consisting of employers with more than 50 workers,the legislation would yield an average premium per person that is zero to 3 percent lower in 2016 (relative to current law). Those overall effects reflect the net impact of many relatively small changes, some of which would tend to increase premiums and some of which would tend to reduce them (as shown in Table 1).7

11-30-Premiums.pdf (application/pdf Object).

Health Care Reform Could Skip Final Step, Roll Right Through House

The health care reform bill that passes the Senate might be the one that ends up on President Obama’s desk, bypassing the usual House-Senate conference committee and avoiding another 60-vote threshold to end a filibuster.

There is increased chatter on Capitol Hill about a possible “ping-ponging” of the Senate health care bill: that chamber would pass its health care bill, send it to the House and the House would be asked to pass it with no changes and send it directly to the president.

That limits the options of congressional critics — under the usual procedure, lawmakers dissatisfied with the bill pushed through their chamber can win changes through adroit political maneuvering in conference committee negotiations.

Full Story Health Care Reform Could Skip Final Step, Roll Right Through House.

Public option likely to be removed from healthcare overhaul

Chances for a so-called “public option” — under which the government would set up competitors to private health insurers — appear to be dimming.

With recent hard-edged comments by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who avers that he will vote to filibuster any bill that contains a public-run health insurer, moderates have been meeting to hammer out a deal. And a new alternative, according to Politico, has emerged.

Under the Democrat’s new plan, the government would create a national health insurance plan similar to those offered federal employees. It would replace the so-called “opt-out” version of the public option advocated by Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

Full Story Public option likely to be removed from healthcare overhaul | Raw Story.

Senate Dems May Open Up Medicare To Pacify Progressives

Senate Democrats are discussing the idea of expanding Medicare by lowering the age limit for the government-run insurance program, Democratic sources on the Hill tell the Huffington Post.

The proposal would lower the age of eligibility for Medicare by ten years. Those over 55 and under 65 (the current eligibility age) would be allowed to “buy-in” to the system. They would have to pay a premium for the coverage, which would alleviate the cost burden on the federal government, but would then receive the same benefits as other Medicare patients.

Crucial details — such as what that premium would be and the timing of the implementation — were not provided due to the sensitivity and ongoing nature of the deliberations. A high-ranking Democratic source off the Hill confirmed that such discussions are taking place.

“On its own, it's a good idea,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Monday afternoon. He added that Democrats are also looking at expanding Medicaid. “We're looking at both ends,” he said.

Full Story Senate Dems May Open Up Medicare To Pacify Progressives.

OPS: Medicare for ALL?  Now THAT is change we can believe in – and fight for – and support!  It’s about time they woke up

Obama Silent On Public Option In Speech To Senators

As President Obama finished his speech to the Democratic caucus in the Capitol’s Mansfield Room on Sunday afternoon, Joe Lieberman made his way over to Harry Reid.

The independent who still caucuses with Democrats wanted to point something out to the Majority Leader: Obama didn’t mention the public option.

Lieberman was beaming as he left the room and happy to re-point it out when HuffPost asked him what Obama had said about the public health insurance option, perhaps the most contentious issue still facing Democrats as they negotiate their way toward a final health care reform bill.

“Well, it was interesting to me — of course everybody hears with their own ears — that he didn’t say anything about the public option,” said Lieberman. “In other words, when he outlined how far we’ve come on the bill, he talked about the cost-containment provisions; he talked about the insurance market reforms; and he talked about enabling 30 million more people to get insurance. He said these are historic accomplishments, the most significant social legislation, or whatever you call it, in decades, so don’t lose it.”

Obama spoke for roughly 30 minutes and did not take questions, senators said afterward.

Full Story Obama Silent On Public Option In Speech To Senators.

To a Divisive Health Care Debate, Now Add Religion

Should health insurance companies cover prayer as a legitimate medical expense?

The Christian Science church is seeking to insert a measure in the Senate’s health care legislation that would encourage private insurance companies to cover prayer and spiritual treatment of the sick, even though both the House and Senate turned down earlier versions.

A provision proposed by the Christian Science church was backed by Senators Edward M. Kennedy, top, and Orrin G. Hatch.

The push is just one facet of a broader health care debate over whether the government should encourage — or use taxpayer money to support — alternative therapies and treatments that are not considered “evidence based.”

Such treatments are no longer on the sidelines. In 2007, more than one in three adults used some form of so-called complementary and alternative medicine, according to a federal study, spending $34 billion in out-of-pocket expenses on techniques like yoga and meditation and on the purchase of herbs, vitamins and supplements. Some of those treatments and supplies are now covered by some insurance policies.

Full Story To a Divisive Debate, Now Add Religion – Prescriptions Blog – NYTimes.com.

OPS:

1. So, how much does a prayer cost?
   
2. If you pay more for your prayer does god listen better?
   
3. Can we see the chart on that? 
   
4. If the prayer dosen’t work, can I sue god (and his retail outlet the church) for malpractice?

Organized religion will destroy humankind

Senate Will Vote On Plan To Re-Import Drugs From Canada

Pharma Deal To Be Tested On Senate Floor

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has promised to allow a vote on re-importing prescription drugs from Canada as an amendment to the health care reform bill, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) told reporters on Saturday.

Dorgan, one of two lead sponsors on the measure, said that he was pushing for a vote on the amendment over the weekend but expects it to come up on the floor on Monday following debate on an abortion amendment backed by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), which mirrors extremely restrictive language pushed by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) in the House.

The measure is also being championed by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine); both she and Dorgan noted that Republican Sens. David Vitter (La.), Charles Grassley (Iowa) and John McCain (Ariz.) are cosponsors of a bill doing the same thing.

Snowe pledged to back it on the floor and do what she could to bring other Republicans along, she told reporters Saturday.

Full Story Pharma Deal To Be Tested On Senate Floor.

Obama calls ineptitude on healthcare a “strategy”

Obama’s handling of health care so far has been a lot more dope than rope -a-dope.

For much of the healthcare debate as the town hall meetings got contentious and Republicans attacked, Obama laid on the ropes and covered up as he absorbed blows from Republicans, conservatives, and even Democrats unhappy with his lack of leadership and salesmanship in trying to get a health care reform bill done.

Obama sold out the public option every other day when the going got tough and the news media proclaimed it dead. It took the congress wresting control from Obama to save the public option and take control of the debate where Obama is now little more than a spectator.

Obama is now trying to claim this was all part of a grand “hands off” strategy that is now paying off, and theNew York Times, showing a gullibility that could make it a laughing stock, seems to have swallowed it whole.

Full Story Obama calls ineptitude on healthcare a “strategy”.

Durbin: The Trigger Proposal Has Not Been Abandoned

The man tasked with counting the votes for Democrats in the Senate told reporters on Friday that the caucus was still considering health care reform that included a public option “triggered” by economic conditions.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), in a conference call organized by Families USA, made no commitments regarding what proposal the party would ultimately settle upon. But he stressed that his preference remains a public plan.

But, in an admission that will be disheartening to his fellow progressives, the Illinois Democrat did note that leadership was engaged in “serious negotiations” on “a variety of different ideas.” And with the goal of getting 60 votes to fend off a Republican filibuster, the senator said that the party was still looking at Senator Olympia Snowe's (R-ME) favorite proposal as a means of passing legislation.

Full Story Durbin: The Trigger Proposal Has Not Been Abandoned.

MIT analysis of Senate Health Care BIll backs Obama

A new analysis by a leading MIT economist provides new ammunition for Democrats as the Senate begins formally debating the historic health-reform bill being pushed by President Barack Obama.

The report concludes that under the Senate’s health-reform bill, Americans buying individual coverage will pay less than they do for today's typical individual market coverage, and would be protected from high out-of-pocket costs.

So Democrats will argue that under the Senate bill, Americans would pay less for more.

The new document arms Democrats with a response to the contention of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that the bill would mean “higher premiums, higher taxes, and massive cuts to Medicare.”

Full Story MIT analysis backs Obama – Mike Allen – POLITICO.com.

Senate Opens Health Care Debate: Dem Coalition Fracturing Already

The 60 votes aren’t there any more. -

With the Senate set to begin debate Monday on health care overhaul, the all-hands-on-deck Democratic coalition that allowed the bill to advance is fracturing already. Yet majority Democrats will need 60 votes again to finish.

Some Democratic senators say they’ll jump ship from the bill without tighter restrictions on abortion coverage. Others say they’ll go unless a government plan to compete with private insurance companies gets tossed overboard. Such concessions would enrage liberals, the heart and soul of the party.

There’s no clear course for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to steer legislation through Congress to President Barack Obama. You can’t make history unless you reach 60 votes, and don’t count on Republicans helping him.

But Reid is determined to avoid being remembered as another Democrat who tried and failed to make health care access for the middle class a part of America’s social safety net.

Full Story Senate Opens Health Care Debate: Dem Coalition Fracturing Already.

Single Payer Advocates To Help With Sanders’ S703 Amendment and HCR Updates!

Dr. Margaret Flowers of PNHP:

“As a movement, it’s important for us to continue to educate people that this is not enough, it’s not sufficient, it’s not addressing the problem that we have, it’s not going to be universal or financially sustainable,” said Dr. Margaret Flowers, who is with Physicians for a National Health Program. “And, at this point, it’s important to turn our attention to the Senate. We still have an opportunity at the very least to try and get the Sanders single-payer amendment that would allow states to pass single-payer legislation.”

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/11/23-5

Donna Smith of California Nurses Association:

Time is drawing short for our Senators to hear from us. Debate will begin on November 30 on the current Senate bill. Senator Sanders needs support. He has already told us that he does not expect a win on his amendment. But we are all laying groundwork for this nation to move in the right direction before long – we know that the current bills do not “bend the cost curve” enough and we know they certainly do not bend the death or bankruptcy curve nearly enough to make the bills what this nation needs. Additionally, we want the legislation to contain language that will allow states that opt in to a single-payer system to be able to do so with the appropriate waivers from federal legal provisions which might otherwise present obstacles to doing so.

So, the ask of our Senators – each and every one, liberal, centrist or conservative – is two-fold and urgent:

1. Vote with and for Sanders’ S. 703 substitute amendment; and
2. Support state single-payer enabling language in the final bill.

Support Bernie Sanders’ S 703 amendment. Give the president a call at 1-800-578-4171, and/or call a Senator or more. Four toll-free switchboard numbers for the Senate and House: 1-800-828-0498, 1-866-338-1015, 1-866-220-0044, and 1-800-473-67

Full Story The Seminal » Single Payer Advocates To Help With Sanders’ S703 Amendment and HCR Updates!.

Sen. Wyden wins big healthcare concession

Victory For Health Care Choice: Senate Bill Will Let People Leave Their Employers’ Plan For Better Option

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) have taken a long stride toward locking down the support of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

The three senators announced an agreement Friday on an amendment that would allow many more people who get health insurance at work to opt out and instead purchase coverage on the new health insurance exchanges the bill would create.

More important to the debate on the healthcare reform bill that would kick after Thanksgiving — presuming Senate Democrats unite to clear a procedural vote Saturday evening — is that the deal could quiet Wyden’s frequent complaints that the bill as introduced would do too little to offer consumers more health insurance plans from which to choose or to create a more competitive insurance marketplace that would drive down healthcare costs.

Full Story Sen. Wyden wins big healthcare concession – The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room.

Senate Dems Close In On Reform: Details Of Health Care Bill Revealed

Senate Democrats made a big step toward comprehensive health care reform Wednesday night as Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) unveiled a bill that merges the two plans that passed the health and finance committees.

With the House having already passed its own bill, Congress is now closer to achieving health care reform than it has ever been in the six decades that Democrats have pursued it.

“We're now down to the week we've been waiting for for a long time,” said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) after emerging from a meeting of Senate Democrats.

Democratic leadership expressed confidence that the votes would be there by Saturday for a motion to proceed to a floor debate on the bill. Three Democratic senators — Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas — have yet to commit to vote for the motion to proceed.

During the meeting, the fence-sitting members spoke to the caucus, but didn't commit one way or another on the motion to proceed, said one Democratic senator who spoke not for attribution.

Full Story Senate Dems Close In On Reform: Details Of Health Care Bill Revealed.

President Obama discouraging public opt-out option, reports say

The wheels may be coming off the cart of the Democrats’ all-in-this together strategy for overhauling healthcare.

And according to two reports, the people doing the wheel removing work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Last week, conservative Democratic senators broke the news that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was considering including a provision in the Senate healthcare bill which would create a government-run healthcare option but allow states to opt out.

On Friday, Politico claimed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was coming up short when corralling votes for the “robust” public option she’d promised. Critics dismissed the report, but the New York Times subsequently reported that there were indications Pelosi was short of the needed votes to pass a more aggressive public plan.

Full Story: President Obama discouraging public opt-out option, reports say | Raw Story.

Liberal group attacks Harry Reid on public insurance option

An alliance of MoveOn staffers and labor organizers will launch an advertising spot targeting Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in an effort to push the senator to embrace a public healthcare option to compete with private insurance companies.

The ad, drawn up by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, features a Nevada health care employee speaking poorly of health insurance companies and say she was to see if Reid is “strong and effective enough as a leader” to pass the public health option, a measure strongly backed by House liberals and labor groups.

“I’m your typical swing voter,” Lee Slaughter, a Las Vegas health care professional who says her insurer denied her care to cover a broken hip

Full Story: Liberal group attacks Harry Reid on public insurance option | Raw Story.

The Politics of the Public Option

Robert Parry – >

From the start, the health-reform debate has been about money – who will get the best break and who may have to pay more. That is why the issue of the public option, a less expensive government-run insurance plan, has been so central to both the policy and political debates.

Indeed, if the Democrats abandon the public option for the sake of passing a bill like the one that came out of the Senate Finance Committee, they may be courting electoral disaster once voters grasp that they will have to wait years for the law to be implemented and then that it could lead to higher costs for much the same unpopular private insurance plans.

The public option offers the only means for a reform to be quickly implemented and to demonstrate a beneficial effect for the people by 2010 and 2012. It has the potential for reducing costs, especially for small businesses and individuals who are now being soaked by private insurers or denied coverage.

Full Story: Consortiumnews.com.

Rockefeller Says Democrats Can’t Tailor Health Care to Snowe

Senator Jay Rockefeller said Democrats shouldn’t tailor a health-care overhaul to the wishes of Republican Senator Olympia Snowe and need to push for legislation that includes a government-run insurance program.

“We can’t sort of hedge and say ‘what’s Olympia going to do,’” Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing this weekend. “We’ve got to decide what we want.”

Snowe, who this week voted for an $829 billion finance committee bill, is the only Republican to back an overhaul plan. Keeping the Maine lawmaker on board as the legislation moves through the Senate may help attract Democrats facing re- election battles and possibly other Republicans.

Full Story: Rockefeller Says Democrats Can’t Tailor Health Care to Snowe – Bloomberg.com.

For Democrats, the Cracks in a United Front on Health Care

- NYTimes.com – Over four days and three late nights of meetings, Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee have largely stood up to Republicans’ attacks on a proposal to overhaul the health care system.

But behind the scenes and away from the C-Span cameras, their united front has given way to intraparty tensions, not just in the committee but in Congress generally.

Those cracks will become more evident next week when the Finance Committee tries to finish its work and liberals press to change a bill that is too conservative for their liking. In the main event, they will propose a public option to compete against private insurers in new exchanges where uninsured individuals and small businesses would be able to shop for coverage.

The liberals do not expect to win in the moderate-to-conservative-leaning committee. But Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said, “That’s just the first battle of a war, and the least friendly battlefield.”

Full Story: Congressional Memo – For Democrats, the Cracks in a United Front on Health Care – NYTimes.com.

White House: Obama May Detail Health Care Goals In Speech, Shift Strategy

White House: Obama May Detail Health Care Goals In Speech, Shift Strategy

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, faced with falling approval ratings and increasingly impatient with Senate negotiations over health care, is weighing a shift in strategy that would offer more details of his goals for overhauling the nation’s health care system.

The president is considering a speech in the next week or so in which he would be “more prescriptive” about what he feels Congress must include in a bill, top adviser David Axelrod said Tuesday in an interview. The speech might occur before the Sept. 15 deadline the White House gave to Senate negotiators to seek a bipartisan bill, Axelrod said. He suggested that two key Republicans have not bargained in good faith.

Congress reconvenes next Tuesday after an August recess in which critics of Obama’s health proposals dominated many public forums.

via White House: Obama May Detail Health Care Goals In Speech, Shift Strategy.

Chances of health compromise take another blow

Obama Needs to Cut Bait and Stop Playing Footsy with the People Who Lost the Election by a Landslide. Why do the Republicans Obstruct Legislation When They are in the Majority and in the Minority? It’s Time to Start Acting Like You Won the Election, President Obama, and Kick Some Butt for the Good of the American People. – BF

Chances of health compromise take another blow

A leading GOP negotiator on health care struck a further blow to fading chances of a bipartisan compromise by saying Democratic proposals would restrict medical choices and make the country’s “finances sicker without saving you money.”

The criticism from Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., echoed that of many opponents of the Democratic plans under consideration in Congress. But Enzi’s judgment was especially noteworthy because he is one of only three Republicans who have been willing to consider a bipartisan bill in the Senate.

In the Republicans’ weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday, Enzi said any health care legislation must lower medical costs for Americans without increasing deficits and the national debt.

“The bills introduced by congressional Democrats fail to meet these standards,” he said.

via Chances of health compromise take another blow – Yahoo! News.

Hey Joe! The REAL Reason?

Lieberman

Hey Joe, why do you really oppose the public option for health care?

You SAID it’s because ‘there’s plenty of competition in the private insurance market.”

But that’s not true at all

YouTube – Hey Joe! The REAL Reason?.

Policing the Debate on Health Reform

OPS:  We cannot trust the Corporate Media to do it. They support status quo

Policing the Debate on Health Reform   | CommonDreams.org

ABC’s Diane Sawyer claimed (CNN, 6/22/09) the network’s June 24 forum on President Barack Obama’s healthcare plan would feature “questions from every single vantage point.”

Yet, ignoring calls from FAIR (Action Alert, 6/22/09) and advocacy groups such as Health Care Now!, the special did not include a single question from an advocate of single-payer national health insurance—despite the fact that the single-payer option polls well with the public (New York Times/CBS, 1/11-15/09) and is seen by many experts as the best way of expanding coverage to the uninsured while also controlling costs.

In the wake of well-publicized flak ABC received from the Republican Party over the special, the Republicans’ position that Obama’s plan amounted to a “government takeover of healthcare” was reflected in the questions selected by ABC.

ABC’s Charles Gibson asked Obama directly to respond to Republican criticism. Meanwhile, one of ABC’s hand-selected questioners said he was concerned with “the big brother fear,” asking, “How far is government going to go in reference to my personal life and healthcare treatments?” Another questioner, identified as an M.D., said he was “concerned” with “the government taking over healthcare.”

via Policing the Debate on Health Reform | CommonDreams.org.

The Health Insurance Industry Doesn’t Deserve Our Trust

The Health Insurance Industry Doesn’t Deserve Our Trust    | CommonDreams.org

Farmers often depend on off farm jobs to provide health insurance, if that wasn’t an option they could generally afford an individual plan. Farming is one of the most dangerous occupations in America, heavy machinery, large animals, long hours in the sun, chemicals and that always present independent streak that keeps us from seeing the doctor when we should. Still, we need insurance.

Most jobs are cutting insurance benefits, if the jobs are still there. Individual plans for farmers are expensive with high deductibles since our work is dangerous, we probably have pre-existing conditions and we are nearing an average age of 58 years.

The Center for Rural Affairs in Nebraska notes that rural residents are twice as likely to be uninsured as urban Americans while farmers and ranchers are four times as likely to be “underinsured”, covered by insurance with reduced benefits and a high deductibles.

Montana Senator Max Baucus says single payer health care “ is off the table”. Who made him king? What are we, chopped liver, doesn’t our opinion count? A January CBS/New York Times poll showed 59% of respondents favored a national health care plan. A February CNN poll showed 72% favored a government controlled plan. Any issue with that much across the board support should be “on the table”.

via The Health Insurance Industry Doesn’t Deserve Our Trust | CommonDreams.org.

Former Bush And McCain Mouthpiece Nicolle Wallace Claims To Speak For All Doctors

Former Bush And McCain Mouthpiece Nicolle Wallace Claims To Speak For All Doctors

Appearing on CNN yesterday afternoon, Nicolle Wallace, former spokeswoman to the presidential campaigns of George Bush and John McCain, claimed all doctors oppose the creation of a public plan, an integral component of reform. Indeed, the AMA, where President Obama spoke yesterday, has indicated that it will lobby against an effective public plan. But even though the AMA represents only 29% of American doctors (or much less than that, depending on if you subtract the dues payers who don’t currently practice), Wallace incredulously cited the AMA’s position as she boldly claimed to speak on behalf of the “docs”:

WALLACE: I think the biggest problem that Obama faces is not Republicans, it’s the doctors. [...] I think that most normal people look to their doctors for advice and for their reaction to the big health care debates that take place in Washington. And doctors are opposed, very strongly opposed to one of the central tenets of Obama’s plan.

BLITZER: Which tenet is that?

WALLACE: It is the public option. [...]

WALLACE: But there’s plenty of competition. The docs argue that you would crowd out private insurers.

Watch it:

via Think Progress » Former Bush And McCain Mouthpiece Nicolle Wallace Claims To Speak For All Doctors.

The Truth About Health Care Reform

The Truth About Health Care Reform

via The Truth About Health Care Reform (Everyday Citizen).

Dr. Chris McCoy: Dear AMA: I Quit!

Dear AMA: I Quit!

By Dr. Chris McCoy
Policy Chair for the National Physicians Alliance

Dear American Medical Association,

I recently had the opportunity to read your response to the Senate Finance Committee proposal [pdf] for health care reform, and it is clear to me that I cannot remain a member in your organization. Please remove my name from your membership rolls, effective immediately.

In reading the response, I was frustrated and disheartened by the fact that you couldn’t get through the second paragraph before bringing up the issue of physician reimbursement. This merely highlights how the AMA represents a physician-centered and self-interested perspective rather than honoring the altruistic nature of my profession. As a physician, I advocate first for what is best for my patients and believe that as a physician, as long as I continue to maintain the trust and integrity of the profession, I will earn the respect of my community. The appropriate financial compensation for my endeavors will follow in kind.

via Dr. Chris McCoy: Dear AMA: I Quit!.

Conrad: Just Like Specter, I’m Still Opposed To Using Budget Reconciliation To Pass Health Care

Conrad: Just Like Specter, I’m Still Opposed To Using Budget Reconciliation To Pass Health Care

Yesterday on MSNBC’s Ed Show, host Ed Schultz noted that despite his new role as a member of the Democratic caucus, Sen. Arlen Specter (PA) still opposed using the budget reconciliation process to get around a likely Republican filibuster of health care reform. In response, Shultz’s guest, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND), acknowledged that he also opposed the use of the budget reconciliation process to pass health care reform — even as an “insurance policy”:

SCHULTZ: I know that you too [are opposed to] reconciliation. Is this at odds with most democrats? Break that down for us.

CONRAD: I can say this. In the conference committee, I was clearly outvoted. You had the Speaker of the House, the Majority Leader of the Senate, the President of the United States all believing that it should at least be an insurance policy.

Conrad said further that he doesn’t believe that the process “works very well” and that he expected to try to pass health care reform via the “regular Senate process.” Watch it:

via Think Progress » Conrad: Just Like Specter, I’m Still Opposed To Using Budget Reconciliation To Pass Health Care.

Malpractice

Malpractice -  By Dean Baker

When it comes to health care, economists ignore their own rules

Fundamental economic principles tell us that goods should be sold at their marginal cost of production—the cost of producing one more unit of the good. If a company needs to pay twenty dollars for the material and labor used to produce one more shirt, then shirts should sell for twenty dollars plus a small profit-earning markup. The price-equals-marginal-cost principle maximizes economic efficiency and limits opportunities for fraud and corruption. Building on this principle, economists also strongly advocate globalization: the elimination of trade barriers allows consumers to buy goods and services from where they are cheapest, thus maximizing global efficiency and output.

Unfortunately, when it comes to health care, these principles are routinely violated. Prescription drugs that could be manufactured and sold profitably for a few dollars per prescription may instead sell for thousands. Performing one more high-tech scan or other medical test may require just a few cents of electricity and a couple of hundred dollars worth of a technician’s or a doctor’s time. But diagnostic procedures can be billed at several thousand dollars a shot. Prices are often well above marginal costs, yet economists involved in health care reform rarely recognize this as a problem.

Nor do they show their usual zeal for trade. Health care may have features that make it place-specific, but globalization offers clear opportunities for gains. Specifically, the health care system can take greater advantage of foreign doctors and highly skilled medical professionals, who can be trained at far lower cost in the developing world than the United States. And it is simple to design mechanisms that increase the number of trained personnel by an amount sufficient to supply both the United States and developing countries with more doctors and health care professionals. We should also consider that globalization offers people ways to get health care where it is cheaper, which is already happening to some extent with the growth of medical tourism.

via Boston Review — Malpractice.

Fraud infects state in-home care program

Fraud infects state in-home care program

The service, which is growing rapidly, gets little oversight. It is considered a success despite the scams.

Reporting from Sacramento — Loose oversight and bureaucratic inertia have allowed fraud to fester in a rapidly expanding multibillion-dollar state program that provides personal caregivers to the impoverished elderly and disabled. Hundreds of reports of scams and swindles are going without investigation.

Prosecutors and program administrators across the state say they are alarmed by the ease with which people are taking advantage of the program, In Home Supportive Services.

via Fraud infects state in-home care program – Los Angeles Times.

Third White House Regional Forum on Health Reform

White House Forums on Health Reform – Live Video Stream at link

Working with Democratic and Republican Governors across the country, the White House has put together six White House Regional Forums on Health Reform. The forums bring together everyday Americans, key health care stakeholders, and elected officials from both sides of the aisle to discuss what must be done to change our health care system. The first two forums were held in Michigan and Vermont.

* Des Moines, Iowa   March 23rd  1o AM CST  – Live Video Stream

About a dozen leaders from The University of Iowa will be among 500 people participating in the third Regional White House Forum on Health Reform from 10 a.m. to noon today at the Polk County Convention Center in Des Moines. The forum will be moderated by Iowa Governor Chet Culver and South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds. Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office on Health Reform, will represent the Obama administration. Discussion will focus on the need to provide high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans and to curb skyrocketing health care costs.

via Health Reform.