Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Will The Democrats Blow This Opportunity For Genuine Health Care Reform?

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Which clown is most likely to really harm American families?

I'm very worried that the Democrats are going to blow their opportunity to pass real health care reform. Needless to say, derailing reform is the #1 priority for the Insurance companies and their congressional shills. I would be surprised if there's more than three Republicans who haven't been bought off. Worse, though, is that so many Democrats have been as well. It's why Blue America is creating a series of TV ads to launch against anti-reform Democrats-- starting with Arkansas corporate pawn Blanche Lincoln (please consider donating). A rule passed earlier in the year puts the health care budget into an unfilibusterable category. Obama needs only 51 votes. Lieberman's fealty to the Medical-Industrial Complex ($2,391,719) and Big Insurance ($1,036,302) and Nelson's identical anti-working family positions (in return for the generosity he's experienced from the Medical-Industrial Complex-- $1,000,366-- and the Insurance Industry-- $1,196,799) don't spell the end of the dream for people who want to see universal health care in this country. But if other DLC corporate Dems, like Mary Landrieu, Evan Bayh, Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, not to mention GOP renegade-- and flight risk-- Arlen Specter, are all allowed to defect, a once in a generation opportunity for changing the health care system is virtually dead.

Today one of the only Tribunes of the People in the heinous House of Lords, Sherrod Brown, co-sponsored legislation, along with Jay Rockefeller, that would establish a public health insurance plan that provides an affordable and accountable health insurance option. Their press release:
“Congress must include a real public plan option if we want to see truly transformative health care reform this year,” said Rockefeller. “I created the Consumers Health Care Act so we can give the American people the complete coverage they need at an affordable rate. As we move forward with health care reform in the Senate Finance Committee and beyond, I will continue to fight for a public plan option. It is time to end our days of private health insurance charging too much for too little, at the expense of the American people.”

“A strong public health insurance option will help reduce health care costs and improve the quality of health insurance plans,” said Brown, who authored a resolution cosponsored by 28 senators calling for a public health insurance option to be included in health reform. “A public health insurance option will keep insurance companies honest and set a gold standard for medical care. I’m proud to work with Sen. Rockefeller on this legislation which will protect consumer choice, improve patient care, and lower health costs.”

President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and many consumer-advocate and health care organizations have come out in support of a public plan option in health reform. Over 60 percent of Americans also want to see a public plan option on the table (source: Kaiser Family Foundation, June, 2009).

The Consumers Health Care Act has been endorsed by many groups including Health Care for American Now (HCAN), the Children’s Defense Fund, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Overview of the Consumers Health Care Act

• Offer a “Consumer Choice Health Plan” as an option alongside private insurance. By bringing a competitive public plan option to the table, private insurance companies will be driven to provide Americans with better value for their health care at a better price, in contrast to the current private insurance framework, which is focused on avoiding risk and increasing their profits.

• Establish America’s Health Insurance Trust as a “good housekeeping seal of approval” to give consumers a voice in health insurance oversight. This nonprofit, consumer-driven organization will evaluate and give ratings to all health insurance products offered through the national health insurance exchange-- based on factors such as affordability, adequacy, transparency, consumer satisfaction, provider satisfaction, and quality.

Our Blue America action in Arkansas is aimed at holding one particularly corrupt senator-- maybe two) accountable. But it should also serve as a message over the bow to any Democrat who wants to sell out their own constituents for the flow of cash from the Insurance Industry. Max Baucus and Arlen Specter can expect to see the same blanket TV ads in their states as well. Senators-- who actually do behave as though they hold peerages in an American House of Lords, haven't bee feeling any real pressure from the public; it's how they can get away with their distortions and weaseling postures.

Chris Bowers at OpenLeft has launched an online campaign to make every senator declare in plain English where he or she is in the debate. (Russ Feingold has already responded-- very publicly and positively.) New Gallup polling shows that Americans distrust Republicans in Congress even more than they distrust the health insurance industry! But, as Jane Hamsher pointed out today, conservative Democrats like Kay Hagan are working hard to catch up with the Republicans.
According to a source with direct knowledge of what is happening on the HELP Committee, the problem is that two Democrats-- Kay Hagan and Jeff Bingaman-- are refusing to sign on.

"We can't bring it up because we'd actually lose the vote," said the source. "They'd vote with the Republicans."

Bingaman and Hagan are in favor of watering down a public plan into Kent Conrad's co-op plan, which is supported by insurance lobbyists. "It gives them the appearance of supporting a public option without getting them in trouble with the insurance companies," said the source.

We're working on holding them accountable. Please help us do that.

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3 Comments:

At 11:11 PM, Anonymous me said...

"Will The Democrats Blow This Opportunity For Genuine Health Care Reform? "



Yes.

There is lack of leadership from the top. Obama has been a huge disappointment on everything from single-payer to gays to illegal wiretapping to government secrecy to taxpayer handouts for corporations.

What a disaster. Yes, he can string words together coherently to make a sentence, but other than that, he's JUST LIKE BUSH.

 
At 12:32 AM, Anonymous jacksmith said...

AMERICA’S NATIONAL HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY!

It’s official. America and the World are now in a GLOBAL PANDEMIC. A World EPIDEMIC with potential catastrophic consequences for ALL of the American people. The first PANDEMIC in 41 years. And WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES will have to face this PANDEMIC with the 37th worst quality of healthcare in the developed World.

STAND READY AMERICA TO SEIZE CONTROL OF YOUR NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.

We spend over twice as much of our GDP on healthcare as any other country in the World. And Individual American spend about ten times as much out of pocket on healthcare as any other people in the World. All because of GREED! And the PRIVATE FOR PROFIT healthcare system in America.

And while all this is going on, some members of congress seem mostly concern about how to protect the corporate PROFITS! of our GREED DRIVEN, PRIVATE FOR PROFIT NATIONAL DISGRACE. A PRIVATE FOR PROFIT DISGRACE that is in fact, totally valueless to the public health. And a detriment to national security, public safety, and the public health.

Progressive democrats and others should stand firm in their demand for a robust public option for all Americans, with all of the minimum requirements progressive democrats demanded. If congress can not pass a robust public option with at least 51 votes and all robust minimum requirements, congress should immediately move to scrap healthcare reform and demand that President Obama declare a state of NATIONAL HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY! Seizing and replacing all PRIVATE FOR PROFIT health insurance plans with the immediate implementation of National Healthcare for all Americans under the provisions of HR676 (A Single-payer National Healthcare Plan For All).

Coverage can begin immediately through our current medicare system. With immediate expansion through recruitment of displaced workers from the canceled private sector insurance industry. Funding can also begin immediately by substitution of payroll deductions for private insurance plans with payroll deductions for the national healthcare plan. This is what the vast majority of the American people want. And this is what all objective experts unanimously agree would be the best, and most cost effective for the American people and our economy.

In Mexico on average people who received medical care for A-H1N1 (Swine Flu) with in 3 days survived. People who did not receive medical care until 7 days or more died. This has been the same results in the US. But 50 million Americans don’t even have any healthcare coverage. And at least 200 million of you with insurance could not get in to see your private insurance plans doctors in 2 or 3 days, even if your life depended on it. WHICH IT DOES!

Contact congress and your representatives NOW! AND SPREAD THE WORD!

God Bless You

Jacksmith – WORKING CLASS

 
At 6:03 PM, Blogger Oliphant Family said...

I sit on the board with Utah association of Health underwriters and http://www.BenefitsManager.net as well as http://www.HealthInsuranceSource.net for health insurance reform. Several interesting changes took place with H.B. 188 passage earlier this year that seems all too familiar on the federal level. The spirit of the bill allows private market place remedies. It essentially guarantees insurance providers a "no loss" or "no gain" over competing carriers in the insurance exchange portal which is http://www.UtahInsuranceExchange.info. On the surface it seems not to be attractive to participating carriers (voluntary at this point). But you have to understand the carriers’ goal is to cover their administration fees. That can be accomplished now. The other half of the equation is providers and their billing practices that need to be reformed. That is on the agenda. Keep an eye on Utah because the national health care debate seems much the same ground we have already covered.
In http://www.UtahInsuranceExchange.info which is the beginning of a state sponsored program addresses issues on a local state level that the federal level might look at. Coming from an underwriting background I know where the dime falls. I am of the opinion that large waste occurs from providers billing for procedures that developed "no outcome". Insurance carriers are not the only bad guys on the block. In most of our purchasing decisions....don't we pay ONLY when we know that we will get a desired outcome? Why is it if you ask the doctor how much a particular test or procedure is he doesn't know? Shouldn't providers be held to a transparent cost standard?
You must be in the health care business from some interaction point to make statements of fact in the face of historical changes. When you are in the system from any touch point (insurance, provider, hospital, Medicare or patient) you get the “real issues” because of real time experience.
I often quote the Switzerland health care system as an example of tough questions that we will have to face at some point down the time line. Did you know that premature babies are not resuscitate upon birth if they cannot draw breath? Did you also know that is the same with “senior care” experiencing system failure or failures? They don't extend life of a senior with multiple failures like intubation as example. Anyone in the business of paying claims knows that the single most expensive bills in what we call “shock loss” is within NICU for newborns and seniors in acute / intensive care / hospital.
The Swiss apparently made decisions made based upon cost vs. quality outcome. Are we as a nation prepared to make that type of decision or to define when to incubate, resuscitate a newborn or a senior? To define the conditions and rules of practice? With a litigious society I think not. This is why we need tort reform. Without tort reform medical provider costs will never drop. Liability costs with medical providers are nearly half of operating expenses. With health insurance carriers it translates to about 10% of every premium dollar collected.
I don't think we are hearing about tort reform because most of the house and senate on the federal level are lawyers and have practicing law firm interests / ownership. In the healthcare system there is no total innocence. Insurance executives with bonuses, doctors overbilling, hospitals overbilling because the street gang thug got dropped at their door with no insurance. The lawyers are there to stir the pot and promise lavish fortune at the end of the PERCEIVED misery chain. Am I saying we don’t need them? No, but I am saying there is clear and documented abuse of the legal system that awards outlandish claims in the millions for a $20,000 mistake. Ambulance chasers being the most abusive. What about those that educate their clients on defraud and then use the legal system to pirate insurers?

 

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