The Two Poorest Districts In The Country And Polar Opposite Views On Health Care Reform

Although Max Baucus has veered dangerously off the path to create an expensive and unsustainable welfare system for wealthy health care and insurance corporations-- his campaign donors-- at the expense of the middle class, Obama has always insisted that his vision of health care reform was all about bringing in as many families as possible who aren't adequately covered and are just one tragedy away from complete ruin. It's a worthy goal and a real test for the Obama presidency. Is he going to go with the Baucus Caucus-- which certainly includes Rahm Emanuel, his malevolent Chief of Staff-- or is he going to make good on the promise of Hope he made to the American people?

Let's take a look at the two poorest congressional districts in the United States-- NY-16, basically the South Bronx, which gave McCain his smallest percentage in last year's election (5%) and is represented by a strongly progressive advocate for working families, José Serrano; and KY-05, the mountainous eastern part of Kentucky where McCain won his biggest percentage in the state of Kentucky (67%), which is represented by a reactionary corporate tool, Hal Rogers who isn't an advocate for families but mealy mouthed supporter of "family values." The median income in NY-16 is $19,311 and the median income in KY-05 is $21,915. Rogers' district is the reddest in Kentucky with nearly a 16 PVI for Republicans while Serrano's district offers a 41 PVI for Democrats. Any political change in either district would come on a primary level, not in a general election. Rogers is the most reactionary member of the Kentucky House delegation (ProgressivePunch score of 2.37, not quite as bad as Dan Burton but worse than Tom McClintock) and Serrano is near the top of the New York delegation (with a score of 87.17).

There are few districts in the country where people would benefit more from the passage of meaningful health care reform than in these two districts. 22% of the people in KY-05 are uninsured, 146,000 people and 126,000 of them would be eligible for high-quality, affordable health insurance if a bill like HR 3200 passes. Rogers is a complete shill for the Insurance Industry and the Medical-Industrial Complex, which have lavished approximately a quarter million dollars in thinly veiled bribes on him. He is an unyielding opponent of health care reform, as strongly against it as Serrano is for it. Serrano has signed two letters saying he won't vote for bogus reform that doesn't include at least a public option. His district is even worse off than Rogers' with 159,000 uninsured people (24%), of which 139,000 would gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance if HR 3200 gets signed into law.

Let's look at the stats on how HR 3200 would impact each district according to an official report from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. First Rogers' KY-05:

• Help for small businesses. Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $40,000 qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 10,700 small businesses in the district that could qualify for these credits.

• Help for seniors with drug costs in the Part D donut hole. Each year, 7,500 seniors in the district hit the donut hole and are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage. The legislation would provide them with immediate relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut hole.

• Health care and financial security. There were 1,500 health care-related bankruptcies in the district in 2008, caused primarily by the health care costs not covered by insurance. The bill provides health insurance for almost every American and caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because of high health care costs.

• Relieving the burden of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers. In 2008, health care providers in the district provided $173 million worth of uncompensated care, care that was provided to individuals who lacked insurance coverage and were unable to pay their bills. Under the legislation, these costs of uncompensated care would be virtually eliminated.

• Coverage of the uninsured. There are 146,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 22% of the district. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nationwide, 97% of all Americans will have insurance coverage when the bill takes effect. If this benchmark is reached in the district, 126,000 people who currently do not have health insurance will receive coverage.

• No deficit spending. The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for: half through making the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals. This surtax would affect only 850 households in the district. The surtax would not affect 99.6% of taxpayers in the district.

Rogers' district is 97.1% white and is considered the OxyContin capital of America, which may explain why there are so many dittoheads in the area. There isn't a district in the country where so many poor people vote for politicians so dedicated to policies designed to maintain the status quo. Now let's look at how passage of HR 3200 would impact Serrano's district:

• Help for small businesses. Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $40,000 qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 7,300 small businesses in the district that could qualify for these credits.

• Help for seniors with drug costs in the Part D donut hole. Each year, 2,900 seniors in the district hit the donut hole and are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage. The legislation would provide them with immediate relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut hole.

• Health care and financial security. There were 640 health care-related bankruptcies in the district in 2008, caused primarily by the health care costs not covered by insurance. The bill provides health insurance for almost every American and caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because of high health care costs.

• Relieving the burden of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers. In 2008, health care providers in the district provided $156 million worth of uncompensated care, care that was provided to individuals who lacked insurance coverage and were unable to pay their bills. Under the legislation, these costs of uncompensated care would be virtually eliminated.

• Coverage of the uninsured. There are 159,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 24% of the district. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nationwide, 97% of all Americans will have insurance coverage when the bill takes effect. If this benchmark is reached in the district, 139,000 people who currently do not have health insurance will receive coverage.

Insurance industry lobbyists and CEOs aren't exactly José Serrano's biggest fans and the Insurance Industry has only donated $15,650 to his campaigns since he was elected in 2 decades ago. The district is 3% white-- so an ethnic mirror image of Rogers' just like Serrano's championing of poor working families is a mirror image of Roger's unswerving support for the elites that run the plutonomy that keeps his constituents in poverty and ignorance. Yesterday Rogers eagerly voted against funding for ACORN, an organization dedicated to helping lift poor working class families out of poverty. Serrano was one of only 75 congressmen with the guts to stand up to the right-wing noise machine's continuing assault on working families.