DownWithTyranny!: Why Is Mary Bono Mack Opposing A Health Care Reform Bill That Would Benefit People In Riverside County?

La dolce vita with Connie and Mary

Even if you had never heard of Northern California wingnut Wally Herger before, you probably heard of him last week when he was validating right-wing extremism at a small, townshirt bund rally in his district. But, as crazy and dangerous as Herger may be, he isn't the only California Republican who has signed on to the mindless obstructionism the Republican Party is holding to in regard to health care reform. Mary Bono Mack, for example, has tried, from time to time, to distance herself from the borderline insane Republicans who dominate her party's caucus-- except that she married one of the worst, but let's leave that alone.

Bono Mack represents a southern California Inland Empire district whose residents stand to benefit gigantically if real health care reform passes. There are glitzy parts of the district around Palm Springs, Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage, but many of the residents are barely getting by and, like 1 in 7 Californians, many are in debt because of medical expenses. "[M]ore than 2.2 million California adults-- almost one in seven working-age Californians-- say they have medical debt. And two-thirds of those said they incurred the debt despite having health insurance."

Statewide the median income is $47,493. Bono-Mack's district is considerably poorer. Despite the pockets of great wealth, the median income is only $40,468. Although it is Bono-Mack's spouse Connie who represents the worst hit district in the country based on foreclosures (116,979 projected over the next 4 years), the wife's district is one of the 4 most disastrous in California with 51,033 projected foreclosures. (Only Dan Lungren's, Tom McClintock's and Ken Calvert's districts are faring worse in California.) That said, it is simple to conclude that if 1 in 7 Californians are in financial distress over medical bills, it's worse in Riverside County. And yet, Bono is an adamant opponent of meaningful health care reform. She's taken $61,345 from the Insurance Industry and $421,588 from the Medical-Industrial Complex and she's sticking strictly to their corporate, anti-family playbook. And yet, an official report released last week by the House Energy and Commerce Committee shows conclusively that few other districts in the country have as much to gain from passage of the health care legislation as CA-45-- especially small businesses, senior citizens, and the staggering 174,000 uninsured people in the 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 12,300 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, 13,400 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 2,400 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 $174 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 174,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 20% 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, 149,000 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 3,450 households in the district. The surtax would not affect 99.0% of taxpayers in the district.