Will North Carolina Help Pass Health Care Reform-- Or Help Kill It Again?

None of North Carolina's 13 congressional districts are all set with health care. Only David Price's 4th CD (the Research Triangle area, one of only 2 with a median income of over $50,000 annually) has less than 100,000 uninsured people. Basically, all the Republicans oppose meaningful health care reform. The North Carolina Democrats are mostly in favor, although the two Blue Dogs-- Mike McIntyre and Heath Shuler-- sound more like obstructionist Republicans than fighters for health care like Brad Miller and David Price. In fact, the district in the worst condition, insurance wise, is Heath Shuler's in the extreme western tip of the state. There are 154,000 uninsured people, 134,000 of whom would be able to gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance if H.R. 3200 passes.

Shuler is the one of the most reactionary of the Blue Dogs. This year he voted, on substantive matters, far more frequently with the Republicans than he did with the Democrats. He's also the Blue Dog caucus whip and he's been working behind the scenes to sabotage health care reform. Although the district is trending bluer-- Obama did far better than either Kerry or Gore (and Shuler won by re-election last year by a 62-36% landslide)-- Shuler has been an unrelenting foe of reform. He's accepted $183,762 in thinly disguised bribes from the Medical-Industrial Complex and another $38,500 from the Insurance industry (in just a term and a half!). The House Energy and Commerce Committee report on the effect of the legislation on each congressional district, would seem to predict that the representative from NC-11 would be a huge supporter. It would certainly be a big boon to seniors and small businesses in his district. But that representative is Shuler and he, like his 3 crazed right-wing roommates-- Jim DeMint (R-SC), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Zach Wamp (R-TN)-- just says no. This is what the bill would do for Shuler's constituents if he wasn't leading the jihad against it:

• 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 17,200 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, 12,000 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 700 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 $120 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 154,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 23% 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, 134,000 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 2,400 households in the district. The surtax would not affect 99.2% of taxpayers in the district.