CA-25: McKeon Argues For Bigger Military Budget-- While Lee Rogers Argues For Sane Health Care Reform

A few days ago Buck McKeon, befuddled and confused as he tends to be these days, went on CNBC to explain why we need to spend more money on the war machine-- and inspired the hosts to wonder aloud where his district could be since they seemed to be having a hard time figuring out who would ever vote for someone like him. They don't know the half! And today McKeon-- along with all his cronies-- voted, once again, to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Maybe Boehner thought the 31st attempt to repeal would be the charm. It passed (again) 244-185, every single Republican voting to take away health insurance for 30 million Americans, while enhancing their own fat benefits. Only 5 slimy Blue Dogs crossed the aisle: Boren & Ross, who are retiring plus Kissell (NC) McIntyre (NC) and Matheson (UT), all three of whom are on the DCCC priority big-spend list.

Jerry Nadler (D-NY) was on the floor of the House yesterday arguing with the Republicans about the ACA. “Instead of fighting for good paying American jobs, Republicans are launching their 31st attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act,” said Nadler. “First, Republicans said the law was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court said they were wrong. Next, Republicans said the law was too expensive. The Congressional Budget Office said they were wrong. Now Republicans say the law will raise taxes on millions of middle class families. The Urban Institute said they were wrong, estimating that a mere three percent of Americans under 65 would face the choice between purchasing insurance and paying a penalty... [L]et’s review what the Affordable Care Act does. In addition to extending health insurance to 32 million more Americans, which will prevent the unnecessary deaths of 45,000 people who die each year because they lack insurance, several measures in the law are designed to ensure that no one goes broke because they get sick. Today, 55 percent of personal bankruptcies are caused by health care emergencies. Shockingly, 75 percent of these bankruptcies happen to people who had health insurance that proved inadequate to cover an expensive disease like cancer. But, by preventing insurance companies from denying coverage for preexisting conditions, and preventing them from imposing annual or lifetime caps on coverage, we can ensure no middle class family goes broke because someone gets sick."
 
McKeon's opponent wasn't on CNBC disgracing his district with calls for more war spending and by bumbling like an imbecile. He was coming up-- as a distinguished, nationally renowned surgeon-- with some ideas for how to make the ACA work better... for sick people. Like many progressives, Dr. Rogers never felt comfortable with the bill and has long opposed it. As a physician, he sees many areas that could be fixed, including-- after the election-- in a bipartisan manner. “Buck McKeon has voted to repeal, disrupt, dismantle, or defund the Affordable Care Act over thirty times now,” said Rogers. “The Senate is not going to pass such legislation and the President would never sign it because a full repeal of the law would put control of our health care system back in the hands of some of McKeon’s biggest donors-- the private health insurance industry... The Affordable Care Act is not a perfect law but it reigns in the power of big insurance companies and provides protections for patients so they can’t be denied coverage. We all know there are ways to make it better, so let’s do it."

His program of 5 reforms are very straightforward and patient-based, the way a good doctor looks at health problems, not the way McKeon's lobbyist buddies look at them. This is what he's proposing:

1) Giving regulators the power to reject unjustified insurance rate hikes

2) Allowing consumers to purchase insurance across state lines by creating a national health insurance exchange

3) Providing the option for individuals and businesses to buy into Medicare at cost

4) Giving Medicare and Medicaid the power to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry

5) Guaranteeing that “medical necessity” is determined by a patient’s doctor rather than an insurance company

One of Rogers' criticism of the individual mandate has been that it incentivizes people to buy insurance by having them face a penalty, but that there's no guarantee that the insurance will be
affordable. Regulators, he insists, should be allowed to reject excessive hikes for consumers. As for the creation of a national insurance exchange-- something Republicans could possibly get behind-- there's a much better chance for the true competition of a larger national market. Residents in more
than half of the states are subjected to a near monopoly by insurers. Opening up the market nationally will allow greater competition and keep prices lower. It would be hard to imagine most Republicans jumping at this rare opportunity to stay ideologically pure and do something that's good for ordinary families.

My favorite part of Rogers' plan is allowing everyone who wants to to buy into Medicare, making it an option on the national exchange. I imagine it would take 5 or 6 years and the for-profit Insurance Industry would mostly fade away, the most direct path to a healthier nation. Rogers also points out that American taxpayers carry the cost of the pharmaceutical research and development burden for the entire world. "We are essentially subsidizing the lower drug prices in wealthy countries like England, Germany, France, Canada, and Japan. Americans should not pay more for the same medication than they do in other developed nations. Medicare and Medicaid should be able to negotiate drug prices like the VA or other nations."

And every doctor I've ever asked about this agrees with his last point, that insurance companies should never be allowed to determine what treatments are medically necessary for patients. "This is an obvious conflict of interest. Doctors should determine medical necessity for patients, not insurance companies."

These aren't radical ideas; they're common sense solutions to a real and growing universe of problems, problems that were only partially-- and inadequately-- addressed by the ACA. There's no reason why the political parties should make them into something partisan. Blue America is launching some Facebook ads today to alert students that Buck McKeon, Paul Ryan, Charlie Bass, Frank Guinta, John Mica, Sandy Adams, Tom Reed and nasty little Patrick McHenry all voted to kick them off their parents healthcare plans. If you'd like to contribute (or follow the link to the individual pages), you can do so here. Here's what the art looks like on ole Buck McKeon's new Facebook page: