Why Is Buck McKeon Gung-ho To Allow Insurance Companies To Deny Coverage To People With Pre-existing Conditions?

90% or so of Americans would like to see Congress pass a law to enhance background checks for criminals, terrorists and the mentally-ill before they can purchase a gun. But Republicans have steadfastly refused to even allow a debate, let alone a vote, in the House. Instead, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has scheduled a 37th-- literally-- pointless vote on repealing Obamacare... not on making Obamacare better, which most people would like, but to repeal it, which would require a huge majority in the Senate and a signature from President Obama. So why are Cantor and Boehner wasting everyone's time? It means they don't have to do any real work and, more importantly, is allows freshmen from super red gerrymandered rural districts in the Old Confederacy to have a chance to vote NO as a way of showing lo-info voters back in their district that they're standing up to the illegitimate black usurper in the White House.

The DCCC is making their own political hay out of it. And, I was happy to see that just as they have realized they screwed up by not helping Jim Graves defeat Michele Bachmann in 2010-- and are working to remedy that situation next year-- they seem to have figured out the same dynamic here in the Los Angeles area. Yesterday they sent out a press release tying vulnerable Republican committee chairman Buck McKeon to Cantor's anti-healthcare nonsense.

The Republican Congress will cast its 37th vote this week to put insurance companies back in charge of health care-- will Congressman Buck McKeon go along? House Republicans have Tea Party Caucus Chair Michele Bachmann as their sponsor. Instead of finding smart reforms to our health care system, House Republicans are voting on Tea Party Caucus Chair Michele Bachmann’s bill that refights old ideological battles to take away consumer health care benefits and put insurance companies back in charge of health care.

  House Republicans already voted 36 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act during the last Congress-- costing the taxpayers $50 million.

    If Congressman McKeon votes yes, he will be:

•         Raising prescription drug costs by re-opening the prescription drug donut hole
•         Denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions
•         Ending tax credits for small businesses
•         Kicking children off their parents health care before they turn 26
•         Closing prevention and wellness initiatives that lower costs and improve health
•         Eliminating the cap on health care costs and let people go back into bankruptcy because of health costs

"California families want solutions that lower health care costs and protect consumers but Congressman McKeon’s Republican Congress just wants to refight old ideological battles instead,” said Emily Bittner of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Republicans will vote to put insurance companies back in charge of health care, which will raise prescription drug costs, deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, and even drive people back into bankruptcy because of health care costs--but will Congressman McKeon go along with this backwards plan? Middle class families will clearly suffer if Congressman McKeon puts insurance companies back in charge of health care."

Last November, Lee Rogers won in the Antelope Valley third of McKeon's district and came closer to defeating him than anyone had in his career. Local activists are hoping to persuade Rogers to run again. When we first met him last year, he had an entirely different persepctive on health care policy than McKeon-- although he told us he would have voted against the bill that came to be known as Obamacare.

As a doctor, I see the effects of health policy and health funding on Americans every day. There are several tenets of basic health policy that I believe in. I believe health care is a right, not a privilege. Every American should be able to choose their own doctor or other heath care provider. Insurance portability, allowing you to take your same insurance from job to job, is important. Discrimination for pre-existing conditions must not be allowed.

But this is a deeper problem because our current heath care crisis cannot be separated from our current fiscal crisis. They are one in the same. Health care represents about 23% of the federal budget-- and it’s growing. Part of the increase is because of the aging baby boomers who are requiring more care and part of it relates to the advances in medicine which are more costly. These costs cannot be controlled. Take my specialty, diabetes, for example. Diabetes affects 26 million Americans and an additional 79 million more have “pre-diabetes.” Diabetes alone is responsible for about a third of health spending. In most cases, diabetes is a preventable disease. For the first time in human history, chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc.) surpassed infectious diseases (pneumonia, HIV/AIDS, etc.) as the leading causes of death. The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that chronic diseases will cost the world $47 Trillion by 2030. We must get control of chronic diseases, lest we bankrupt ourselves. This problem is not going away in 5, 10, or 15 years. It is a problem that is going to last decades and will be a major draw on the country’s finances.

But there is something that can be done. We can intervene to prevent chronic disease, before they occur, before they become more expensive. We can invest in research to treat disease and prevent complications. We shouldn’t slash the health care budget leaving more people to seek treatment later when the diseases are more advanced and costly.

Many people have asked my opinion on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), or the health reform law. Yes, I am a Democrat, but I’m also a doctor and I would not have voted for the bill. It is about 2700 pages long filled with payoffs to corporations and legislator’s home districts funded by taxpayers. It’s a sad state of affairs when legislators couldn’t care about what’s best for the country, only what pet projects they can get funded so they can fill their re-election coffers.

Certainly the law contains some beneficial provisions, like outlawing exclusions for pre-existing conditions, allowing adult children to stay on parents insurance until age 26, and eliminating lifetime maximums on policies. But there is more bad about the law than good. It creates an executive branch appointed panel to legislate reimbursement decisions by Medicare, instead of Congress. It creates Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), which sounds responsible, but they are really HMOs for Medicare patients without the ability to contain costs that traditional HMOs have. In the few pilot ACOs from around the country, all have lost money.

I don’t think it’s reasonable to repeal the law, but I think that we can take the good parts of it and improve upon them and repeal some of the bad provisions and pork.

One significant cost saving opportunity missed by Congress was failing to allow Medicare Part D (the prescription drug plan) to negotiate medication prices. Why should we pay more for the same medication in the US than they pay in England or in Canada. In effect, we’re subsidizing health care in other wealthy nations.

As I have stated, the health issue is a fiscal issue. We need legislators with the right priorities in Washington. There will have to be shared sacrifice including a combination of cuts and increases in revenue. Irresponsible behavior in Washington caused this debt and we can’t let it solely fall on the backs of our middle class, poor, and seniors by cutting their benefits and raising premiums. That will only lead to a poorer health quality for all, and result in larger expenses down the road. We can’t bury our heads in the sand. Let’s put America first.

The DCCC isn't sending e-mails like that blasting all Republican culprits though (let alone to media in districts with anti-health care Democrats like Jim Matheson and Mike McIntyre). One especially bad Republican they ignored was John Mica in the Orlando area. But the progressive Democrat running against him, Nick Ruiz, isn't ignoring Mica's vile record.

"When John Mica votes with the GOP's plan to roll back the Affordable Care Act, what does it mean? Does he believe that Americans don't need or want it? Most do. Or does he believe that he has a better idea for American healthcare? He doesn't. And he certainly is against other alternatives like single payer care for all. So what is it with representatives like John Mica? And what is it about the GOP? Do they want people to suffer? Do they want illness to go uncared for? There's no logical explanation for their position against expanding insurance coverage for American families. The only question now is-- will American families act to remove people like him and his party from office, because they clearly do not represent the best interests of America."

You can help Nick do that-- here.

UPDATE: DCCC Staffers Seem To Be Making Good Decisions Without Interference From Israel

The DCCC is launching a campaign of robocalls against 10 Republicans who keep voting against Obamacare in blue districts. In the past Steve Israel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz have prevented staffers from launching these kinds of campaigns against their personal Republican friends. This list includes two Republicans the dynamic duo have protected in the past, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ). We'll see if Israel allows the DCCC to follow through with real recruitment efforts and campaigns against these two. The other eight Republicans who are getting the robocalls: Chris Gibson (R-NY), Michael Grimm (R-NY), Jon Runyan (R-NJ), Gary Miller (R-CA), David Valadao (R-CA), Bill Young (R-FL), Joe Heck (R-NV) and Steve Pearce (R-NM). The script people living in Coalinga, Hanford, Delano and in Fresno's southern suburbs are getting: today:

The Republican Congress is scheduled to vote tomorrow to put insurance companies back in charge of your health care and repeal vital consumer protections and benefits that you’ve earned.

And your Congressman might be part of the problem. Tell Congressman Valadao to stand up for middle class families here in California-- and don't help the Republican Congress give insurance companies more control over your life.

We don’t need any more ideological wars in Washington, we need solutions that reduce health care costs and protect consumers. Sadly, Congressman Valadao might deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions, raise prescription drug costs, kick kids off their parents' health care before they turn 26 and even eliminate the cap on health care costs, forcing people into bankruptcy to take care of their families.

That would be a devastating blow to middle class families like yours across the country. Call Congressman David Valadao now at [xxx-xxx-xxxx] and tell him to vote no. Tell him it’s time to move forward and strengthen our health care, not join the partisans in Congress who want to put insurance companies back in charge.