HCAN Goes After Senate Finance Committee Bill!

One of the biggest health advocacy groups, HCAN, is flexing its muscles in the fight over the public option. They’ve been sending around a memo which makes an excellent case that Americans oppose an individual mandate without a public option. It’s the point that many of us progressives have been making for a while, an individual mandate without the choice of a public option will be political suicide for the Democratic Party.

Here’s the crux of the memo below which points out the polling by HCAN on this issue:

“Nationally,” the memo reads, “voters oppose a mandate to purchase private insurance by 64% to 34% but support a mandate with a choice of private or public insurance by 60% to 37%… Each [survey] found that likely 2010 voters oppose ‘requiring everyone to buy and be covered by a private health insurance plan’ but support ‘requiring everyone to buy and be covered by a health insurance plan with a choice between a public option and private insurance plans.'”

Also, the polling they did was in the state of Maine, which happens to be the state that Senator Snowe represents. Senator Snowe has said she doesn’t support a public option unless there is a trigger on it. The trigger she has designed for the public option is the kind that will never be triggered according to Jason Rosenbaum at HCAN.

Rocky Finds A Giant Loophole In The Baucus “Fauc-Us” Bill

Senator Rockefeller pointed out that there was a gigantic loophole in the Baucus bill that would leave half of Americans subject to potential discrimination by private insurers. Apparently due to existing federal law, large companies can call themselves “self-insurers” even though they provide coverage through a major insurance company. These sort of self-insurance plans are mostly exempt from state regulations and are allowed to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions.

The regulations in H.R. 3200, the House health care bill, and in the Senate HELP bill, offer self-insured Americans protections against denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions, no lifetime caps or annual caps on their coverage, and ensures they’ll receive the same benefits as other employees in their workplace.

The loophole is that Senator Baucus’s bill doesn’t offer self-insured Americans these protections against denial of coverage, no lifetime caps or annual caps on their coverage, and basically leaves them out in the cold. That’s what Senator Rockefeller discussed in this story below:

The Baucus Bill doesn’t offer the same explicit guarantees it grants patients in standard plans, Rockefeller says.

“It’s a huge problem,” he says.

So, he’s introduced an amendment to get the bill in line with the others. He isn’t sure why Baucus chose to omit it in the first place — and isn’t entirely sure if the Montana Democrat supports his effort.

“I have no idea who put the bill together,” Rockefeller adding that Baucus is “receiving about 500 bits of information a minute… He’s very, very busy, I understand that, but this is a very, very big problem.”

Here’s the link to the Rockefeller amendment C1 that would address this glaring loophole in Senator Baucus’s bill. This is the Chairman’s mark as stated:

No insurance market reforms applied to the individual and small group markets would be applied to the self-insured market. Additionally, insurance market reforms would not be applied to the large group market until 2017. In 2017, states must develop and submit to the Secretary a phase-in schedule (not to exceed five years), including applicable rating rules, for incorporating firms with 50 or more employees (or 100 or more employees for those states that already included firms with 51-100 employees) into the state exchanges. The Secretary must develop regulations to address the potential for any risk selection issues associated with allowing larger employers into the state exchanges. Initial phase in for these firms would begin in plan years 2018 and beyond.

And what Rockefeller’s amendment is meant to do:

Effective January 1, 2013, all of the insurance market reforms applied in the exchange would be applied immediately to both self-insured and large group plans.

The offset for this would be capping itemized deductions at 35%. No wonder why Senator Baucus didn’t bring up Rockefeller’s amendment today.

Latest Updates On The Public Option In Senate Finance Committee

Here are the latest updates for the public option in the Senate Finance Committee. The votes on that will be brought on Tuesday due to a procedural agreement for the sequence in which the public option amendments and other amendments are related.

And the Wyden Free Choice amendment will be brought up later this morning, according to a report. If it doesn’t come up today, then it’ll likely be discussed during the resumption of the mark-up on Tuesday.

UPDATE: Just heard the Wyden amendment also will be offered in the resumption of the mark-up on Tuesday.

The Need For Campaign Finance Reform

I’ve been thinking about how the Senate has been a roadblock to much of the progressive legislation passed by the House of Representatives and their bills are killed immediately upon arrival in the Senate. When you have Senators like Max Baucus, who at first pretends to be for the public option after being bombarded by angry Montanans, and he flip-flops on that by NOT including the public option in his Senate Finance Committee bill.

He’s got his priorities wrong for the American people, and his own priorities right for himself. It’s because he’s bought for by the lobbyists. He really doesn’t have the interests of Montanans at heart, and why should he? He was just re-elected, so he has six more years to obstruct any progressive reform before he has to run to the left a bit in order to be re-elected. The people who donate to him, from pharmaceutical companies to insurance companies, know this. It’s why they back him because he’s in charge of the Senate Finance Committee.

So when you have a Senator from a very rural state that’s in charge of the most powerful committee—that Senator gets to stay in power because of the donations he gets, and in a state like Montana, that buys a lot of votes, airtime, and radio time as well. That’s why Senator Max Baucus has been bending over backwards for the private insurance lobbyists who wants a mandated bailout of their industry by forcing us to buy their junk insurance policies without an actual Medicare-like public option to keep them honest.

The question comes–how do we change this? One answer is campaign finance reform. That’s going to be a very tough slog in the House of Representatives due to the Blue Dogs and the New Democrats who LOVE their corporate donations, and in the Senate as well.

One way to get the movement started for campaign finance reform is to bring together all the progressive advocacy organizations to advocate for this on the state level, with donations from the progressive community for television ads, radio ads, print ads, and newspaper editorials. Along with an organizing call for house rallies, and lobby days where progressive activists visit their state representatives to advocate for campaign finance reform.

Why work at the state level first? It helps establish precedent for campaign finance reform on the national level. Also, it helps hone organizing strategies by working to bring state and national organizations together in this effort for campaign finance reform. Once it’s been established at the state level, then the work can begin on establishing it at the national level.

Yes, there might be obstruction at the national level–especially in the House and the Senate. That’s why we have to replicate the successful strategy that Montanans used in confronting Senator Baucus about the public option. We confront Senators like Baucus at their district offices, townhalls, spread around videos and television ads of their initial opposition to campaign finance reform with a number to their national office, write op-eds in the local community newspapers, radio television ads, a mass social media uprising against these Senators, and pressuring local office holders not to back these Senators by threatening to pull donations or volunteers from them. I think that part would fall to the unions.

We’ve got to rethink how we elect Senators and hold them accountable. This is what grassroots pressure does best.

Once we get this done, then it’ll be a whole lot easier for progressive legislation to make it through the Senate.

HuffingtonPost Readers Go After Jim Cooper On His Lies!

Rep. Jim Cooper, who helped kill Clinton’s health care reform in 1993, just popped up on HuffingtonPost with more of his lies about how bipartisanship is much more important than passing actual health care reform. Here’s a sampling of his odious lies below:

Let me repeat that: health care reform should be Congress’s top priority. We are not here to slow it down. That’s the Senate’s job. So don’t believe the phony talking points that are being circulated that we’re trying to “slow down the process.” The process is already creaking under its own weight and we haven’t even seen full bill text yet. Don’t take my word for it; just read your own publications.

…

Here’s why what’s happening in the Senate worries me so much. If reform gets bogged down, it will have to go through the Senate’s reconciliation process. This is not good news for supporters of health care reform. In fact, it’s awful news.

Reconciliation is just what the trillion dollars of vested interests who want to kill health care reform are hoping for. That’s because they know something that few people in Washington have figured out: the Senate’s very restrictive reconciliation rules will prevent a true health care reform bill from passing.

Actually, Rep. Cooper, we’ll get a stronger health care bill with a strong, robust Medicare-like public option in it if it goes through reconciliation in the Senate. If we pursue the almighty grail of bipartisanship to weaken down legislation for the benefit of Republican votes, then that’s NOT the kind of health care reform we need. Remember, the Republicans voted against Medicare, which is one of the most popular programs ever. Well, I think you’d even vote against Medicare today because you’re a good little Blue Dog, aren’t you?

And you’re so wrong about it being a good thing that that so-called bipartisan proposal was released by bought-and-paid-for health care lobbyists like Daschle and his former Senate buddies:

Something major happened yesterday. Democrats and Republicans, working together, unveiled a bipartisan comprehensive health care reform plan. Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and Howard Baker did what Congress is failing to do. They met all of President Obama’s goals, and they fully financed their proposal.

And the White House released a statement praising this bipartisan leadership. In the House of Representatives, meanwhile, we are explicitly told not to work with Republicans.

You know why you’re not supposed to work with Republicans? THEY DON’T HAVE THE BEST INTERESTS OF AMERICANS! THEY’RE IN THE MINORITY! WE VOTED YOU GUYS IN TO GIVE US THE SUPERMAJORITY FOR ACTUAL CHANGE in health care reform!

Get off your duff, Rep. Cooper, or else we’ll put you out of office in the next election. Think you’re sitting pretty now? Just ’til you wait until the next election. You don’t represent actual residents of Nashville, just the corporate health insurance lobbyists there.

And we know it. We’re not as stupid as you think we are, Rep. Cooper.

Senate Dems–Get Some Balls On Health Care Reform!

I’m tired of these Senate Democrats playing whack-a-mole with the public option in health care reform, trying everything they can to avoid putting it in legislation. I especially am even more upset with the staffers on the HELP committee being rolled by the Republicans by releasing an INCOMPLETE bill without the public option for a CBO score.

That was incredibly stupid of them to do so. It’s time for the Senate HELP Committee to include the full public option that is a strong, robust Medicare-like public option in the full mark-up of the draft legislation!

Will you please join me in telling them so today?

Tell them to STOP PLAYING POLITICS WITH OUR LIVES AND PASS AN ACTUAL STRONG, ROBUST MEDICARE-LIKE PUBLIC OPTION IN HEALTH CARE REFORM!

I’ve had enough of these Senate Democrats and Republicans playing politics with a strong, robust Medicare-like public option, which is supported by 65% of Americans. We desperately need a strong, robust Medicare-like public option that is AFFORDABLE and OPEN to all Americans, and helps keep the insurance companies honest.

Mcjoan was right in her diary yesterday about why we NEED to pressure the HELP Committee members, and to prevent them from being rolled again. Here are the numbers of the HELP Committee and their members below along with the usual talking points.

First, start off with by telling these Senators you want a strong, robust Medicare-like public option THAT IS OPTION A, not OPTION B OR C [see below for three options in committee draft] in the mark-up of the draft legislation, and to include it when releasing the bill for a FULL CBO score, then go into these talking points below.

Tell Senator [Name] that you DO NOT want the 7-year trigger for the public option and take it off the table, and that you want him to support an affordable strong, robust Medicare-like public option. We NEED a strong, robust Medicare-like public option NOW OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS AND AFFORDABLE, not more of the SAME broken system that’s given us unaffordable premiums, little private insurance coverage, and rising co-pays. Also, DON’T TAX OUR EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFITS. Instead, follow the proposal by President Obama to tax the wealthy above $250,000, eliminate the overpayments in Medicare Advantage, and put tax capital gains to help fund health care reform. TELL YOUR SENATOR NO ON THE SCHUMER COMPROMISE AND NO ON THE CONRAD CO-OP COMPROMISE.

Tell Senator Dodd to STOP PLAYING POLITICS to appease the Republicans and release the details public option in the HELP committee bill draft!

CALL Senator Dodd at (202) 224-2823

You can e-mail the HELP committee as well here at help_comments@help.senate.gov.

Also, don’t forget to CALL these Senators on the HELP Committee with the talking points above and why you want the HELP committee draft to have a strong, robust Medicare-like public option, that is NOT THE SCHUMER COMPROMISE OR THE CONRAD CO-OP proposal!

Tom Harkin (IA): (202) 224-3254
Barbara A. Mikulski (MD): (202) 224-4654
Jeff Bingaman (NM): (202) 224-5521
Patty Murray (WA: (202) 224-2621
Jack Reed (RI): (202) 224-4642
Bernard Sanders (I) (VT): (202) 224-5141
Sherrod Brown (OH): (202) 224-2315
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (PA): (202) 224-6324
Kay Hagan (NC): (202) 224-6342
Jeff Merkley (OR): (202) 224-3753

Also, tell President Obama at the White House not to pursue bipartisanship for bipartisanship’s sake with the public option as a bargaining chip in health care reform, especially when Rahm Emmanuel was the one behind the “7-year trigger” compromise proposal. Let’s make President Obama know that we don’t want the 15% that is traded away for “bipartisanship” to be the public option.

This is what President Obama has told visitors in private at the White House:

The president has told visitors that he would rather have 70 votes in the Senate for a bill that gives him 85 percent of what he wants rather than a 100 percent satisfactory bill that passes 52 to 48.

CALL the White House at: 202-456-1111 and E-MAIL them as well!

Please CALL Senator Max Baucus at (202) 224-2651

Please CALL Senator Olympia Snowe at (202) 224-5344

Please CALL Senator Charles Schumer at 202-224-6542

Please CALL Senator Edward Kennedy at (202) 224-4543

Please CALL Senator John Rockefeller at (202) 224-6472

Please CALL Senator Ron Wyden at (202) 224-5244

Please CALL Senator Kent Conrad at (202) 224-2043

Please CALL Senator Jeff Bingaman at (202) 224-5521

Please CALL Senator John Kerry at (202) 224-2742

Please CALL Senator Blanche Lincoln at 202-224-4843

Please CALL Senator Debbie Stabenow at (202) 224-4822

Please CALL Senator Maria Cantwell at 202-224-3441

Please CALL Senator Bill Nelson at 202-224-5274

Please CALL Senator Robert Menendez at 202-224-4744

Please CALL Senator Thomas Carper at (202) 224-2441

Also, can you please CALL these THREE chairmen in the House of Representatives, especially Rep. Waxman who’s leading the charge on health care reform below?

Ways and Means Committee Chair Charlie Rangel (202) 225-3625)

Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (202) 225-2927)

Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller (202) 225-3725)

TOLL FREE NUMBERS FOR THE SENATE, HOUSE, AND WHITE HOUSE:

Capitol Hill 800-828-0498
1-800-828-0498
1-866-338-1015
1-866-220-0044
1-877-851-6437

Remember again, this is the three options for the public option in the HELP Committee draft:

Option A: A public health insurance plan operated by the Federal government with a payment schedule that is set in statute and is based on Medicare.

Option B: A federal health insurance plan that is operated under contract from HHS but would play by the same rules as commercial health insurance carriers. The federal government would contract with an entity to administer the plan as well as provide start-up costs (e.g., 6 month reserve). The plan would be required:

(1) to be a non-profit or cooperative entity
(2) charge premiums at a level to cover costs of paying claims, making quality improvements, and administering the plan and (3) re-pay initial start-up costs. Every state gateway must offer the federal public plan. In addition, States would be permitted to operate their own public plan if the plan meets requirements established by the Secretary.

Option C: Drop public plan option. [That’s it. That’s the whole thing.]

Screw the two other options! I’m in favor of Option A in the HELP Committee draft, which is basically a strong, robust Medicare-like public option.

If you want a strong, robust Medicare-like public option, then the time to fight is here and NOW! Let’s not stop on making these calls!

A strong, robust Medicare-like public option is the line in the sand for me. Is it the line in the sand for you as well?

Please REC this diary up so others can see the phone numbers and make the calls today!

TELL Senator Max Baucus NO On The Conrad Co-op Proposal!

Here’s the latest idiocy from Senator Max Baucus, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, on the public option AND the Conrad so-called co-op proposal.

Baucus signaled his willingness yesterday to compromise on a controversial provision of President Obama’s health care overhaul plan in a bid to attract enough GOP support to pass the legislation in the Senate this summer with as many as 70 votes.

The Montana Democrat emerged from a morning session with key Republicans and Democrats saying he was “inclined toward” jettisoning a proposed government-sponsored insurance program endorsed last week by Obama in favor of a new proposal to create national, state and regional health care insurance cooperatives.

Republicans bitterly oppose the public insurance option, saying it would undermine the private insurance industry and lead to a national health insurance system. Some conservative Democrats also are skeptical of the public plan option, even as they and Baucus support Obama’s overall reform goals.

I’m tired of Senator Max Baucus trying to do anything he can to avoid the passage of a strong, robust Medicare-like public option in the Senate bill. He needs to be told by us TODAY that we NEED a strong, Medicare-like public option in health care reform, and that anything else, including the Conrad co-op proposal, is UNACCEPTABLE.

Millions of Americans are dying, Senator Baucus, because they can’t get access to treatment, have been denied coverage from private insurance companies, and have had their claims denied for necessary medical treatment by a pimply-faced medical insurance billing agent.

STOP pursuing these Republican votes, Senator Baucus! If this is what bipartisanship is going to get us, a weak public option or a stupid Conrad co-op, then we DON’T want this kind of bipartisanship!

You’re supposed to fight for us, Senator Baucus. It’s time to stop being a quisling jellyfish and time to grow a fuckin’ spine!

Please CALL Senator Max Baucus at (202) 224-2651, and his little precious Finance Committee at (202) 224-4515.

And to think, just two weeks ago, Senator Baucus said he was willing to fight to the mat for a public option. And now? Give me a fucking break. We’re not stupid, Senator Baucus. We see all too clearly what you’re doing in the Senate.

The good news is that House Speaker Pelosi has said that the Conrad co-op proposal is a no-go in the House of Representatives.

BUT HOUSE LIBERALS SAY ‘NO GO’ TO CO-OPS, per Inside Health Policy: “‘Not instead of a public option, no,’ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said during a press briefing. ‘The bill we’re working on — and the bill that is going to pass the House — is going to have a strong public option,’ a House leadership aide emphasized. ‘That’s where we’re going.’”

REMEMBER, when you make the calls today, TELL your Senators and Representatives that you are OPPOSED to the Conrad co-op proposal, and that you NEED a strong, robust Medicare-like public option in health care reform with NO TRIGGERS or CONDITIONS!

And moderate Democrats, the New Democrats Coalition, and the Blue Dogs, have joined together to oppose a strong, robust Medicare-like public option, and to support a 7-year trigger for the public option only if it’s included in health care reform.

CALL these three House chairmen with these talking points below, and add that YOU DO NOT want them to listen to these turncoat Blue Dog Democrats and New Democrats Coalition. Tell them you want them to stand firm FOR a strong, robust Medicare-like public option!

Ways and Means Committee Chair Charlie Rangel (202) 225-3625)

Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (202) 225-2927)

Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller (202) 225-3725)

Here’s the talking points that you can and should use when calling in favor of a strong, robust Medicare-like public option, and remember, the “trigger” may happen if we don’t let up in our opposition to it in our phone calls:

Tell [Name] that you DO NOT want the 7-year trigger for the public option and take it off the table, and that you want him to support an affordable strong, robust Medicare-like public option. We NEED a strong, robust Medicare-like public option NOW OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS AND AFFORDABLE, not more of the SAME broken system that’s given us unaffordable premiums, little private insurance coverage, and rising co-pays. Also, DON’T TAX OUR EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFITS. Instead, follow the proposal by President Obama to tax the wealthy above $250,000, eliminate the overpayments in Medicare Advantage, and put tax capital gains to help fund health care reform. TELL YOUR MEMBER NO ON THE SCHUMER COMPROMISE.

CALL the White House at: 202-456-1111 and E-MAIL them as well!

Please CALL Senator Max Baucus at (202) 224-2651

Please CALL Senator Olympia Snowe at (202) 224-5344

Please CALL Senator Charles Schumer at 202-224-6542

Please CALL Senator Edward Kennedy at (202) 224-4543

Please CALL Senator John Rockefeller at (202) 224-6472

Please CALL Senator Ron Wyden at (202) 224-5244

Please CALL Senator Kent Conrad at (202) 224-2043

Please CALL Senator Jeff Bingaman at (202) 224-5521

Please CALL Senator John Kerry at (202) 224-2742

Please CALL Senator Blanche Lincoln at 202-224-4843

Please CALL Senator Debbie Stabenow at (202) 224-4822

Please CALL Senator Maria Cantwell at 202-224-3441

Please CALL Senator Bill Nelson at 202-224-5274

Please CALL Senator Robert Menendez at 202-224-4744

Please CALL Senator Thomas Carper at (202) 224-2441

It’s really important that we CALL these Senators on the Senate Finance Committee because some of them are still SERIOUSLY considering the 7-year trigger for the public option in case private insurance fails and are NOW thinking that the Conrad co-op proposal may be a good thing to get Republican votes. Well, here’s a frickin’ news alert–the Republicans aren’t in power anymore. You guys are in power now! Act like it!

We have to get them to stop considering the public option as a “fall-back trigger” seven years from now AND the Conrad co-op proposal, because we NEED a Medicare-like public option NOW that is affordable and OPEN TO ALL Americans.

ALSO, CALL ALL OF THESE BLUE DOGS AND TELL THEM TO STOP HOLDING UP PROGRESS AND TO SUPPORT A STRONG, ROBUST MEDICARE-LIKE PUBLIC OPTION WITH NO TRIGGERS OR CONDITIONS!

Use this congressional hotline to do so: Capitol Hill 800-828-0498

Blue Dog Leadership Team

Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy
Rep. Charlie Melancon (LA-03), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications
Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11), Blue Dog Whip

Blue Dog Members

Barrow, John (GA-12)
Boren, Dan (OK-02)
Boyd, Allen (FL-02)
Bright, Bobby (AL-02)
Cardoza, Dennis (CA-18)
Childers, Travis (MS-01)
Costa, Jim (CA-20)
Cuellar, Henry (TX-28)
Davis, Lincoln (TN-04)
Donnelly, Joe (IN-02)
Ellsworth, Brad (IN-08)
Giffords, Gabrielle (AZ-08)
Gordon, Bart (TN-06)
Griffith, Parker (AL-05)
Hill, Baron (IN-09)
McIntyre, Mike (NC-07)
Marshall, Jim (GA-03)
Matheson, Jim (UT-02)
Melancon, Charlie (LA-03)
Michaud, Mike (ME-02)
Minnick, Walt (ID-01)
Mitchell, Harry (AZ-05)
Moore, Dennis (KS-03)
Nye, Glenn (VA-02)
Peterson, Collin (MN-07)
Pomeroy, Earl (ND)
Salazar, John (CO-03)
Scott, David (GA-13)
Shuler, Heath (NC-11)
Space, Zack (OH-18)
Tanner, John (TN-08)
Taylor, Gene (MS-04)

Make them regret they ever tried to hold up progress on a strong, Medicare-like public option in health care reform.

If you want a strong, robust Medicare-like public option, then the time to fight is here and NOW! Let’s not stop on making these calls!

A strong, robust Medicare-like public option is the line in the sand for me. Is it the line in the sand for you as well?

Cross-posted to my blog at The Line In The Sand.

The Stupid Blue Dogs Hate The Public Option

I’m so tired of these stupid Blue Dog Democrats trying to hold up health care reform in the House of Representatives. It’s a good thing that we have the Congressional Progressive Caucus working to hold the line for a strong, robust Medicare-like public option in health care reform.

In a separate closed-door session in the speaker’s office, Pelosi and Hoyer urged Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) to heed the concerns of moderate Democrats.

Enough is enough with these Blue Dog Democrats holding up progress, and leaders like Hoyer and Pelosi urging the rest of the Democrats to listen to these Blue Dog Democrats!

Moderate Democrats have been warning their leaders for weeks against pushing proposals that undermine the private market, particularly a so-called public option that could dissuade consumers or businesses from purchasing private insurance. In a letter to their leaders last week, fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats said a public option should be created only if insurance market reforms and increased competition don’t lower costs on their own.

Rangel and Waxman have both rejected this argument.

“Everyone can’t get everything,” Waxman told reporters Tuesday. “Why should private companies object to competition?”

Rangel and Waxman are RIGHT. They, along with George Miller, are the ones shepherding through health care reform with a public option in the House of Representatives. They’re facing a lot of pressure from these turncoat Blue Dog Democrats.

IT’S TIME TO SHUT IT DOWN NOW.

Tell Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer to STOP listening to these turncoat Blue Dog Democrats and to LISTEN to US instead!

CALL Speaker Nancy Pelosi at (202) 225-0100
CALL Majority Leader Steny Hoyer at 202.225.3130

CALL these three House chairmen with these talking points below, and add that YOU DO NOT want them to listen to these turncoat Blue Dog Democrats.

Ways and Means Committee Chair Charlie Rangel (202) 225-3625)

Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (202) 225-2927)

Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller (202) 225-3725)

Here’s the talking points that you can and should use when calling in favor of a strong, robust Medicare-like public option, and remember, the “trigger” may happen if we don’t let up in our opposition to it in our phone calls:

Tell [Name] that you DO NOT want the 7-year trigger for the public option and take it off the table, and that you want him to support an affordable strong, robust Medicare-like public option. We NEED a strong, robust Medicare-like public option NOW OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS AND AFFORDABLE, not more of the SAME broken system that’s given us unaffordable premiums, little private insurance coverage, and rising co-pays. Also, DON’T TAX OUR EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFITS. Instead, follow the proposal by President Obama to tax the wealthy above $250,000, eliminate the overpayments in Medicare Advantage, and put tax capital gains to help fund health care reform. TELL YOUR MEMBER NO ON THE SCHUMER COMPROMISE.

CALL the White House at: 202-456-1111 and E-MAIL them as well!

Please CALL Senator Max Baucus at (202) 224-2651

Please CALL Senator Olympia Snowe at (202) 224-5344

Please CALL Senator Charles Schumer at 202-224-6542

Please CALL Senator Edward Kennedy at (202) 224-4543

Please CALL Senator John Rockefeller at (202) 224-6472

Please CALL Senator Ron Wyden at (202) 224-5244

Please CALL Senator Kent Conrad at (202) 224-2043

Please CALL Senator Jeff Bingaman at (202) 224-5521

Please CALL Senator John Kerry at (202) 224-2742

Please CALL Senator Blanche Lincoln at 202-224-4843

Please CALL Senator Debbie Stabenow at (202) 224-4822

Please CALL Senator Maria Cantwell at 202-224-3441

Please CALL Senator Bill Nelson at 202-224-5274

Please CALL Senator Robert Menendez at 202-224-4744

Please CALL Senator Thomas Carper at (202) 224-2441

It’s really important that we CALL these Senators on the Senate Finance Committee because some of them are still SERIOUSLY considering the 7-year trigger for the public option in case private insurance fails. Well, here’s a frickin’ news alert–private insurance ALREADY has failed us.

We have to get them to stop considering the public option as a “fall-back trigger” seven years from now, because we NEED a Medicare-like public option NOW that is affordable and OPEN TO ALL Americans.

ALSO, CALL ALL OF THESE BLUE DOGS AND TELL THEM TO STOP HOLDING UP PROGRESS AND TO SUPPORT A STRONG, ROBUST MEDICARE-LIKE PUBLIC OPTION WITH NO TRIGGERS OR CONDITIONS!

Use this congressional hotline to do so: Capitol Hill 800-828-0498

Blue Dog Leadership Team

Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration
Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy
Rep. Charlie Melancon (LA-03), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications
Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11), Blue Dog Whip

Blue Dog Members

Altmire, Jason (PA-04)
Arcuri, Mike (NY-24)
Baca, Joe (CA-43)
Barrow, John (GA-12)
Berry, Marion (AR-01)
Bishop, Sanford (GA-02)
Boren, Dan (OK-02)
Boswell, Leonard (IA-03)
Boyd, Allen (FL-02)
Bright, Bobby (AL-02)
Cardoza, Dennis (CA-18)
Carney, Christopher (PA-10)
Chandler, Ben (KY-06)
Childers, Travis (MS-01)
Cooper, Jim (TN-05)
Costa, Jim (CA-20)
Cuellar, Henry (TX-28)
Davis, Lincoln (TN-04)
Donnelly, Joe (IN-02)
Ellsworth, Brad (IN-08)
Giffords, Gabrielle (AZ-08)
Gordon, Bart (TN-06)
Griffith, Parker (AL-05)
Harman, Jane (CA-36)
Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie (SD)
Hill, Baron (IN-09)
Holden, Tim (PA-17)
Kratovil, Jr., Frank (MD-01)
McIntyre, Mike (NC-07)
Marshall, Jim (GA-03)
Matheson, Jim (UT-02)
Melancon, Charlie (LA-03)
Michaud, Mike (ME-02)
Minnick, Walt (ID-01)
Mitchell, Harry (AZ-05)
Moore, Dennis (KS-03)
Murphy, Patrick (PA-08)
Nye, Glenn (VA-02)
Peterson, Collin (MN-07)
Pomeroy, Earl (ND)
Ross, Mike (AR-04)
Salazar, John (CO-03)
Sanchez, Loretta (CA-47)
Schiff, Adam (CA-29)
Scott, David (GA-13)
Shuler, Heath (NC-11)
Space, Zack (OH-18)
Tanner, John (TN-08)
Taylor, Gene (MS-04)
Thompson, Mike (CA-01)
Wilson, Charles (OH-06)

Make them regret they ever tried to hold up progress on a strong, Medicare-like public option in health care reform.

If you want a strong, robust Medicare-like public option, then the time to fight is here and NOW! Let’s not stop on making these calls!

A strong, robust Medicare-like public option is the line in the sand for me. Is it the line in the sand for you as well?

I Don’t Support Schumer’s “Public Option” Compromise

and neither should you. Why? Because it’s designed to weaken a strong, robust Medicare-like public option in favor of private insurance companies. The New York Times goes further into detail about why the Schumer so-called “public option” compromise is designed to hamper its potential:

“No one has ever put up a plan to compete that exploited the bargaining leverage that you have with Medicare,” said John F. Sheils, a senior vice president at Lewin, which is owned by UnitedHealth Group, a major insurer. “It’s never been done, and if it’s never been done there’s not much you can conclude from looking at these state plans.”

Mr. Sheils estimated that only 12 million people with private coverage would migrate to a public plan if Congress provided protections for insurers, along principles suggested by Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. Seeking to broker a deal that might attract Republican support, Mr. Schumer is promoting many of Mr. Nichols’s proposals, including that a public plan be subject to the same regulations as private plans and that it pay providers at higher levels than Medicare.

The question, at a time of deep concern over health costs, is whether that proposal would compromise away the full potential of a public plan to suppress provider payments and control the growth of premiums.

And it’s rather interesting how a lobbyist for UnitedHealth, one of the WORST insurers, thinks that the Schumer so-called “public option” compromise would be okay. This is why I always specify what kind of a public option to fight for–a strong, robust Medicare-like public option, NOT the Schumer so-called compromise.

This is what I wrote about what I viewed as the dangerous parts of the so-called Schumer “public option” compromise:

I don’t think the public plan should be self-sustaining, because if it’s wholly reliant on money raised from premiums and co-payments, that means that the premiums and co-payments will be higher than those of the premiums and co-payments offered by private health plans.

And yes, the government should compel doctors and hospitals to participate in a public plan, otherwise the doctors and hospitals will refuse to take the patients in the public plan just like they refuse to take on any new Medicare patients. In order for the public plan to work, it has to have widespread participation by medical professionals which translate to universal access for Americans. In any city, town, or state, they should be able to go to a doctor who can’t refuse to take them on. In a small town, a doctor might be enticed by private plan insurers to refuse patients from the public option. That’s why I’m against the second bullet point in Senator Schumer’s cockamamie proposal.

And there should be NO private officials to manage a public plan. It MUST be managed by the government to promote efficiency and to reduce administrative overhead in the public plan. There can be NO appointment of officials from the private health insurance industry to manage the public plan.

This sort of “middle ground” is unacceptable for me.

We NEED have a strong, robust Medicare-like public option with NO “7-year triggers” or “conditions” designed to weaken it in favor of private health insurance companies.

On Friday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which numbers over 80 Democrats in the House stood up for a strong, robust Medicare-like public option in their principles below:

The Congressional Progressive Caucus calls for a robust public option that must be:

• Unconditional. Enact concurrently with other significant expansions of coverage and must not be conditioned on private industry actions.
• Actually Public. Consist of one entity, operated by the federal government, which sets policies and bears the risk for paying medical claims to keep administrative costs low and provide a higher standard of care.
• Available to All. Be available to all individuals and employers across the nation without limitation
• Choice of Doctors. Allow patients to have access to their choice of doctors and other providers that meet defined participation standards, similar to the traditional Medicare model, promote the medical home model, and eliminate lifetime caps on benefits.
• Paid for Wellness, not Sickness. Have the ability to structure the provider rates to promote quality care, primary care, prevention, chronic care management, and good public health.
• Built on Proven Model of Medicare. Utilize the existing infrastructure of successful public programs like Medicare in order to maintain transparency and consumer protections for administering processes including payment systems, claims and appeals.
• Can negotiate payments. Establish or negotiate rates with pharmaceutical companies, durable medical equipment providers, and other providers to achieve the lowest prices for consumers.
• Equally Supported. Receive a level of subsidy and support that is no less than that received by private plans.
• Real Competition. Ensure premiums must be priced at the lowest levels possible, not tied to the rates of private insurance plans.

Now, what is this “7-year trigger” for the public option in health care reform, you ask? Basically, they’ll insert a strong Medicare-like public option in the final bill but have it as a “trigger” only to set in SEVEN YEARS FROM NOW if private insurance fails to make health insurance affordable for Americans.

Robert Reich, as I posted before, has said that this is being floated as an attractive compromise to attract Republican votes in order to give this health care reform bill the sheen of “bipartisanship” that is craved by politicians.

All this will be decided within days or weeks. And once those who want to kill the public option without their fingerprints on the murder weapon begin to agree on a proposal — Snowe’s “trigger” or any other — the public option will be very hard to revive. The White House must now insist on a genuine public option. And you, dear reader, must insist as well.

This is it, folks. The concrete is being mixed and about to be poured. And after it’s poured and hardens, universal health care will be with us for years to come in whatever form it now takes. Let your representative and senators know you want a public option without conditions or triggers — one that gives the public insurer bargaining leverage over drug companies, and pushes insurers to do what they’ve promised to do. Don’t wait until the concrete hardens and we’ve lost this battle.

Which is why WHENEVER we refer to the public option, we ALWAYS should refer to it as a “strong, robust Medicare-like public option” in our phone calls, e-mails, and letters to the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate.

Here’s the talking points that you can and should use when calling in favor of a strong, robust Medicare-like public option, and remember, the “trigger” may happen if we don’t let up in our opposition to it in our phone calls:

blockquote>Tell Senator [Name] that you DO NOT want the 7-year trigger for the public option and take it off the table, and that you want him to support an affordable strong, robust Medicare-like public option. We NEED a strong, robust Medicare-like public option NOW OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS AND AFFORDABLE, not more of the SAME broken system that’s given us unaffordable premiums, little private insurance coverage, and rising co-pays. Also, DON’T TAX OUR EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFITS. Instead, follow the proposal by President Obama to tax the wealthy above $250,000, eliminate the overpayments in Medicare Advantage, and put tax capital gains to help fund health care reform. TELL YOUR SENATOR NO ON THE SCHUMER COMPROMISE.

CALL the White House at: 202-456-1111 and E-MAIL them as well!

Please CALL Senator Max Baucus at (202) 224-2651

Please CALL Senator Olympia Snowe at (202) 224-5344

Please CALL Senator Charles Schumer at 202-224-6542

Please CALL Senator Edward Kennedy at (202) 224-4543

Please CALL Senator John Rockefeller at (202) 224-6472

Please CALL Senator Ron Wyden at (202) 224-5244

Please CALL Senator Kent Conrad at (202) 224-2043

Please CALL Senator Jeff Bingaman at (202) 224-5521

Please CALL Senator John Kerry at (202) 224-2742

Please CALL Senator Blanche Lincoln at 202-224-4843

Please CALL Senator Debbie Stabenow at (202) 224-4822

Please CALL Senator Maria Cantwell at 202-224-3441

Please CALL Senator Bill Nelson at 202-224-5274

Please CALL Senator Robert Menendez at 202-224-4744

Please CALL Senator Thomas Carper at (202) 224-2441

It’s really important that we CALL these Senators on the Senate Finance Committee because some of them are still SERIOUSLY considering the 7-year trigger for the public option in case private insurance fails. Well, here’s a frickin’ news alert–private insurance ALREADY has failed us.

We have to get them to stop considering the public option as a “fall-back trigger” seven years from now, because we NEED a Medicare-like public option NOW that is affordable and OPEN TO ALL Americans.

Also, can you please CALL these THREE chairmen in the House of Representatives, especially Rep. Waxman who’s leading the charge on health care reform below?

Ways and Means Committee Chair Charlie Rangel (202) 225-3625)

Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (202) 225-2927)

Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller (202) 225-3725)

And remember, don’t trust whatever Senator Baucus says about a public option in health care reform and we should always verify until we trust.

So, PLEASE CALL and let them KNOW that you want a Medicare-like public option in health care reform! Ask them not to pass a bill out of the House that does NOT include a strong, robust Medicare-like public option that is AFFORDABLE AND OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS.

A Medicare-like public option is the line in the sand for me. Is it the line in the sand for you as well?

If so, then CALL, and help fight against the swiftboating of a strong, robust Medicare-like public option in health care reform.

The Next Bailout Might Be For Health Insurance Companies

Richard Kirsch, who leads the Health Care for America NOW group which supports the public option in a public-private health care reform plan, speaks out about the coming fight against the health insurance companies, like the ones backed by the front group AHIP:

But the insurance industry only backs reform that protects — better still, boosts — its bottom line. That’s always been true and became crystal clear once again as soon as President Obama proposed raising $176 billion for health care reform by putting an end to Medicare overpayments. The proposal’s not complicated. Private health insurance companies have been ripping off the government, and President Obama wants to save money by making it stop. He wants health insurance companies to go through a new competitive bidding process. AHIP — seeing less zeros tacked onto its profits — now claims that having to compete would mean a “major disruption” to Medicare. It sounds ridiculous because it is.

AHIP has also made it clear it will do everything it can to oppose another competitive feature of Obama’s health care plan — giving Americans a choice of a public health insurance plan to compete with private insurance. AHIP understands that if private companies have to compete with a public health insurance plan — which like Medicare is likely to do a better job of controlling costs than private insurers — they will lose customers and money.

This is why we really have to fight for the public option, and to have it accessible to ALL OF US, not just the elderly, disabled, and the low-income, so that we can have affordable health care. Also, in my view, this is a backdoor to single-payer health care, which is why the insurance companies are gearing up for a battle royale over the issue of the public option. They don’t want it to happen. They want a forced mandate with no public option, so we’re stuck with paying for crappy junk insurance plans with no capped premiums, and fined if we can’t afford the premiums.

Remember this flyer from the primaries? President Obama was right about the danger of forcing Americans to buy unaffordable insurance coverage, which as we’ve seen in the Massachussetts plan does not work at all in lowering the insurance premiums. And this will be the coming right-wing attack against insurance mandates in a health care reform plan.

Dr. Susan King, in an opinion editorial for the Boston Globe, points out the failure of the Massachussetts health insurance reform plan and the failure of the mandates to lower the premium costs for residents in Massachussetts:

First, it has not achieved universal healthcare, although the reform has been a boon to the private insurance industry. The state has more than 200,000 without coverage, and the count can only go up with rising unemployment.

Second, the reform does not address the problem of insurance being connected to jobs. For individuals, this means their insurance is not continuous if they change or lose jobs. For employers, especially small businesses, health insurance is an expense they can ill afford.

Third, the program is not affordable for many individuals and families. For middle-income people not qualifying for state-subsidized health insurance, costs are too high for even skimpy coverage. For an individual earning $31,213, the cheapest plan can cost $9,872 in premiums and out-of-pocket payments. Low-income residents, previously eligible for free care, have insurance policies requiring unaffordable copayments for office visits and medications.

This is what the forced mandates did for residents in Massachussetts—-gave them no affordable coverage, and fined them when they couldn’t afford the junk insurance premiums. This doctor supports H.R. 676, a single-payer plan sponsored by John Conyers, and points out that the administrative costs of Medicare are low in comparison to those of the private insurance plans.

This is where she and I differ—-she advocates for a single-payer plan, while I support the public option in a public-private health care reform plan. But we both agree on the five principles outlined by Institute of Medicine:

Coverage should be: universal, not tied to a job, affordable for individuals and families, affordable for society, and it should provide access to high-quality care for everyone.

If you support single-payer, and if you support the public option, let’s work on making sure that the public option is open and accessible to all. The lawmakers that we have to contact on this should be from the Senate side—Dodd, Kennedy, and Baucus.

And we have to put as much pressure as we CAN on Senator Max Baucus, who wants to limit the public option, if it’s offered at all, to the elderly, disabled, and the low-income. The public option MUST BE a competitive player, well-funded and open to all Americans, in order to work on a fair level playing field against the insurance companies.

Here are their office numbers:

Senator Max Baucus:

(202) 224-2651 (Call and ask to speak to his health care policy advisor or legislative staffer)

Senator Christopher Dodd:

(202) 224-2823 (Call and ask to speak to his health care policy advisor or legislative staffer)

Senator Ted Kennedy:

(202) 224-4543 (Call and ask to speak to his health care policy advisor or legislative staffer)