Posts tagged ‘Public plan’
Senator Dodd Will “Fight For a Strong Public Option”
Senator Chris Dodd (Dem. Conn) posted this statement on Daily Kos in advance of the meetings he will have with Senator Baucus, Senator Reid, and the White House next week in order to hash out a compromise health care bill to send on to the full Senate. He sent his editorial on to us for CMA’s health policy blog. At the request of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Dodd chaired the Senate HELP Committee’s work leading to passage of a health care reform bill in July.
“A Moment To Be Bold
By SenChrisDodd <http://senchrisdodd.dailykos.com>
Fri Oct 09, 2009
Next week, I’ll sit down with Majority Leader Reid, Finance Committee Chairman Baucus, and the White House to merge together the provisions of the two health care bills that have been passed by Senate committees.
I’ll be there as the representative of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, but I know that I’m also carrying with me the responsibility of speaking up on behalf of millions of passionate activists – without whose efforts we wouldn’t have a President who has made reform a top priority, not to mention enough Democrats in Congress to pass a bill.
I understand that many of you are worried about what that bill will look like. I know first-hand how frustrating it has been to watch good ideas clash with political realities, especially on such an important issue.
The HELP and Finance Committees worked on different pieces of the bigger reform puzzle. My committee passed strong prevention, quality, workforce and long-term services and supports measures. Finance worked to strengthen Medicare and help small businesses afford and purchase health insurance for their workers.
Sometimes, our two committees overlapped. We both agree that insurance companies shouldn’t be allowed to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, discriminate against women or the elderly, implement annual or lifetime caps on the benefits you can receive, or take away your coverage when you need it most.
That’s something we all agree on – and that’s a pretty good place to start from as we merge our two bills.
But we have come too far, and worked too hard, to settle for “pretty good.” And that’s why I plan to take a stand.
First, and let me be very clear about this: I am going to fight for a strong public option. The simple, undeniable fact is that a public option will save money – and it will introduce more choice and competition into an industry that badly needs both. It is the single best way to keep costs low for middle class families – and keep the insurance companies honest. And I am by no means ready to back down on making that argument.
There are some other issues to hash out, as well. I believe that we should require everyone to get health insurance, just as we require everyone to get auto insurance. But I also believe that it is unfair to burden middle class families with a mandate they can’t afford. I think the HELP bill has especially strong provisions to keep costs low and quality high, and I think they’re worth fighting for.
When we sit down with the White House to merge these bills, it will be an historic moment – one more unprecedented step towards finally overcoming the well-financed special interests and achieving the reform that has eluded us for more than 60 years. It will be a moment to celebrate how far we have come – but also a moment to be bold as we take the final steps towards reform.
It will be a negotiation, and I can’t promise that every disagreement will be resolved in our favor.
But I can promise that I will walk into that room prepared to fight for a strong public option, affordability provisions that protect the middle class, and common-sense protections to keep the insurance companies honest and guarantee that every American family can choose a health care plan that’s right for them.
The finish line is within sight. And I, for one, am ready to hit it running.”
Fiscally Conservative? Support A Public Option!
In the Senate Finance Committee, Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln voted against including a public option in health care reform. She explains that her opposition to a public option rests with her knowledge that Arkansas voters are “fiscally responsible”. We hope she will yet realize that anyone whose real concern is fiscal responsibility will support a public plan option.
No matter how much one might want to believe that the private market is always a more cost-effective model than a public program … it just ain’t so. Medicare proves the point.
- When Medicare private plans were paid 95% of what it costs to provide the same coverage in the public program, they left the program in droves. They couldn’t make enough profit. (“Medicare+Choice,” enacted in 1997.)
- Under the “Medicare Advantage” program, passed in 2003, private Medicare plans are paid about 14% more than the same coverage would cost in the traditional public Medicare program. And, not surprisingly, private insurance plans have flocked back into the system. The insurance industry is making a windfall from this system – at the expense of all Medicare beneficiaries, including the vast majority of beneficiaries who still choose “regular Medicare.” Taxpayers overpay too.
- The private Medicare plan program is bleeding the Medicare trust fund, reducing Medicare’s solvency by about 8 years.
If the Congress passes a requirement that all Americans have health insurance, but does not provide for a public option, we will have been taken to the cleaners yet again. Private insurance will gain tens of millions of new customers and we taxpayers will all pay a much higher bill than is necessary. Medicare’s experience proves this.
Come on, Senator Lincoln, be fiscally responsible – support a public option in health care reform!
How Will We Know If Good Enough is Good Enough?
We now have four health care reform bills and a proposal from the Senate Finance Committeee, the last of the Congressional committees with jurisdiction over this topic. None of the bills are perfect and the Senate Finance Committee’s proposal, lacking both a public option and any Republican support, is the most disappointing. Still, as Paul Krugman writes in today’s New York Times, several countries, including Switzerland and the Netherlands, manage to provide health insurance for all largely through the private market.
So, how will we know if we should support what emerges as the final health care reform bill? Here are six key standards to determine whether the final bill is good enough to support – let us know if you have others:
- Will the bill make quality health care coverage available to all, especially to the uninsured, underinsured, and those who will fall into these categories in the future?
- Will the bill provide real competition in the market place, with or without, a true public plan, so that reform will be reasonably affordable?
- Will the bill provide adequate help for people of low and moderate incomes to purchase good quality health coverage ?
- Will the bill preserve and fairly enhance the Medicare program for future generations?
- Will the new coverage be adequately comprenhensive, understandable and easy to use?
- Will the new law provide a fair, accessible appeal system for people to contest denials?
I am often told not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We will not get “the perfect” health care plan. We may not even get “the good”. But – will we get “the good enough”? Too soon to tell.
Watch Robert Reich, Former Secretary of Labor, On Why We Need a Public Option (And what it is!)
In a new video, Robert Reich speaks about the necessity of a public option in health care reform. Secretary Reich wrote us today summarizing his thoughts:
“A true public option is necessary to pressure private insurers to compete on quality and price, and to pressure drug companies and other medical providers to offer better deals. It’s the only way to expand coverage while continuing to reduce overall costs. Every American should have the freedom to choose a public insurance plan if they wish. “
Watch Robert Reich now, and spread the word.
Watch and See Why We Need A Public Health Plan
An animated cartoon is worth a thousand words:
Wake Up, America!
In a column in the Washington Post on August 24th, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele purported to be worried about the damage health care reform will do to Medicare.
Really? Talk about raiding Medicare: Can you say “Medicare Advantage”? The last Administration privatized Medicare in 2003 with the Medicare Advantage system that lured private insurance into the program by paying huge subsidies of more than 14% on top of what the traditional, public Medicare program is paid for the same services.
Can you say “Part D”? The last Administration created the incomprehensible Part D prescription drug program that made Medicare drug coverage available ONLY through private plans and actually wrote into law a PROHIBITION against Medicare negotiating prices with drug companies. Talk about a boondoggle for Big Pharma!
The Bush Administration created a windfall for private insurance and pharmaceutical companies – all at the expense of the cost-effective public Medicare program, seniors, and taxpayers.
Come on, America, Wake Up! Don’t buy into using health care reform to create another welfare program for private insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Haven’t we given them enough by giving them Medicare?
So, I was at a Town Hall meeting …
Congressman Joe Courtney hosted a Town Hall meeting on Thursday (August 6th) to discuss health care reform. This is the third such meeting I’ve been at since mid July. The first two were sparsely attended and extremely civil. People listened, had questions, and told their own stories about problems and concerns regarding health care coverage. Last week’s meeting was entirely different. How?
- The room was packed. Standing room only. Hundreds of people in attendance, in the most out of the way area in CT on a summer night!
- The atmosphere was heated, literally and figuratively.
- People in opposition to health care reform had signs and repeated points. Suddenly there was talk of forced euthanasia, the Constitution, and limits on care for “retarded children” and older people. None of this was mentioned at the earlier meetings just a few weeks ago.
- When one woman ( a veteran) spoke about the problems getting health care coverage for her special-needs child she was shouted down with the question: “Why don’t you move?” When she asked back, “where is your compassion, my husband and I both served this country and have done everything right,” she was greeted with hoots.
- When a local farmer spoke about the loss of her family farm and cows and her brother’s chronic illness, she was told to hurry up and sit down.
- When a woman with cancer told about not being able to get a needed study covered by her private insurance, someone yelled out, “Why don’t you just switch plans?” As she had explained, she said, “I can’t, I have a pre-existing condition!” “Awww,” said a group seated together in the crowd, feigning sympathy.
Now I am reading about these same points being made and attitudes reflected in similar atmoshpheres throughout the country.
While many people did come to listen and learn, too many did not. Of course this was organized. It’s the only explanation for the dramatic difference between the meetings before and after the Congressional Recess and for the repeated talking points and style. Unfortunately, it appears to be aimed at intimidating, not at community building, discourse, or learning. While Congressman Courtney was prepared, respectful and even-tempered throughout, few people could have heard and too many people left scared and sad. What a shame.
For the health of our country, we need to reform. We need to back away from this noise soon, before someone gets hurt.
Oh – and we need health care reform with a true public option. It’s the only way to get coverage for everyone at a price taxpayers can afford.
Medicare, We Hardly Know Ya
44 years ago Medicare was enacted into law. All of today’s dire warnings about a public health option – socialism and government barring the doctor’s door – were made in opposition to Medicare. Despite such opposition from “conservative,” leaders, including Senator Bob Dole, Medicare passed.
Before Medicare, 50% of everyone 65 or older had NO health insurance. Now, as a result of Medicare, almost all older people are insured. Medicare, which is national, government-run health insurance, succeeded in insuring older people where private insurance failed. And, until the Bush Administration privatized Medicare with the extraordinarily subsidized private “Medicare Advantage” and Part D plans, Medicare was remarkably cost-effective too. It’s private Medicare, not the traditional, public program, that’s bleeding taxpayers of billions of dollars.
Medicare has been a success, fiscally and morally. It took on the job of insuring health coverage and care to people that private insurance had abandoned. Since 2003, on the other hand, private Medicare plans have cost us all tens of billions of dollars that went to support the private insurance industry, not to providing health care. In addition, private Medicare plans have too often engaged in marketing abuses and restrictive coverage practices.
As Paul Krugman recognizes in today’s New York Times, people with Medicare love it. They do not want government to fool around with the traditional program. Ironically, these are sometimes the same people who worry that a public health care option will cause long waits for health care and government invasions into their private medical decisions. They, and their family members, (which accounts for pretty much all of us), forget that the traditional Medicare program is a public health insurance option.
Hello, America, meet Medicare: Our 44 year-old public health insurance option that provides care to all its enrollees, anywhere in the country, and that has provided health and economic security for millions of older people, people with disabilities, and their families.
Happy anniversary, Medicare. Thank you for showing us what a true public insurance program can offer.
Yes, Virginia, A Public Health Insurance Option Will Save Money and Provide Access To Good Care
Once again, probing, independent minds have concluded that a public health option will save money and provide stable access to health care. A new Commonwealth Fund report finds “A public insurance plan can help drive new efficiencies in the system that will produce large cost reductions. Without a public plan, much of those potential savings will be lost,”
With a public option and a standard set of benefits across all private and public plans, everyone will be better able to access coverage they can understand, at a price taxpayers can afford.
We get it. We need health care reform. We need a public option. We don’t believe in fairy tales. Tell Congress!
