Category: Health Care

Andrew Sullivan, whose blog I follow regularly now that it has important coverage of Iran’s war of position (some other good folks to follow are Nico Pitney of Huffingtonpost.com, and Saeed Valadbaygi) has a column on Times Online: “Barack Obama keeps his cool in hothead Washington.”  This is pretty much an “Obama has the right idea in mind for the long run” editorial.  Now, far be it from me to criticize “keeping cool” as an attitude, but IMHO there are concerns about all this that need to be raised.

(crossposted at Big Orange)

Have you met your Senate Finance Committee?

Give em a call because your Future Health Care, or lack thereof, is in their hands.

Senate Committee on Finance

Members

REPUBLICANS

CHUCK GRASSLEY, IA

ORRIN G. HATCH, UT

OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, ME

JON KYL, AZ

JIM BUNNING, KY

MIKE CRAPO, ID

PAT ROBERTS, KS

JOHN ENSIGN, NV

MIKE ENZI, WY

JOHN CORNYN, TX

DEMOCRATS

MAX BAUCUS, MT

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, WV

KENT CONRAD, ND

JEFF BINGAMAN, NM

JOHN F. KERRY, MA

BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, AR

RON WYDEN, OR

CHARLES E. SCHUMER, NY

DEBBIE STABENOW, MI

MARIA CANTWELL, WA

BILL NELSON, FL

ROBERT MENENDEZ, NJ

THOMAS CARPER, DE

http://finance.senate.gov/site…

Chances are, these good Senators, while they hear us, have some other Constituents, always on their minds.

Crossposted at Daily Kos

ACTION: Contact HHS and The White House to let them know that if there is a No Robust Public Option, there is NO REFORM! Contact Information provided below.

Al Hunt: “You’ve said, all right, you are willing to compromise on your notion of a public plan, you are willing to compromise on the employer mandate, you are willing to compromise on taxing benefits. What’s non-negotiable?”

Sec HHS Kathleen Sebelius:     ” Uh, the, the bill at the end of the day has to have a comprehensive approach that lowers cost. That’s just non-negotiable. The status quo is unacceptable. . . ”

From thinkprogress.org

AH:     “Most congressional watchers say any chance of any really bi-partisan bill is dead. No Republicans in the House seem to be signed up, in the Senate your talking about a hand full of Republicans, maybe four or five. Isn’t really any notion of a bi-partisan health care bill pretty much off the table?”

KS:     “Well, I certainly hope not, and I hope, that, um, the Senate Republicans who have been working hard on this issue are genuinely interested in participating in the solution.”

AH:     “How many Senate Republican votes do you think you can get?”

KS:     “You know, I don’t know. Um, I, I would love to see them all.”

AH:     “But how many realistically? Can you get to double digits? You know how to count.”

KS:     “I, I know how to count. I think it depends on, you know, what, what we have, but I think there are 5-10 who may well be there for the final vote. I am encouraged by the number of people who say we need to do something. The status quo doesn’t work, and I think people know that. In the early nineties, again, not doing anything won at the end of the day. People thought that was an acceptable place to land. I don’t think anybody thinks not doing anything is acceptable for our current situation.”

    While Democrats in Congress and the President’s cabinet carry water for the Republicans, real Americans are dying. They are dying from disease that can be prevented. They are dying from lack of emergency care. They are dying because it is more profitable to let them die than it is to cover their insurance. It is that simple.

   And as the Democrats do all the heavy lifting for the Republicans in putting up road blocks to a Robust Public Option, the Republicans return the favor by attacking the Democratic President, the Democratic Congress and the entire Democratic agenda.

    Is that how bi-partisanship is supposed to work?

This is a meditation on power and political hope, on the idea that the struggle for power seems to favor those who focus their lives upon the attainment of power (rather than, say, the enjoyment of life), and of what hope to place (and in what) in a world in which this is true.

(crossposted at Big Orange)

Simulposted on Daily Kos

    All of these Senators are Arlen Specter.

    Progressives should remember well the lessons we have learned through Arlen Specter in the last few months.

    That lesson seems to be.

    A. Politicians care about nothing more than staying in power and gaining power.

    B. A Politician that fears losing their seat will do anything to prevent it.

    C. If they don’t fear you, they will not respect you.

    D. Bi-Partisanship = Cow Pie

    Specter, the agile old lizard that he is, seems to only have one skill, which is judging the wind in Washington. Many other Senators do not have this skill. There careers will be much shorter than his because of it.

    These Senators do not realize, or do not care, that average Americans are fucking dying out there do to lack of health care coverage, whether it is preventative or emergency.

    And now they are compromising with “NO!”

    Well, good Senator, there is a phrase I would like to reacquaint you with.

   “If you fuck with the bull, you get the horns.”

    Now, on to the show.

Original article, by Kate Randall, via World Socialist Web Site:

A White House forum on health care provided some insight into the Obama administration’s vision for a reform of the system. In the ABC News program “Questions for the President: Prescription for America,” broadcast Wednesday night, Obama outlined proposals for a revamped health care system in which medical services would be subject to “evidence-based” analysis and the profits of the insurance giants would remain intact.

I caught the Randi Rhodes show today. She was suggesting that all we have to do to pay for Health Care Reform, including a Public Option, was to just Roll Back the Bush Tax Cuts!

What a Brilliant Idea!

Thanks Rhandi … (So glad you’re back btw)

As it turns out, we just need to let the Bush Tax Cuts Expire, when they are due to “sunset” (ie. Don’t Renew them!)

When Would the President’s Tax Cuts Expire?

by Andrew M. Grossman – April 21, 2004

In 2001 and 2003, President George W. Bush proposed and Congress passed a series of tax cuts to reinvigorate the economy and reduce the government’s burden on workers’ paychecks. Because of opposition to these measures from some in Congress, they were implemented as temporary tax cuts, all of which will expire by January 1, 2011.

http://www.heritage.org/Resear…

Welcome to the 13th installment of “Considered Forthwith.” Sorry I missed getting this up here over the weekend.

This weekly series looks at the various committees in the House and the Senate. Committees are the workshops of our democracy. This is where bills are considered, revised, and occasionally advance for consideration by the House and Senate. Most committees also have the authority to exercise oversight of related executive branch agencies.

First, I want to note the committee monitoring project that Meteor Blades has announced over on the GOS. I hope to take part and invite anyone else who is participating to see my list of links at the end of this diary for more information about specific committees.

This week, I will look at the House Education and Labor Committee, yet another committee with jurisdiction over health care reform. The big news: we have a public option sighting!

Rockefeller on Health Insurance Industry Practices

Mar 27 2009

PRESS RELEASE — SENATOR JAY ROCKEFELLER.

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator John (Jay) Rockefeller, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, held a full committee hearing this week entitled, “Deceptive Health Insurance Industry Practices – Are Consumers Getting What They Paid For?”

[…]

A recent investigation conducted by the Attorney General of New York concluded that for a number of years, the insurance industry has systematically under-estimated the out-of-network reimbursement rates it pays its policy holders, costing consumers billions of dollars in excessive out-of-pocket costs. The victims of this deceptive practice – more than 100 million Americans who pay for health insurance coverage that allows them to go outside of their provider network for medical care.

(Emphasis Added)

Press Release

Most of us are keeping not-very hopeful tabs on the health care debates as our bought and paid-for non-representatives in Congress do their masters’ bidding to prevent at all costs (and those are ample) any possibility that Americans will have expanded access to reasonably priced health care. Why? The answer to that is even simpler than the answer to why we tolerate just another Wall Street inspired ponzi scheme of futures trading on human suffering in this country. There are too many of us in our ever so modern “pared-down” non-producing society. Just as our production capacity and jobs have been outsourced, our homes and other assets “liquidated” in the process of paying off Wall Street for fucking the nation, We the People must be liquidated as well.

IOW, half or more of us must die in order to reduce the profit drag on the top 5% of wealth holders in our society.

We’re all going to die one of these days, but in order to pare the flow-through population to something akin to just enough pool cleaners, maids, cooks, nannies, dishwashers, waiters and mechanics to keep the rich in servants, at least half of us must die sooner rather than later. Along with our children and any possible children we might have had at some point. This saves the rich a lot on public education, public welfare, food stamps, unemployment, worker’s comp, health care to the old and indigent, retirement income, etc., etc., etc.

The fastest way to accomplish what needs to be done is to prevent the permanent poor, the working poor, the downsized, the sick, the might get sick, the middle class that still have homes, and everyone else not in the top 5% of wealth holders from getting necessary health care. They’ve made some significant advances in the plan over the past couple of decades, to the point now where the only affordable insurance for those earning less than a quarter million dollars a year is “junk insurance.” The kind that costs hundreds more every year, doesn’t cover you if you actually need it, and comes with thousands of dollars’ worth of deductibles you’d have to pay out of pocket before some pencil-pusher decides not to cover you at all.

Crossposted at http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

    I was recently told that an effective way of contacting my Congress Critter is to write a hand written letter and then send it off to them. Apparently, the effort that goes into writing an actual letter is a clear signal that I mean business, much more so than a phone call that never reaches my Congressperson or an e-mail that can be easily deleted.

    Therefore, I propose that we all get some “Get Well Cards” and send them off to our Representatives in Congress. That way, they will know we really, really care.

    We know the votes are there. Are the vertebrae there is the question.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Choosing the right card is important. It can be funny or angry, home made or store bought, and you should definitely personalize the message on the inside.

    The message should be as clear as daylight. We want health care reform with a real and robust public option. You want to get re-elected. We should work together in order to accomplish our goals.

    Send one to both your Senators and your Congressional Representative, as well as your local State Representatives. Let them know that the American public will not tolerate bullshit on this issue, or any other issue where the status quo and Big Business stands in the way of real reform and progress.

    Mailing addresses for your Representative in the House can be found here at writerep.house.gov

    And your Senators mailing address can be found here at www.senate.gov