Here are some of my favorite moments from today’s six-hour bipartisan meeting on health care reform:
Obama to McCain – “Let me make this point, because we aren’t campaigning anymore, the campaign is over”
I loved this line because it summed up the mood of the entire summit meeting. It seemed like everyone was campaigning for themselves instead of for the issue, and the President kept referencing that, especially when he and Senator McCain got into a back and forth during the cost containment portion of the discussion.
Rep. Barasso (R-WY) – paraphrasing ” Members of Congress should just have catastrophic care. Everyone gets care even if they don’t have insurance, and people with catastrophic insurance are the best consumers of health care because they really think about what care they need”
This was so false that it was comical. It just proved that the “party of no” is completely out of touch with the health care system and how it works. No, not everyone gets care if they don’t have insurance. In fact, according to the American Journal of Public Health, 45,000 people die every year because they are not receiving the care they need due to lack of insurance.
On the note of the Catastrophic plans, this topic came up in the cost discussion and particularly referred to the catastrophic coverage targeted at young adults and low-income adults (which are plans we have been fighting to improve). Rep. Barrosso’s line was so idiotic that it just proves how out of touch he is. Consumers of Catastrophic plans are not choosing them because they think they are the best plans and fall in line with what they need, they are choosing them because they usually have no choice and because it is the cheapest option – but they have barely any pre-deductible coverage. Which means they won’t cover any “regular” health needs that consumers have, like prescriptions or check-ups.
Actually, President Obama said it perfectly for us during the summit:
“Look, if I’m a self-employed person who right now can’t get coverage or can only buy the equivalent of Acme insurance that I had for my car — so I have some sort of high-deductible plan. It’s basically not health insurance; it’s house insurance. I’m going to — I’m buying that to protect me from some catastrophic situation; otherwise, I’m just paying out of pocket. I don’t go to the doctor. I don’t get preventive care. There are a whole bunch of things I just do without. But if I get hit by a truck, maybe I don’t go bankrupt. All right, so that’s what I’m purchasing right now.
What the Congressional Budget Office is saying is, is that if I now have the opportunity to actually buy a decent package inside the exchange that costs me about 10 to 13 percent more but is actually real insurance, then there are going to be a bunch of people who take advantage of that. So, yes, I’m paying 10 to 13 percent more, because instead of buying an apple, I’m getting an orange. They’re two different things.
..The way that this bill is structured uses a high-cost pool, a catastrophic pool, for people who can’t afford to buy that better insurance, but overall for a basic package — which, by the way, is a lot less generous than we give ourselves in Congress. So I’m amused when people say, let people have this not-so-good plan, let them have a high-deductible. But there would be a riot in Congress if we suddenly said, let’s have Congress have a high-deductible plan, because we all think it’s pretty important to provide coverage for our families. And the federal health insurance program has a minimum benefit that all of us take advantage of. And I haven’t seen any Republicans — or Democrats — in Congress suddenly say, “You know what, we should have more choices and not have to have this minimum benefit.”
Brilliant Mr. President, that’s what we have been arguing all along. Don’t leave young and low-income Americans out in the cold. Improve the plans and subsidies offered in the exchange pool so that we can be included. Otherwise, improve the Catastrophic plans to provide better coverage. It’s that simple.
Watch the health care summit and submit comments on facebook!
Today is the big day. No really, this time health care reform is really going to strap some wheels on and start moving (after all, abortion coverage is back in the news and you know it’s not a real political discussion unless the abortion debate is involved). The President just had to get everybody together and tell them to stop their bickering and come to a compromise on health care reform. Although the strategy behind the Administration’s moves to push health care reform thus far can be questioned ( i.e. why they foolishly gave up on the public option), the President is trying to stand strong and keep health care reform from falling apart as it did in ‘93.
Speaking of 1993, I can’t decide whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing that the current bill proposed by Democrats reflects that of the Republican bill during Clinton’s presidency. I’ll let you marinate on that for a minute.
Either way, Congress and the Administration are trying to move forward, because it is what has to be done in order to start the slow climb to actual health care reform.
The President released his new proposal for health care reform this week to be used as a basis for the discussion in today’s summit (yes we have already seen a proposal from him, yes the new one packs less of a punch, and yes it is pretty much the Senate bill with a few key improvements – surprise our powerful leader is starting from center again).
However, we find ourselves in a dire situation with the health of our nation, mounting deficit and the corruption that keeps rearing its ugly head in the health insurance industry (are we really shocked that huge companies like Wellpoint would raise rates, manipulate data to boost profits and then try to defend their insidious actions? After all they are behind the effort to kill this health care bill). So, it is clear now more than ever that we have to keep fighting for strong reform.
Here are a few things the President’s proposal would do for America:
Extending dependent coverage for young adults up to age 26
Banning insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions
Increasing subsidies to low-income families in order to purchase coverage
Creating federal oversight to curb insurance industry abuses and unfair rate increases
Giving tax credits to help small businesses afford health insurance
And that’s just naming a few, check out the full proposal here for more info.
So what will happen today? Well, tune in here to see for yourself. The Sunlight Foundation will be streaming the discussion live all day and will have some cool live blogging as well as links to the campaign contributions from health insurance lobbyists that members are receiving as each of them speaks. You can submit your own questions about the debate on the site. One thing is certain, you can expect “party of no” members to give the same old attacks against health care reform, while not producing solutions themselves. Check out The Wonk Room’s guide to GOP ideas expected during today’s summit.
What will happen after today? It seems that Congress is firm in its decision to pass legislation within the next 60 days and use a political technique to pass the legislation without the 60 vote supermajority needed (since that supermajority was lost when Senator Kennedy’s seat was filled by Scott Brown). There is some opposition to using this technique, called reconciliation, but it is a very common technique that has been used many times in the past, even with health care. So it seems this will be the way forward and, one day soon, Americans will make it to the first step in solving our health care crisis.
We are already seeing legislation pass that aims to clean up other parts of the health care system. Just yesterday the House passed a health insurance antitrust bill which Rep. Tom Perriello ( D- VA) concluded should make health insurers a bit scared of the long-needed regulations to come.
A recent article published by Metro Weekly reveals that the newest Obama health care proposal does not include any specific health provisions for the gay community that were initially in the House bill. What it does include is an $11 billion plan for “the operation, expansion, and construction of community health centers.” This plan could be beneficial for HIV and LGBT clinics throughout the nation. Representative Baldwin, however, called this only “an important step forward.” Because Obama’s health proposal is more in line with the Senate bill, it does not include protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity – all of which were included in the House bill. Gay rights supporters such as Rep. Baldwin plan to continue to fight for increased provisions for the LGBT community in the final health care bill.
On Saturday, February 20, hundreds of New Yorkers gathered together to march across the Brooklyn Bridge in support of health care reform.
Making their way across the bridge, the protesters reached WellPoint offices, one of the largest health insurance companies in the nation and one that is making large profits and job cuts while Americans suffer.
The rally was very diverse, featuring several ethnicities, age groups, and job types. All came to show their support for health care reform. Despite recent legislative struggles, the New York rally of about 700 people proved that health care reform is still alive and fighting.
* This post was written by CP Intern, Yosef Getachew
Yesterday at noon four dedicated health care reform activists left Philadelphia, PA on foot headed for Washington DC, 135 miles south. 150 people gathered at the center of the city to cheer them on and see them off, voicing their support for health care reform. The march is named in honor of Melanie Shouse, a volunteer for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, who suffered from breast cancer. She could not afford health care and therefore succumbed to the disease while fighting for others who shouldn’t have to endure the same tragedy.
President Obama’s healthcare forum on February 25th will be graced with the arrival of the marchers into Washington the preceding day. Anyone who feels that reform must be accomplished immediately is encouraged to join the march at any point along the way, especially the final mile from Union Station on Capitol Hill to their destination. A list of events along the trail is on the official website Melaniesmarch.com and you can follow the happenings through Twitter and Facebook as the marchers update their progress.
As the march’s finale is taking place there will also be a Virtual March for Real Health Care Reform on February 24th sponsored by MoveOn.org; a convergence on Washington of physical bodies demanding change and a mass influx of calls, tweets, emails, faxes, and facebook posts to represent the foundation of Americans who are in dire need of real action by Congress.
As the public presence of health care reform seems to dwindle every day we need to let our representatives know that we will not give up. Congress’s forum will be a good effort to bring the issue back to the forefront but that doesn’t mean they have a plan.
Ben Miller at the Education Sector has a great post up today explaining how student loan giant Sallie Mae has inserted itself (with help from a corrupt Bush administration official) into virtually every nook and cranny of the federal student loan system. The result is that they can squeeze money from taxpayers regardless of whether the loan is paid or put into default.
Basically, there are three different kinds of private actors involved in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP – the larger and more expensive of two federal student loan programs):
Lenders: These organizations raise and lend money to students. The government gives them subsidies and promises to pay 97% of the loan if it goes into default.
Guaranty Agencies: These organizations administer the guarantee against default for lenders, and prevent default on federal student loans. They are also paid by the government to do collections or rehabilitations on defaulted loans, which, as many have pointed out, is a conflict of interest. They typically contract this work to a…
Collections Agencies: These firms are contracted by guarunty agencies to track down borrowers in default, and collect as much of the outstanding debt as possible.
The upcoming bi-partisan Health Care Summit , organized by the White House, will cover key issues in health care reform and allow President Obama to discuss solutions to move past the stand-still Congress finds itself in and come to a compromise over health care reform legislation. The entire summit will be televised and committee and ranking members from both parties have been invited to attend the televised discussion. What this signals for the status of health care reform? We are not sure yet. It is good news, as it indicates that health care is still high on our leaders’ agenda, but it is also the only sign of movement regarding the passage of legislation that we have seen since the holiday break – and it’s just a conversation. Another conversation. However, it is highly significant that Obama has invited both parties to the discussion and opened the floor for questions to be televised for all Americans to see. This will allow the President to clear up any false myths about health care reform and openly debate the sticking points for both parties.
Some Congressional members, however, are weary of the purpose of the summit. In fact, some claim it is a trap. Jon Stewart sums up the criticisms and buzz circling this upcoming summit perfectly. Also tune into Stewart to learn about the “party of no” putting their foot in their mouths, yet again, with health care reform:
Although we may not believe that a lack of progress on health care reform would be the only determining factor to keep young voters out of the polls in this year’s mid-term elections, our friend Jesse Singal makes an excellent point about the impact the Millennial generation has at the polls, our overwhelming support for health care reform, and how its failure could exacerbate youth voter apathy:
Here’s something that should make David Axelrod nervous: there are probably more Yankees fans in Massachusetts than there are young people who voted in the Massachusetts Senate special election, which cost the Democrats their filibuster-proof supermajority. Just 15 percent of eligible voters under age 30 participated. The numbers were similarly dismal during two other Republican electoral victories from last fall. In the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, just 17 and 19 percent of potential young voters participated, respectively.
This wasn’t just a fluke trifecta of uninspiring elections. It is, rather, part of a nationwide trend toward apathy among Americans under 30. Harvard’s Institute of Politics (IOP), which regularly polls young people on political issues, found last fall that just 24 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds said that they were “politically engaged or politically active,” a 19-point drop from a year earlier. This could mean trouble down the road for a Democratic Party that may have begun taking the youth vote for granted. Young voters, after all, turned out in record numbers for the 2008 election, and if they hadn’t, Obama might not be in the White House. But if Democrats don’t pass health-care reform, youth turnout may plummet.
We disagree. No paranoid rhetoric about indocrination can hide the facts (via the Wonk Room):
Conservative projections on the real fiscal rate of return on public educational investments are high:10% for high quality preschool programs, 15% for innovative K-12 reforms like First Things First, and 10.3% for investments to encourage college access and graduation.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Other research has shown that increasing education levels means less incarceration, higher wages, less unemployment, and even longer life spans. Hopefully, lawmakers and the public will remember the following words of wisdom from Derek Bok, a former president of Harvard University:
“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”
Last night, Jon Stewart chatted about student loan reform with Austan Goolsbee, an economist and member of the Council of Economic Advisers. The college affordability action starts at 4:38, check it out:
Funding our Future is a campaign to pass a progressive federal budget for 2010 and ensure that our nation.s key economic choices invest in our education, spark reform of our health care system, and address climate change through cap and trade and clean energy investments. Click here for more info.
You are currently browsing the Funding Our Future blog archives
for February, 2010.
Conservative projections on the real fiscal rate of return on public educational investments are high: