The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have semi-daily “Health on the Hill” updates that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
Today’s Updates – 10/29/09:
Today marked a big day in the health care reform journey that we have all been on this year, and it was an even bigger day for those that have been fighting this fight for decades. The House of Representatives released their health care bill today — and made quite the production of it, with Speaker Pelosi and about half of the Democratic Caucus entering the stage of the press conference to U2 blaring over the loud speakers. Standing there on the stage behind these proud Members of Congress filing in to Bono made me think about what a special day for celebration it was, while simultaneously thinking about how oddly comical politics can be sometimes. As Representatives danced their way to their seats, and Pelosi took the podium, the tone of this significant announcement settled down and focused on the real reasons why we were all there: to ensure health care coverage for those that need it, make insurance affordable for everyone and stop the horrible practices of the insurance companies.
Along with many Representatives that spoke on the various provisions included in the bill, such as the long-debated public option and strong affordability measures, constituents from each of their districts shared their personal hardships with our current health system. One such story almost knocked me off of the stage. A mother of three triplets that were conceived by In Vitro Fertilization was denied health insurance based on a claim that she had a pre-existing condition of “infertility”, and her husband was denied coverage based on “spousal infertility” as a pre-existing condition. These are the kinds of ridiculous practices that will now be illegal.
The House bill will not only end denials based on pre-existing conditions, gender, age or income, but it will insure 96% of the population, expand Medicaid to more low-income Americans, offer a health insurance exchange in which plans can be purchased, including a public plan provided by the government (the public option), and it will reduce the deficit by $30 billion over the first ten years. This bill came out to be pretty strong — We’ll just have to see whether the public option stays in the bill on its journey from the House floor to Conference (when the House and Senate bills are merged), and if it does remain in the final legislation, how many people will really have access to it. As it stands now, the Congressional Budget Office has said that only about 6 million people would gain insurance through the public option included in this new House legislation.
However, one of the biggest victories in the bill for our generation — the Millenial generation of young adults ages 18-34– was the provision to extend coverage under our parents’ insurance plan up to our 27th birthday. This provision comes at no cost to taxpayers and is just a common sense solution to ensuring coverage for young adults.
All in all it was a happy day for health care and a reminder that we still have a journey ahead of us as we await the CBO score for the Senate bill and look forward to both chambers hashing it out on the floor to debate their legislation and get us one step closer to a strong bill for health care reform.
However, the House is always an entirely different cup of tea than the Senate..so a bumpy road may still lie ahead!
Join our friends at Choice USA for a National Call-In Day TODAY to support comprehensive sex education!
It is wide-spread knowledge that abstinence-only sex education has not proven to be effective in preventing sexually-transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies. There has even been a highly conclusive congressional study showing that it has grievously failed our society as a substitute for sex education. However, leaders of our nation still insist on using our money to fund wishful thinking instead of facts, thereby cheating young adults of comprehensive sex education and putting their health and future at risk.
In a little-known subplot of the health care reform discussion, ineffective abstinence education just might get a big boost, thanks to Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Sen. Hatch proposed an amendment to the Senate Finance Committee health care proposal to give $50 million in funding to abstinence-only programs. The amendment just squeaked by (with 12 out of 23 votes) to rear its disingenuous head in the committee’s final bill.
Concerned citizens living in areas where abstinence-only programs are currently taught could turn to more successful strategies of sex education, once government funding expires in the coming years. But now, if Hatch’s amendment makes it to the reform bill that reaches President’s Obama’s desk, we can all look forward to incomprehensive sex education that could result in another decade of increasing rates of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
Responsible legislators must block this bogus amendment from getting through Congress. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), who supports comprehensive, effective sex education, is in the small group that is compiling the Senate’s final health care reform bill, and it is imperative that he eliminate Hatch’s agenda from their plan. We owe it to our nation’s youth, and to all those who have suffered from disease and unwanted pregnancy because they were never given realistic tools to prevent it.
Join Choice USA NOW for a National Call-In Day to support comprehensive sex education!
*This blog was written by Carly Groff, Advocacy Intern
The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have semi-daily “Health on the Hill” updates that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
Today’s Updates – 10/26/09
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is making news today by announcing his merged Senate bill is ready and includes a public option. It is on its way to the Congressional Budget Office to be scored for cost, revenue and savings. That’s when we’ll know more about whether this bill will be the one to go to the floor to be voted on by the entire Senate. Once the bill is scored and more information on the legislation is released, we’ll also know more about the public option that is included. It is a public option that will allow states to “opt out” of offering it to their residents. Depending on who will make this decision for the state and when they would have to opt out by, this may be a decent compromise (except for those in the states that will be opting out of course). However, it seems the President is advocating for a “trigger” option, which is basically only implementing a public option if necessary down the road. Why he would advocate for that instead of this opt-out option, which contradicts his initial message surrounding health care reform, is a bit suspect since the “trigger” option has more support from the insurance industry.
In the House, the word is that their merged bill may be released this week after all.
Fueling the push for a new government insurance plan, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said today that his chamber’s healthcare bill would include a compromise that would create a nationwide public option but give states the right to opt out.
The White House is looking for a political victory on health care, and if a public option looks unlikely or impossible to pass, Obama is unlikely to waste political capital on it. But his support may be the deciding factor. The White House blog insists that the administration backs Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid’s public option push, but not everyone sees action behind the words.
House Democratic leaders are hoping to unveil health reform legislation this week so they can vote on the package by November 6. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) has warned Members of Congress to be available Saturday November 7 and possibly the Monday and Tuesday before Veterans Day so that the House can vote on healthcare. Moving that quickly would certainly put the House out in front of the Senate on healthcare.
The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have semi-daily “Health on the Hill” updates that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
Today’s Updates – 10/21/09
This week, while key Senate Democrats and White House officials have been in discussions about merging their health care reform legislation into one bill, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been hard at work trying to meld the House pieces of legislation together, focusing specifically on ensuring that a “robust” public option will be included. Pelosi and her team are not only working to include this in the House plan, but are putting pressure on the Senate to include a “robust” public option in the final Senate bill. In the Senate’s bill-merging discussions, Harry Reid has said that “We’re leaning towards talking about a public option”. Leaning towards talking about it…how’s that for commitment? Anyway, if that lean turns into a discussion and that discussion turns into a solid commitment to have a public option in the final Senate bill, it will make it easier to ensure a public option is included in the bill that comes out of the House and Senate merge of legislation, called “conference”, which is the last step before the President signs reform into law.
What does a “robust” public option mean? Basically it all comes down to how the insurance plan pays the health providers. Private insurance plans negotiate their own rates for payment, which are often high and run up costs. Medicare, on the other hand, has set rates that keep costs low. The public option being endorsed by Speaker Pelosi and gang would pay providers at the same rate as Medicare plus 5%. This is what the House is calling a “robust” public option. Other public options would negotiate their own rates like a private plan does. The Congressional Budget Office has given a $871 billion cost score to the House plan that includes the “robust” public option and says that it will reduce the deficit.
Meanwhile, health reform supporters around the country continue to show their demand for reform. Yesterday’s national day of action generated over 300,000 calls to Congress, with the message that it is “time to deliver” on health care reform. This kind of grassroots action is key, especially when the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries are spending record amounts on lobbying against health reform (see below).
Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats Tuesday night that she wants to move forward with the more liberal version of a House health reform bill that would peg government-run coverage to Medicare – setting up a clash with moderates in her caucus who oppose the plan.
The public plan is among the most contentious issues to be worked out between Senate Democrats and the White House ahead of floor action this fall. President Barack Obama has said he thinks a public plan is the best way to ensure competition in the health-insurance market, while adding that he is open to other ideas.
.. insurers, drugmakers and hospitals continue to spend millions to attempt to sway the emerging legislation, according to new disclosure reports filed with Congress.The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the drugmakers’ main trade group, shattered records again by spending nearly $7 million on lobbying from July through September..
“I’m very concerned about health care in our nation. I’m worried that once I’m out of the safety net of my parents’ [health insurance plan], I won’t be able to keep up with my health expenses. My name is Joe, I’m 19 and I’m voting for health care.” – Joe, October 2008.
“Both of my parents are social workers, so [universal health care] is dinner table conversation for us. They will come home and talk about all of these people who are not insured, who don’t have health care, and who are sitting [at home] wondering how they are going to pay for their medication. It just affects so many people. I don’t think people even realize how many people are out there that really need help. I’m Kaitlyn, I’m 18 years old and I’m voting for universal health care.” – Kaitlyn, 18, October 2008
“My mom went into the hospital complaining of back pains, two days later she had a stroke. My family was [told] that the only providers that could help were either out-of- state or out- of- network. My mom died a year later. My name is Shauna Harris and I’m voting for health care reform.” – Shauna Harris, October 2008
Joe, Kaitlyn, and Shauna are young voters who shared their reason for voting during the Campus Progress Action “I’m Voting For” project in 2008.
These are the words of young voters from across the country spoken just weeks before they, and thousands like them, hit the polls in record numbers to usher in change for the 2008 presidential election. The demand for health care reform was the motivation for casting their votes and now, one year later, it is time to deliver that change.
October has proved to be a step in the right direction, with health care reform legislation making its way through the fifth and final Congressional committee in charge of writing a reform bill. However, there is a long road ahead and we, as young adults impacted by the health care crisis and motivated by the hope of universal health care, have to keep up the pressure and ensure that our legislators deliver on what we voted for.
Tuesday, October 20th, millions of people across the country will be doing exactly that. There will be events, rallies and a national call-in day to generate thousands of calls to Congress with the message that now is the “time to deliver” on health care reform.
This effort will be spearheaded by Organizing for America and other large groups across the country including the Health Care for America NOW coalition, AARP, The American Cancer Society, and FamiliesUSA.
On Wednesday, October 21st, Rock the Vote will be engaging young Americans on the issue of health care reform through an online forum with Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz.
Finally on Thursday, October 22nd, there will be a large protest outside of the America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) conference in Washington, D.C. AHIP represents America’s health insurers and hundreds of reform supporters are going to be there to protest their bad practices like denying care.
There are so many things we can do as young Americans in support of health care reform, and we will have to keep up the pressure until a bold piece of legislation lands on our President’s desk, but this week holds many opportunities to take a step further than casting our vote last year. So get out and take part in some of these actions and remind Congress and President Obama why you voted and that you’d like to see change delivered now.
The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have semi-daily Health on the Hill posts which will feature news links and updates that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
Today’s Updates – 10/16/09:
It’s Friday, so we’re starting off with a little comedy (albeit, comedy on an issue that’s not all too funny).
The report released early this week by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)/Price Waterhouse Coopers tried to claim that premiums would increase by $4,000 after health care reform; that claim was denied. The claim was discredited by the Congressional Budget Office, yet some Republicans are still embracing the study (surprise, surprise). Health Insurance executives are getting desperate now; turning out false reports in yet another effort to scare Americans into thinking health care reform is bad and is going to rob them of the money they don’t have. (FYI -they don’t have it because insurance companies have been robbing them for years ..and want to continue.)
On another note, now that the Senate Finance Committee bill has been passed, Majority Leader Harry Reid has already begun the process of merging the two Senate health care bills into one. There are only three key people involved: Sen. Chris Dodd (D- CT) of the Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) of the Senate Finance Committee, and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. The prospect of a public option being included in the final merged bill looks good, but then again it has been a long, bumpy journey and only time (and pressure from you!) will tell.
A group of 30 Senators wrote a letter to Majority Leader Reid last week urging him to include a public option in the final merged bill and our friends at MapLight.org discovered that, mysteriously, the other 70 Senators, who did not sign the letter in support of a public option, have received twice as much money in campaign contributions from the health insurance industry than the 30 Senators who did sign the letter of support. Tell me again why we allow the fate of America’s new health insurance system to lie in the pockets of corrupt politicians?
While careful to not directly connect the study to the insurance industry, Republicans cite the study’s claim that premiums will increase by $4,000 and disingenuously argue that the Congressional Budget Office agrees with the insurance industry’s conclusions.
The foursome is expected to discuss key issues at the heart of the reform process–affordability, Medicare, the public option, revenues–but no decisions are expected today. The meeting kicks off a process that may be the most important of the entire health care debate.
The 30 Senators who signed the letter [sent to Harry Reid] in support of the public option received an average of $15,937 in campaign contributions from the health insurance industry between January 2003 and June 2009, 57% less than the $37,322 received by the 70 senators who did not sign the letter.
This blog was written by Arielle Koreyasu, Campus Progress Intern
Yesterday, Campus Progress joined 20 other youth organizations on the Hill for the Y.I. Want Change Lobby Day. The Y.I. Want Change coalition represents about 1.5 million young Americans and is working to add the youth voice to the health care debate.The Lobby Day allowed for over 100 students from 30 different states to participate in meetings with their elected officials, promoting the coalition’s health care policy priorities[pdf].
The Y.I. Policy Agenda outlines key priorities for health care reform that will directly benefit young adults ages 18-34. Such policies include a public option, lower premium caps for low-income Americans, funding for health care reform education, and extending the age for receiving coverage under a parent’s health insurance plan to age 26.
This provision is strongly supported by President Obama and the Senate HELP Committee, one of the key committees drafting health care legislation in the Senate. And yesterday, the House announced its plans to include this common sense provision to their health care reform bill as well. The Y.I. Want Change coalition participated in the press conference marking this announcement yesterday, which took place on Capitol Hill and was held by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Representatives Van Hollen (D-MD) and Dahlkemper (D-PA), who expressed their ardent support for young Americans’ access to affordable, comprehensive and fair health care.The Speaker announced the provision that will allow young Americans to stay on their parents’ insurance until their 27th birthday as a major victory for young adults and their role in the health care debate.
“Our young people are our future. This is our opportunity to lay a foundation for growth, progress, and prosperity for our youth, and provide affordable, quality health care to every American. It is an opportunity we will not miss,” said Speaker Pelosi.
While the Lobby Day proved to be a success, with many moderate Democrats expressing their support for some of the key policy priorities including anti-discrimination provisions and funding for health care workforce training, Campus Progress and the Y.I Want Change coalition will continue to maintain a presence in the national health care reform debate. We will be urging policymakers to support some of the more controversial yet significant priorities, such as a public option, and to remember young Americans when passing the final version of the health care bill.As young people make up an outstanding one-third of the uninsured population, health care reform is and will continue to be a priority for us.
The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have Health on the Hill which will feature news links that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
Today’s Updates – 10/14/09:
Yesterday the long awaited health care reform bill from Senator Baucus’s committee (the Senate Finance Committee) was finally passed by its members. It was passed out of committee 14-9, with one Republican, Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine, breaking from her party and voting in support of the bill along with Democrats.
Although this bill is weaker in terms of affordability and does not include a public option like the other Senate bill and the House bill, this vote was crucial for getting the legislation passed so that the Senate can move on to the next step of merging the two bills from the Senate Finance and Senate HELP Committees.
The media has centered around the health reform bill from the Senate Finance Committee but it is important to note that it is no more significant than the bills drafted by the other Congressional committees writing reform legislation. It is also important to remember that there is still time to add and strengthen provisions for reform before the final bill is voted on; the Senate Finance bill has many flaws and just yesterday great provisions that will directly impact young Americans were added to the House bill, so these next few weeks will be about fighting to include these stronger provisions, including a public option, to the final bill.
On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Congress moved closer to achieving [the goal of passing health care reform] than it ever has. The hold-out Senate Finance Committee voted by a 14-to-9 margin to move the fifth and final health care reform proposal through the conservative panel.
When Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe took her seat on the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday morning, she had only an inkling of how she’d vote on health care reform. She wanted the budget experts to weigh in before making up her mind.
The health bill [that was] passed out of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday is no more important than the bills to be passed out of any other House or Senate Committee, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said this evening.
Rep. Van Hollen, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, D-Pa., attended a news conference to announce the provision [for young adults to be covered under their parents' health insurance until age 26], along with youth advocacy group representatives from Young Invincibles and Campus Progress.
All the excitement and buzz right now is centered around the CBO score of the Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill, which was released yesterday from the Congressional Budget Office. This score analyzes the Committee’s legislation and let’s us all know how much reform is going to cost, how many people it will insure and how much revenue it will bring in.
The media and many Congress members are ecstatic about the low number of $829 billion the CBO scored for the cost of this reform package. It seems the Committee’s goal was to meet President Obama’s key requests for financing health care reform, which were to not add “one dime” to the budget deficit and to keep the cost below $900 billion. Well, Mission Accomplished. However, no one is talking about the fact that the bill will still leave 25 million people uninsured- so of course it is cheap!
25 million people falling through the cracks of what is supposed to be an overhaul of our health insurance system in order to ensure coverage for all Americans is just unacceptable.
25 million people is roughly equivalent to the population of Iowa, Arkansas, Nevada, Maine, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota, Connecticut and Louisiana combined.
These nine states just happen to be home to eight Senators, and the Senate Majority Leader, that have played a big part in the creation (or opposition) to this bill. Shall all all those responsible for watering this bill down so thoroughly as to leave the equivalent of their entire home state uninsured really get credit for receiving such a “great” CBO score?
Compared to the HELP bill, the Senate Finance Committee’s bill took longer to complete, it still has not been voted out of committee (vote expected next week at this point), costs more and insures less people. The HELP bill, which is the version of health care reform that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee created, includes a public option, the Senate Finance bill does not. I’ll let you come to your own conclusions.
The next step is for Senate Finance Committee members to review the CBO score before voting the bill out of their committee next week. Then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will sit behind closed doors with just a few select Senators (most likely Senator Dodd from the HELP committee and Senator Baucus from the Senate Finance Committee) to combine the two versions of health care reform legislation in the Senate. This is where the public option still has a chance. This is where Congress still has a chance to leave no one behind and ensure affordable coverage for all.
The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have some quick daily or semi-daily updates on what’s happening on the Hill.
Health on the Hill will feature news links that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
Today’s Updates – 10/7/09:
Last week the Senate Finance Committee finished voting on all amendments to their health care reform bill (42 amendments were accepted). This week a Committee vote is expected (maybe), but Chairman Baucus has not specified a day for the vote because he wants to give Committee members plenty of time to review the cost of the bill. The cost will be revealed today when the Congressional Budget Office releases its score of the reform bill. However, this may not be the only time waiting for the CBO score will delay this process. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the final Senate floor vote (after both the Senate Finance and HELP Committee bills are combined) will now possibly take place the week of October 19th instead of next week. ( Maybe this had a little something to do with the letter he received from eight moderate Democrats urging him to give them a 72-hour window before the vote.) Surprise, surprise – more delays.
Meanwhile in the House, Speaker Pelosi is leading the way to finalizing their health care bill by walking each member through the specifics of a public option today.
Finally, reform supporters across the country get creative in front of insurance company offices and even get arrested! Now that is commitment – let’s see if Congress can be as bold with their power to pass real reform.
Democratic hopes for a quick Senate Finance Committee vote on a broad U.S. healthcare overhaul were dashed on Monday as budget experts took longer than expected with their estimate of the bill’s cost.
As the health care reform bill moves to the Senate floor, a key bloc of moderate Senate Democrats and an independent called on Senate Majority Leader Reid to increase the process’ transparency. Specifically, the senators called on Reid to post legislative text and CBO scores online 72 hours before the first floor vote.
Yellow crime scene tape and “body pile-ups” attracted the attention of passersby outside Anthem Blue Cross offices in five California cities, as thousands of protesters declared the company’s locations “crime scenes.”
Health Care for America Now! in Pennsylvania held a “Crime Scene” action today outside CIGNA headquarters in Philadelphia which drew more than 100 protesters and featured a nonviolent blockade of the insurance giant’s doorways which resulted in five arrests.
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.
The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have semi-daily “Health on the Hill” updates that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have semi-daily “Health on the Hill” updates that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have semi-daily “Health on the Hill” updates that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have semi-daily Health on the Hill posts which will feature news links and updates that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have Health on the Hill which will feature news links that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
All the excitement and buzz right now is centered around the 
The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have some quick daily or semi-daily updates on what’s happening on the Hill.