Saving our HEALTH

Let’s Make a Deal - Obama, Big Pharma, and you. (Minus you.) (Newsweek)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:24:00 -0500

Let’s Make a Deal - Obama, Big Pharma, and you. (Minus you.) (Newsweek):

“So it looks as though we are going to get a health-care-reform bill. Now the question is whether it will be reform, or “reform”: whether it will improve the way we care for people in this country or, for the most part, be a taxpayer-funded boon to the warped and wasteful industry we already know. Call me naive or cynical—or both—but I can’t quite get my mind around the notion that the way to bring “change we can believe in” is to cut an upfront deal with Billy Tauzin. (Click here to follow Howard Fineman).

Nothing against Billy, of course. At 66, Wilbert Joseph “Billy” Tauzin II is what he is: a Louisiana politician and former congressman with the Bayou-bred knack for cloaking brainpower and bare-knuckle tactics in bonhomie; a masterful mixologist of power and money; and, since 2005, the president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which he joined (for a reported $2.5 million a year) shortly after playing the key congressional role in enacting a Medicare prescription-drug plan that is a bonanza for the industry he now (officially) serves.”

Know true cost of the public option (Daily Herald - Letter to the Editor)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:44:27 -0500

I think some people prefer the public option in the health care debate because they assume it will save money. Senate Leader Harry Reid said, “I don’t think we should be crying great big tears about the insurance industry. There is no business in America that makes more money than the insurance industry.”

While I’m not sure what is wrong with making a profit, his statement is not even accurate. In 2008 insurance company profits averaged 2.2 percent. They were 35th on the list of industries by profit margin.

Then I learn that the average federal employee earns almost exactly twice as much as the average private sector employee in compensation and benefits. This is not much of a surprise, have you heard about their pensions? Finally, Dan Lucas said, “Private health insurance is more than three times as cost effective as government health insurance.” That should not be surprise either.

So the bottom line and main concern about the public option simply is, government provided insurance will cost more than private insurance, a lot more. The government may not charge what it costs them like they do with Medicare, but if Medicare alone doesn’t bankrupt this country, government provided insurance for all certainly will.

Bill Hartman

Barrington

Pelosi Breaks Pledge to Put Final Health Care Bill Online for 72 Hours Before Vote

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:46:18 -0500

Pelosi Breaks Pledge to Put Final Health Care Bill Online for 72 Hours Before Vote:

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the speaker will not allow the final language of the health care to be posted online for 72 hours before bringing the bill to a vote on the House floor, despite her September 24 statement that she was “absolutely” committed to doing so.

House members are still negotiating important issues in the bill—whether it will provide taxpayer-funding for abortions, for example. Pelosi is pushing for a Saturday House vote, and a number of big changes will be introduced, likely less than 24 hours before the vote takes place (if in fact it does). The Rules Committee hasn’t yet released its resolution, or rule, that must be passed before the bill can move from committee to the floor. The rule will set the terms of debate and determine what amendments are in order.”

Obama Trumpets AMA Backing of Health Bill (WSJ)

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:42:24 -0500

Obama Trumpets AMA Backing of Health Bill (WSJ):

“The nation’s largest doctors’ group said Thursday that it is supporting health-care legislation due for a vote in the House this week, but it insisted that it must be paired with a fix of the Medicare physician-payment system.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama Thursday welcomed that support and an endorsement from the seniors’ group AARP as signs that his push to overhaul the health-care system is successfully moving forward…”

Health-care protest at Capitol draws thousands (Washington Post)

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:42:34 -0500

Health-care protest at Capitol draws thousands (Washington Post):

“Thousands of emboldened conservative activists converged on Capitol Hill for a midday rally Thursday, a last-ditch effort to kill the Democrats’ health-care reform legislation they called “Pelosi Care.”

Protesters from across the Eastern Seaboard waved flags, held signs and rang cowbells as their chants of “Kill This Bill” echoed across the Mall. Dozens of Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), stood on the Capitol steps and pledged to do everything they could to defeat the health-care reform bill by Saturday, when House members plan to vote…”

Obama Courts House Democrats Before Vote (NYT)

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:40:50 -0500

Obama Courts House Democrats Before Vote (NYT):

“In a last-minute exercise of presidential hand-holding, President Obama plans to travel to Capitol Hill on Friday morning to meet with House Democrats, one day before they vote on his highest domestic priority: a bill to overhaul the nation’s health care system.

Without any Republican support for the legislation, Mr. Obama and the House Democratic leadership must rely entirely on Democrats to get the bill passed. White House officials said the president wanted to address any lingering doubts about the legislation in the House, where liberal Democrats are concerned that the bill’s so-called public option — a government-backed insurance plan — is too weak, and where conservative Democrats are uneasy about whether the legislation would permit federal money to be used to pay for abortion…”

House Prepares for Health Vote, Undaunted by Elections (Bloomberg)

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:37:19 -0500

House Prepares for Health Vote, Undaunted by Elections (Bloomberg):

“House Democratic leaders, undeterred by delays in the Senate or this week’s Republican electoral triumphs, plan to call a vote Saturday on the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. health-care policy in four decades.

The House will move on the $1.05 trillion legislation that would cover 36 million uninsured people and create a government plan to compete with private insurers even after the election of Republican governors in New Jersey and Virginia. President Barack Obama will go to Capitol Hill tomorrow to meet with House Democrats, as they seek the 218 votes they need to pass the bill, a Democratic leadership aide said…”

Senior Democrat opposes health bill (The Hill)

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:46:33 -0500

Senior Democrat opposes health bill (The Hill):

“Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) on Wednesday expressed his opposition to the House healthcare reform bill.

Skelton is not the only panel chairman who is planning to vote no. Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) has been highly critical of the legislation that could be voted on later this week…”

Top Dems: No Health Care Bill in 2009 (ABC)

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:46:23 -0500

Top Dems: No Health Care Bill in 2009 (ABC):

“Senior Congressional Democrats told ABC News today it is highly unlikely that a health care reform bill will be completed this year, just a week after President Barack Obama declared he was “absolutely confident” he’ll be able to sign one by then.

‘Getting this done by the by the end of the year is a no-go,’ a senior Democratic leadership aide told ABC News. Two other key Congressional Democrats also told ABC News the same thing.

This may come as an unwelcome surprise for the White House, where officials from the president on down have repeatedly said the health care bill would be signed into law by the end of the year…”

HOUSE DEM: HEALTH VOTE SET FOR SATURDAY (NBC)

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:18:00 -0500

From NBC’s Luke Russert

According to Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN), House Democrats will vote on health-care reform Saturday at 6:00 pm ET.

It is possible that the vote could come before 6:00 pm. But, according to Hill, 6:00 pm is “when it is all going down.”

Hill said he did not know whether or not Speaker Pelosi had enough votes to pass reform.

Hill also said that numerous members have told them “we’re very close.”

You may remember Hill as one of the influential Blue Dog Democrats who was one of the deal-brokers for health-care reform to get out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee back in July.

House GOP pens 230-page health bill draft (AP)

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:09:16 -0500

House GOP pens 230-page health bill draft (AP):

“After months spent criticizing Democrats’ health overhaul plans, House Republicans have produced a draft proposal of their own. It’s much shorter and focuses on bringing down costs rather than extending coverage to nearly all Americans.

A 230-page draft was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. A spokeswoman for Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said changes were still being made before the bill would be finalized in time to offer as an alternative when Democrats begin floor debate on their bill, possibly at the end of this week…”

The ***** Bill Ever (WSJ)

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:08:11 -0500

The ***** Bill Ever (WSJ):

“In a rational political world, this 1,990-page runaway train would have been derailed months ago. With spending and debt already at record peacetime levels, the bill creates a new and probably unrepealable middle-class entitlement that is designed to expand over time. Taxes will need to rise precipitously…”

“All of this is intentional, even if it isn’t explicitly acknowledged. The overriding liberal ambition is to finish the work began decades ago as the Great Society of converting health care into a government responsibility. Mr. Obama’s own Medicare actuaries estimate that the federal share of U.S. health dollars will quickly climb beyond 60% from 46% today. One reason Mrs. Pelosi has fought so ferociously against her own Blue Dog colleagues to include at least a scaled-back “public option” entitlement program is so that the architecture is in place for future Congresses to expand this share even further.

As Congress’s balance sheet drowns in trillions of dollars in new obligations, the political system will have no choice but to start making cost-minded decisions about which treatments patients are allowed to receive. Democrats can’t regulate their way out of the reality that we live in a world of finite resources and infinite wants. Once health care is nationalized, or mostly nationalized, medical rationing is inevitable—especially for the innovative high-cost technologies and drugs that are the future of medicine.

Mr. Obama rode into office on a wave of “change,” but we doubt most voters realized that the change Democrats had in mind was making health care even more expensive and rigid than the status quo. Critics will say we are exaggerating, but we believe it is no stretch to say that Mrs. Pelosi’s handiwork ranks with the Smoot-Hawley tariff and FDR’s National Industrial Recovery Act as among the worst bills Congress has ever seriously contemplated.”

Health Care Abroad: Taiwan (WSJ)

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:23:00 -0500

Health Care Abroad: Taiwan (WSJ):

“William Hsiao is a professor of economics at the Harvard School of Public Health and co-author of the 2004 book “Getting Health Reform Right.” He served as a health care adviser to the Taiwan government in the 1990s, when officials decided to reform that country’s health care system and to introduce universal coverage. He spoke with Anne Underwood, a freelance writer…”

Towards the end of the interview—> “Third, in the legislative process, they rejected a provision to adjust the premium automatically when the national health system depletes its reserves. In every country, health care costs are increasing faster than wages. When that happens, the premium has to go up. But that provision wasn’t incorporated into the law. As a result, the system is running a deficit. National health insurance tries to cut the fees for hospital and physician services. But eventually these fee reductions will adversely affect the quality of health care.”

In Vote, Watch the Intensity Factor (WSJ)

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:54:00 -0500

In Vote, Watch the Intensity Factor (WSJ):

“Polls can measure many things, but one thing they have a hard time getting at is intensity: Yes, people will tell a pollster whom they prefer in a campaign, but do they feel so strongly about their choice that they’ll actually go out to vote?

Only elections can answer the intensity question, which is the most important factor in Tuesday’s off-year governor’s elections in New Jersey and Virginia and, increasingly, a special election in a New York congressional district. Intensity, as much as outcomes, may provide the best insight into national trends heading into the much more meaningful election in 2010…”

Video

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:50:55 -0500

Why Pelosi May Fail (Weekly Standard)

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:43:00 -0500

Why Pelosi May Fail (Weekly Standard):

Answer: the people.

“First of all, the new Rasmussen survey finds 42 percent favoring the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats — down a bit from a week ago. 54 percent of the public is opposed. 23 percent of all voters strongly support the plan, with 44 percent strongly opposed.

Second, there are elections tomorrow. In Virginia and New Jersey, the Democratic candidates for governor will run 15 to 20 points behind Obama’s showing a year ago (in 2008 Obama won Virginia by six, New Jersey by 16). This is a pretty stunning one-year swing in two not-insignificant states. And many of the voters who are swinging are similar to voters who live in the competitive congressional districts Democrats picked up in 2006 and 2008…”

AP sources: House health bill totals $1.2 trillion

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:39:37 -0500

AP sources: House health bill totals $1.2 trillion:

“The health care bill headed for a vote in the House this week costs $1.2 trillion or more over a decade, according to numerous Democratic officials and figures contained in an analysis by congressional budget experts, far higher than the $900 billion cited byPresident Barack Obama as a price tag for his reform plan.

While the Congressional Budget Office has put the cost of expanding coverage in the legislation at roughly $1 trillion, Democrats added billions more on higher spending for public health, a reinsurance program to hold down retiree health costs, payments for preventive services and more…”

Senate, House Move Closer on Health Bills as Battle Goes Public (Bloomberg)

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:03:06 -0500

Senate, House Move Closer on Health Bills as Battle Goes Public (Bloomberg):

“After months of private wrangling, the fight over legislation to revamp the U.S. health-care system will soon spill onto the House and Senate floors.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will seek a vote as early as this week while trying to pacify fellow Democrats who say her bill isn’t strong enough and others who fret that federal dollars might be used for abortions. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is waiting for cost estimates on his proposals while trying to win enough votes just to start debate…”

GOP Set to Propose Its Own Health Bill (WSJ)

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:02:35 -0500

GOP Set to Propose Its Own Health Bill (WSJ):

“WASHINGTON — Republicans are preparing an alternative health-care bill to Democratic legislation, House Republican Leader John Boehner said, marking a shift in strategy as the full House is set to begin debate on the issue this week.

Mr. Boehner said Sunday the Republican bill would extend health-insurance coverage to “millions” of Americans but wouldn’t try to match the scope of the House Democratic bill unveiled last week. The Democratic legislation, if passed, is estimated to expand coverage to more than 30 million Americans now without insurance. Its estimated gross cost is $1.055 trillion over 10 years…”

Rep. Boehner On GOP Health Bill - Video

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:59:52 -0500

Rep. Boehner On GOP Health Bill - Video:

POLITICO: “We are going to have a proposal” to counter the Democratic legislation unveiled last week, Boehner said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Republicans have put “8 or 9 ideas together in a bill that is being scored by CBO right now” and will be offered as a substitute to the Democratic bill, if Speaker Nancy Pelosi permits it, the GOP leader said.