WASHINGTON — As the White House seeks to secure support from House Democrats on health care reform, it is promoting Rep. Steve Kagen’s efforts to require insurance companies to openly disclose the prices of their services.

In an interview Friday, White House health care reform adviser Nancy-Ann DeParle said the administration is keen on Kagen’s calls for transparency in pricing. She said several provisions in President Barack Obama’s reform proposal address those concerns.

“Kagen has really stood out as somebody who is working for cost containment and making sure people get more information so they can make better decisions,” DeParle said. “He’s been like a broken record … a one-man truth squad on transparency.”

The proposal Obama submitted to Congress on Feb. 22 would require each hospital to publish a list of its standard charges, DeParle noted. She said another provision establishes a Medicare and Medicaid database that could help control costs by reducing waste and fraud.

“This is a good bill,” DeParle said. “It allows us to get cost containment for the first time in decades.”

Kagen, D-Appleton, initially was lukewarm to the proposal, saying it was a good start but fell short of ensuring that consumers can learn the costs of what they’re buying before they buy it.

Three days later, Kagen offered his own legislation, requiring any individual or company to publicly display prices for all health care services, including on the Internet. The measure has 45 co-sponsors, but no other Wisconsin Democrat has endorsed it.

“Unless you have transparent pricing in all health care, you have no mechanism to restrain excessive pricing,” Kagen said Friday.

Along with Kagen, Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has been “very much a champion of cost-containment,” DeParle said.

Kagen and Feingold are facing re-election campaigns as anti-incumbent fever is raising concern among many lawmakers, especially Democrats, who control both chambers of Congress and the presidency.

The White House support comes while Republican campaign committees are using health care reform as a weapon in attacks on Democrats they consider vulnerable.

On Thursday, the National Republican Congressional Committee initiated a “Code Red” telephone campaign against Kagen and other House Democrats, condemning their support for Obama’s proposal.

“For too long Wall Street financial wizards have had the upper hand, but that begins to change today,” said Dr. Kagen. “People should not have to choose between feeding their family and paying sky-high interest rates to credit card companies. I fought hard for these protections that begin to give working families an even break.”

The new “Credit Cardholder’s Bill of Rights” was signed into law on March 22, 2009 and began to take effect in August of last year. Protections in the law include:

• The consumer’s right to refuse rate hikes and the opportunity to pay off existing credit card balances at the old rate.
• Credit card companies are now required to give 45 days’ notice of any rate increases on new purchases.
• Consumers can now choose to close their account if the rate is increased.
• Credit Card companies must now notify customers of any rate hike 45 days in advance.
• Customers must receive account statements at least 21 days before the payment is due.
• Any interest rate hikes can only apply to future purchases – not existing balances.
• No more charging interest on debts paid on-time.
• Gimmick affecting “Due Date” such as setting morning times for payment or charging fees to pay the bill by phone is banned.
• Promotional rates must last at least six months.
• Customers under 21 must have a demonstrated ability to pay their bills – or have a guardian co-sign for their card.

The annual honor recognizes outstanding alumni for their achievements and contributions to the community.

“It’s great to be honored and also an opportunity to reflect on where I’m from,” Kagen said. “It’s a very humbling experience. It’s always nice to think back but rarely do you have an opportunity to go back, but then I’ve never forgotten where I’ve come from.”

“Not every high school has an alumnus currently working in the House of Representatives, so it’s pretty exciting,” said Elissa Hoffman, East science teacher who coordinates the annual Patriot recognition.

“We hope that Congressman Kagen’s experiences in medicine and business will be interesting and educational for our students, and we hope he’ll help us inspire them to set high goals for themselves.”

Hoffman said Kagen is scheduled to visit East on March 8.

“We are hoping to have him talk to classes about his own academic days and how he has set goals for himself, about his experiences in medicine and business,” she said.

Kagen, 60, a member of East’s first graduating class in 1968, has fond memories of his teens, adding he is grateful for Appleton’s investment in education and well as the “excellent teachers” he had in school.

“I had a great time in high school and I tried everything: football, wrestling, track, volleyball and cross country,” he said. “My favorite subjects were science and math.”

Kagen said this award is special because he loves learning.

“I believe your education never really ends and I’m still learning, now more than ever,” he said.

Kagen earned a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1972 and a medical degree, also at UW-Madison, in 1976.

He is board certified in internal medicine, asthma/ allergy/immunology, and diagnostic laboratory immunology. He founded the Kagen Allergy Clinics in the Fox Valley.

Kagen was elected to Congress as the representative for the 8th District in 2006. He was re-elected in 2008, making him the second Democrat to win re-election in the district in the last 40 years. He and his wife Gayle have raised four children in Appleton.

by Robert Cloud, County Post West Editor

WAUPACA – U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen, D-Appleton, spent all day Monday in Waupaca County, visiting coffee shops, restaurants, living rooms and other venues to meet local citizens.

The economy and health care reform were the issues that most people wanted to discuss with their congressman.

“The medicine we need right now is jobs, jobs, jobs,” Kagen said.

Among the topics he discussed was the Feb. 12 enactment of pay-as-you-go federal legislation.

Also known as PAYGO, the law requires Congress to offset the costs of new programs or new tax cuts by cutting existing programs or raising taxes.

The PAYGO bill passed the House by a 233-187 vote, with every Republican voting against it because they say it will be ineffective at reducing the deficit.

“PAYGO worked before and it will work again,” Kagen said, noting that under PAYGO during President Bill Clinton’s administration the federal government ran budget surpluses in the late 1990s and began paying down the national debt. The surpluses quickly evaporated when PAYGO was allowed to expire under President George Bush.

“As president, Bush spent money on two wars without paying for it, pushed through two tax cuts for the rich without paying for it, gave $400 billion to the big drug companies without paying for it and handed out $1 trillion to the big banks without paying for it,” Kagen said.

In addition to a legacy of federal debt, Bush has passed on to his successor the worst economic recession since the Great Depression.

Kagen believes bringing the federal deficit under control will be a first step toward economic recovery.

“Over time, this bill will help us pay down our debts and work our way back to prosperity,” Kagen said. “We’re coming through one of the darkest chapters in American economic history and we’re going to make it.”

He noted that in January 2009, the U.S. economy lost 740,000 jobs in a single month. This January, there was a net loss of 20,000 jobs, Kagen said.

“We didn’t get into this recession overnight and it’s going to take some time before the economy recovers,” Kagen said. “We’ve stopped the bleeding and now it’s time to start the healing.”

Kagen said the government’s role in helping the economy recover is to create an environment that encourages businesses to create new jobs.

“The collapse of the housing market drove our economy into the Great Recession,” Kagen said. “Interest rates for homeowners should be about 4 percent. At 4 percent, families can afford to stay in their homes and buy the products that help local businesses remain in their communities.”

Kagen pointed to the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers.

“Home sales increased by 26 percent in our area,” Kagen said. “I’m focusing on legislation that will make it easier for homeowners to stay in their homes and for small businesses to have access to credit.”

He said the federal tax code should “treat small businesses on Main Street the way the previous administration treated their friends on Wall Street. I’ve been promoting low interest loans for small businesses and tax cuts for companies that expand their payrolls.”

One thing Kagen heard repeatedly from voters was their anger at Wall Street.

“People are saying, ‘We want our money back.’ They are angry and so am I. That’s why I voted against every bailout that came along,” Kagen said. “We have to break up the big banks. If they are too big to fail, then they should not exist.”

By ZAC BRITTON, EagleHerald staff writer

MARINETTE - Patrick and Rose O’Hara invited a mayor, a couple of Marinette County Board supervisors, a school administrator, a Chamber of Commerce CEO, business owners and leaders of area non-profit organizations to their home Friday to talk a little politics.

The Marinette couple didn’t lead the discussion, it was the last person to arrive - U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen (D-Appleton).

The Shore Drive home was among the last stops of the day for Kagen, following an informal discussion with a government class at Peshtigo High School as well as informal stops at Wayne’s Family Restaurant in Oconto, Lee’s Family Foods in Peshtigo with Marinette stops at Hometown Family Restaurant and Culver’s in Marinette.

After his 50-minute talk - dubbed “Congress In The Kitchen” - at the O’Hara residence, fielding comments on domestic violence, health care and education issues, he greeted the workers at Marinette Marine leaving work at the 3 p.m. whistle.

“What’s beautiful about the way our founding fathers put our country together is every representative like me has a different way of looking at something,” said Kagen outside Building 10 at the Marinette shipbuilder. “We’ve got a different way of saying the same thing, but it comes down to what one of these workers here just said to me: ‘We’ve got to get back to being Americans first instead of one party or another, if we stop pointing fingers we’ll move forward together.’

“It’s all about Wall Street versus Main Street,” he smiled.

He touched on that during his visit on Shore Drive, standing by the fireplace - backdropped by a view of Green Bay across the street - and surrounded by some 20 guests sitting in recliners and a sofa. He had more than five minutes of opening remarks on subjects like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Iraq War, the bailout of Wall Street, health care, education and energy independence.

Julie Kaye of the Rainbow House, opened the question/comment section asking for Kagen’s support of the proposed Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, which led Kagen to quip “well, that’s an easy one to support.”

Tim Baneck, the Marinette Schools superintendent, followed, by asking if there would be any federal interaction with local school districts beyond state and federal contributions.

Patrick O’Hara, the campus dean at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Marinette, followed in complimenting Kagen’s support with skill training that could be beneficial to local companies such as Marinette Marine.

Jim Borowski of Goodwill Industries inquired about rising health care costs.

Bob Fraik, a Marinette County board member, told a story of an area injection mold company losing jobs to foreign competition.

Kagen took notes throughout the discussion, writing down names and the comments before responding to each. The O’Haras sat at the back of the room, standing at the kitchen table as he offered his comments on each issue.

“I’m confident that our community in Marinette County and Marinette City will come together and solve our problems, but it starts with jobs,” said Kagen in his closing remarks. “That’s been my focus - jobs, jobs, jobs. Then we can focus on health care, become energy independent so we don’t go to war again because of oil and make certain we have that world class education that our children will require to compete in the global marketplace.

“I’m confident we’re going to get it done,” he added, pointing to job loss numbers decreasing between January 2009 and January 2010, not to mention Gross Domestic Product numbers improving in late 2009.

He thanked the group, joking with O’Hara “Look at this lovely view … oh, Poor Pat. Do you shovel all the way across (Shore Drive to Green Bay)?”

“Hey put it in perspective, I grew up in Iowa,” responded O’Hara, drawing laughter.

The visit was the last of a weeklong session that had Kagen visiting areas across the 8th district, stopping in New London and Clintonville on Monday, Brown County on Tuesday, Appleton locations on Wednesday and Shawano and Menominee counties on Thursday.

“This is the roots,” said Kagen after the Marinette Marine stop. “I’m a listener. My job is very simple - I have to listen to the people and take their words, wisdom and judgment to Washington and try to bring Washington around to Wisconsin’s way of doing business. We live within our means, so should Washington.”

“Outrageous. Wall Street health insurance corporations made record profits this year by laying off their workers and picking the pockets of my patients.”

“Everywhere I go people are saying the same thing: We want our money back from Wall Street. I am working hard to fix our broken health care system and will keep fighting to guarantee access to affordable care for all of us.”

The estimated contract value is $3.023 billion and calls for the production of up to 12,415 trucks, 10,926 trailers, and associated support and engineering services

The Appleton Democrat voted 100 percent of the time for the environment over the past year and a half, according to a scorecard released Wednesday by Wisconsin Environment.

“He supported new investments in clean energy and conservation efforts to protect the Great Lakes for future generations,” said Dan Kohler, director of Wisconsin Environment. “We are pleased to honor him for his commitment to protect our state’s natural heritage.”

Along with Kagen, Reps. Tammy Baldwin, Ron Kind, Gwen Moore and Dave Obey, and Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, also scored 100 percent on the 2009 scorecard compiled by Environment America, a federation of 28 state-based groups, including Wisconsin Environment.

The group based its scoring on 15 votes in the House of Representatives, including the cap-and-trade bill passed last June, and seven in the Senate.

Baldwin, Kagen, Kind, Moore and Obey were among 144 House members who made the “champions” list for their 100 percent scores. Feingold and Kohl were among 40 senators on th list.

Lawmakers who did not vote for the environment on any of the measures — there were 26 senators and 17 House members — were labeled “natural disasters.”

The scoring typically broke down along partisan lines, with Democrats receiving the highest scores and Republicans the lowest. All five Wisconsin lawmakers who scored 100 were Democrats.

None of the state’s three Republican House members — Tom Petri, Paul Ryan and James Sensenbrenner — made the “natural disaster” list. Petri scored 40 percent, while Ryan and Sensenbrenner each were at 13 percent. None could be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Kohler said the scorecard gives Wisconsin voters a glimpse into how their lawmakers feel about protecting the air, the Earth and water.

As for the partisan divide, Kohler said “You can’t help but quickly see that. We wish it wasn’t that way. What is it about protecting the Great Lakes, what is it about protecting the air that should be partisan?”

Kohler said Wisconsin Environment was impressed particularly with Kagen because he’s still relatively new to Congress.

“He’s still developing a voting record, and the people in Northeast Wisconsin should see they got someone in Congress committed to protecting the environment,” Kohler said.

By comparison, Kagen has averaged 91 percent since taking office in 2007 on the League of Conservation Voters annual scorecard.

“As a physician specializing in asthma, I deeply appreciate the intimate connection between healthy environments and healthy people,” Kagen said in a statement. “Wisconsin has a proud heritage of environmental activism.”

People all across Northeast Wisconsin work hard to pay their bills on time, and they are tired of seeing their money wasted on bailouts for Wall Street speculators. Everyone is rightfully angry, and so am I. In Wisconsin, we don’t believe in rewarding failure.

That is why I voted against every single bailout of Wall Street, and why I consistently voted for fiscally responsible Pay-As-You-Go budget rules for Washington.

And never forget how we fell into this mess. When I was elected in 2006, the people in power were pursuing policies that drove our economy into the ditch. Without paying a single dime for them, the previous administration spent money they did not have on two wars at the same time; two tax cuts for the rich; a gigantic handout to big drug companies, and a trillion dollar bailout of their friends on Wall Street – asking our children and grandchildren to pay for it all.

Enough is enough. We must all live within our means.

Our federal government must invest in our own people right here at home, not on Wall Street or overseas, to rebuild our own economy and grow the jobs we need to work our way back into prosperity.

When voting for any legislation, I only have the best interests of my constituents in mind. Fiscally conservative Pay-As-You-Go rules created a budget surplus in the 1990’s, and this is exactly the medicine we need now to begin to turn today’s debts into future surpluses. That is why I strongly supported the passage of Pay-As-You-Go rules last week, just as I have seven other times during my public service.

Mandatory Pay-As-You-Go budget rules will force our federal government to live within its means. These essential spending rules require the federal government to either cut existing programs or raise revenues if any new spending bills are enacted, and if any new laws would increase our annual deficit, there would have to be automatic across-the-board cuts in other programs.

It is a really simple, responsible Wisconsin idea: Washington must live within its means and pay its bills, just as we do around our own kitchen tables every month across Wisconsin.

Mandatory Pay-As-You-Go rules are critical to reducing our nation’s debt. Over time, these responsible spending rules will balance our budgets, as they have in the past, and return government to doing what families in Wisconsin have been doing all along: living within our means.

Dr. Kagen, a vocal opponent of wasteful spending, cosponsored legislation to reinstate mandatory Pay-As-You-Go budget rules, and since 2007, he has voted eight times to enact fiscally conservative Pay-As-You-Go measures into law. Last week, Dr. Kagen once again voted to restore mandatory Pay-As-You-Go budget rules.

Company officials say actual construction is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Once completed the 254-foot Alaska Region Research Vessel will be one of the most advance university research vessels in the world and will be capable of breaking ice up to 2.5 feet thick.

It’s a day of celebration at Marinette Marine, as its president signs a contract to build one ship. It’s one ship that means work for hundreds of people.

“There’s $123 million coming here into our local economy and that will percolate through the economy three to five times,” said Rep. Steve Kagen, D-8th District. “So this will have a significant economic impact across all of Northeast Wisconsin.”

“The company understands the kind of work we’re going to do with it,” said Brian Rogers, chancellor of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The university’s chancellor says $150 million of stimulus money is paying for the ship, and another $50 million was funded by other sources.

Marinette Marine is no stranger to government contracts.The company has already built one littoral combat ship, or LCS, for the Navy. It’s currently working on a second LCS, in the hopes of building more.

“As we are coming down off of our present littoral combat ship toward the end of 2010 those employees will start to transfer on to the Alaska Region Research Vessel and so in effect this will sustain 203 jobs over a 3 year period,” said Richard McCreary, president of Marinette Marine.

Working on new projects not only impacts the economy in Wisconsin, but other areas as well.

“Forty percent of our workforce lives in the U.P. of Michigan and we have a preponderance of suppliers that are both Wisconsin and Michigan, roughly we get about 60 percent of our material from these two states,” said McCreary. “The balance of material obviously comes from other suppliers around the country and overseas.”

A new project where stimulus money played a role that will help keep jobs for the next few years.

Marinette Marine expects to hear from the Navy about more contracts this summer, likely for 10 ships, which could keep the company busy for up to eight years.