THE TREATMENT JULY 20, 2009
-
Read Later
READ LATERAvailable only to subscribers. SUBSCRIBE TODAY
-
Listen
ARTICLE AUDIO
- Font Size
As Jonathan reports, this is gut-check time for Democrats. But there was at least one piece of good news over a tough weekend. Here are some excerpted comments by Senator Olympia Snowe at a Saturday rally, again relayed to me via the good people at Health Care for America Now:
Congress must implement long overdue insurance market reforms such as the guaranteed issue of a policy for every American and no refusal or adverse pricing of policies on the basis of health status or gender. We also must insure that those plans include a very strong benefit package, from preventative services to comprehensive medical benefits. And offering extra assistance to families who need help in affording a plan must be part and parcel of any legislation.
I believe that the reforms we are creating will result in more competitive, affordable and innovative options for Mainers, yet we can all agree that we must not leave universal access to chance. That is why I also support a public plan which must be available from day one.
So I urge all of you here today to join me in partnership to secure for our nation that which every other developed nation already embraces, the provision of health security for all of its' citizens. The time has long come, and I promise you I will continue to work to move heaven and earth to make it happen.
To be clear, this isn’t quite as encouraging as it might appear. Senator Snowe’s vision of the public plan option is pretty anemic. She is one of many centrists pushing for more time, which may slow or kill the momentum for a timely bill. With every challenge facing us--the two most frightening being to secure financing and to keep the ball rolling in the face of GOP stalling tactics--it’s easy to forget one asset: Most Americans want health reform to pass. I’m never sure whether to take sympathetic comments by Republican moderates or others such as the American Medical Association at face value. It’s heartening that even when the going gets slow, these players don’t want to be seen as obstructing the process. And in Snowe’s case, I think the comments are genuine. She is not one whose prospects are advanced by the death of health reform. She’s one of that lonely group of Republicans who actually want their fingerprints on it.
--Harold Pollack
3 comments
By the time the Republicans, the bipartisans, centrists Dems, Blue Dogs and AARP/UnitedHealth get through with the public option, it will be anemic indeed.
Yesterday a friend asked if perhaps single payer advocates should get on board the HELP or Tri-Committee proposals, if we should settle for the leftovers after the private sector has feasted on the bills. This was my response:
"Dear R.,
I appreciate your thoughtful consideration of whether or not we should support the Senate HELP Committee or the House Tri-Committee proposals, but I would like to keep "our eye on the prize" which is a single payer plan--everybody in, nobody out.
By the time the full Senate and the House trim the proposals to gain bipartisan support, there will be little left but the requirement (mandate) that we all give more business to the for-profit HMOs. The Massachusetts mandate plan is not working for low- and moderate-income families. Have you looked at the bureaucratic complexity of the proposed legislation? We will have the mandate police hunting down mandate scofflaws (individuals and businesses) and levying penalties, the subsidy police checking if you are poor enough for a public plan subsidy. As it is, applying for Medicaid is a humiliating, demeaning process.
. . . A CBO analyst told both groups that their plans wouldn't fit the pay-go criterion the President has set.
The public plan will not be affordable if it is shaped to be "competitive" with the private insurers. I heard a commentator yesterday say that the public plan would have to pay for itself. It won't be able to do that if it doesn't attract clients. And why would clients move to the public plan if it costs the same as private plans?
Moreover. advocates for seniors resent the fact that proposed cuts in Medicare and Medicaid will be used to pay for reform (and here I'm not referring to needed cuts to the subsidies of Medicare Advantage plans). Medicare is underfunded in many areas and reimbursement rates to docs and hospitals are too low. We all want efficiency, cost effectiveness, and a fraud-free system, but the greatest non-essential costs in our system are those related to the private insurance sector.
With a single payer, bulk buyer system, we can insure everyone and save 400 billion a year doing so ( Lewin Group analysts) --That's 4 trillion in SAVINGS over the decade. Meanwhile the Senate and House plans will COST well over a trillion (P. Krugman).
Congress is again still tinkering around the edges. We'll still have a for-profit, two-tier (or multi-tier) system. There will still be people not covered. Working families will see their paychecks eroded to pay escalating premiums and ever higher deductibles. Managed care companies will continue to deny needed treatment and cut benefits to Medicaid clients--esp. the mentally ill.
I was in Canada in the 60s when the single payer Ontario Hospitalization card was issued. I remember that word simply came down through the media and by mail that everyone would receive a card. Families were asked to register their children. That was it! A Canadian family of four making US equivalent of $80,000 a year pays approx 4-5 percent more in taxes ( see source below) , but no premiums, no deductibles, no co-pays --and no terror of denials, medical bills or bankruptcy. They get considerably more benefits for their tax dollars. Workers have more disposible income. The Canadians could use dental care coverage and a few more MRI machines, and--as is the case in the US-- they also need more primary care physicians in rural and remote areas.
Let's not cave now--or we'll be back at square one.
H. Seiler
Here's the source on comparative taxes for families at several income levels. It's based on 2004 data. I'll try to find something more up to date.
www.parl.gc.ca/.../prb05106-e.htm
- hmseil01
July 20, 2009 at 12:06pm
WAY TO GO, SNOWE?.... If the Democratic campaign for health care reform is going to get any support from Republicans at all, the most likely GOP supporter is Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) of Maine. In April, the moderate Republican signaled,...
- Anonymous
July 21, 2009 at 8:03am
SNOWE FALLS ON HEALTH CARE REFORM.... It seemed encouraging, at least at first. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) of Maine couldn't appear at a health care reform rally in her home state over the weekend, but a staffer from Snowe's office...
- Anonymous
July 22, 2009 at 1:35pm