Thu
Jul 16 2009
04:22 pm
The Blue Dogs and Health Reform
By: tanzarian

Last week, many of the House signed a letter declaring their opposition to the House health reform bill. This is pretty serious because the Dogs have enough seats just on the Energy and Commerce Committee to keep the bill from even reaching the floor of the House if they decide to vote with the Republicans.

They have been a little vague as to their specific objections, but this seems like a decent rundown:

continued...

–The cost of health care reform, both for the explosion in the deficit they fear and the dearth of real savings for consumers they also fear.

–Whether to have a public plan and if so, how to design it. The Blue Dogs prefer it as a trigger if cost-reduction targets aren’t met and they do not want a reimbursement schedule like Medicare’s, which is less for rural areas. Actually, they want to change the Medicare schedule. The bill as written gives them a study commission, probably a mere brush-off. Is there a contradiction in the Blue Dogs, worrying about costs and then trying to jack up Medicare? Sure.

–Employer mandates, either to provide health care to employees or pay a fee. The Blue Dogs like the exemption for small businesses. But they don’t think it goes high enough in terms of payroll and employees. They want to expand it.

–And there’s the whole respect thing, with the Blue Dogs tired of being forced left by Pelosi while the Senate goes a more moderate way.

Their complaints say quite a bit about the contradictory nature of much of the opposition to reform. They complain that reform will be too expensive and increase the deficit, but then they turn around and oppose parts of the bill that will lower costs. A robust public plan that forces insurers to lower prices in order to compete is the best route to long-term cost reduction. By forbidding the public plan from setting payment rates with Medicare or only allowing it to come into effect after a "trigger" is hit years down the road, Blue Dogs are greatly increasing the final cost of reform. And "it costs too much" is one of their main complaints!

But why would they advocate contradictory positions like that? well, take Rep. John Tanner from Tennessee's 8th District, one of the signatories of the Blue Dog's letter. 9% of his campaign funds on '08 came from the insurance industry. When you throw in another 8% or so from pharmaceutical companies(which would lose money if the public plan was able to negotiate drug prices down via collective bargaining), nearly 1/5 of his funds for reelection came from those with a large profit interest in the status quo.

And what a great status quo it is here in TN, if you happen to own a lot of stock in Blue Cross Blue Shield, which controls over 50% of the health insurance market here. It and one other company provide 2/3s of all insurance in the state.

And that's what opposition to the public plan is really all about. It's about protecting companies like Blue Cross, who do not want to compete with a public plan which might break their near-monopolistic hold on many areas. I just wish Reps like Tanner would admit they are living up the asses of the healthcare industry. Actually, what I really wish is that they would crawl out and do right by their constituents.

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gonzone's picture

Here's the scoop

Submitted by gonzone on Thu, 2009/08/27 - 3:33pm.

Shame on him.
Here's what Blue Dog Cooper is voting against for his district:

(link...)

America’s Affordable Health Choices Act would provide significant benefits in the 5th Congressional District of Tennessee: up to 16,000 small businesses could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees; 7,800 seniors would avoid the donut hole in Medicare Part D; 2,060 families could escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable health care costs; health care providers would receive payment for $82 million in uncompensated care each year; and 76,000 uninsured individuals would gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance. Congressman Jim Cooper represents the district.
• Help for small businesses. Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $40,000 qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 16,000 small businesses in the district that could qualify for these credits.
• Help for seniors with drug costs in the Part D donut hole. Each year, 7,800 seniors in the district hit the donut hole and are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage. The legislation would provide them with immediate relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut hole.
• Health care and financial security. There were 2,060 health care-related bankruptcies in the district in 2008, caused primarily by the health care costs not covered by insurance. The bill provides health insurance for almost every American and caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because of high health care costs.
• Relieving the burden of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers. In 2008, health care providers in the district provided $82 million worth of uncompensated care, care that was provided to individuals who lacked insurance coverage and were unable to pay their bills. Under the legislation, these costs of uncompensated care would be virtually eliminated.
• Coverage of the uninsured. There are 97,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 14% of the district. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nationwide, 97% of all Americans will have insurance coverage when the bill takes effect. If this benchmark is reached in the district, 76,000 people who currently do not have health insurance will receive coverage.
• No deficit spending. The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for: half through making the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals. This surtax would affect only 3,600 households in the district. The surtax would not affect 98.9% of taxpayers in the district.

"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?"

jcgrim's picture

myths about health care around the world

Submitted by jcgrim on Thu, 2009/08/27 - 4:37pm.

This article by T.R. Reed should be required reading for the Blue Dogs & their hollow 'concerns'

(link...)

gonzone's picture

More Cooper madness

Submitted by gonzone on Fri, 2009/08/28 - 9:23am.

All that money from the health insurance and pharma companies has addled Cooper's brains.

(link...)

Some of Nashville's physicians are outraged at Jim Cooper and circulating an email accusing the congressman of "arrogance, disdain and disregard" for the healing profession. Oh my! They say Cooper treated them rudely during a private meeting about health care reform.

According to the email, Cooper unleashed his inner Don Rickles, throwing one insult after another at the physicians, who are members of the Anesthesia Medical Group. A sampling of his remarks (all of which his office confirms he made):

* "Your Washington lobbyists are obviously doing a very bad job for you or you wouldn't be so misinformed."

* "[I] never cease to be amazed at how poorly informed physicians are about the health care system."

* "Since the '60s real wages have remained flat. But physician reimbursements have grown 2-3 percent above the rate of inflation for the last 40 years. That's a transfer of about $800 billion. And you're not even grateful for it. Don't recall ever getting a thank you note for that. ..."

* "It's fine if you don't like my plan. Where is your plan? Physicians don't have a plan. You can't always be against something. You need to be for something"

* "You probably don't know this either, but did you know that a couple of Tennessee counties have the highest narcotic prescription use in the nation? Doctors passing out pills like candy. And you guys don't do anything about it"

* "[It's] almost impossible to get rid of bad doctors"

* "Wouldn't you think you'd be a little more educated about your own profession?"

* "Medicine used to be a profession. You've lost that. Now you just want to be employees."

* And lastly to the group's CEO David Whitten: "You've obviously forgotten most of what you learned in business school."

Go to the link above and read more.

"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?"

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