tagged w/ Baucus Health Care Reform
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Sen. Baucus and his fellow "Gang of Six" negotiators have labored mightily and brought forth a mouse — a steroid-enhanced, misshapen mouse, but a mouse nonetheless. In fact, despite months of work, Senator Baucus has not actually produced a bill, but a 223-page summary of what he hopes a bill will contain. Unfortunately, without seeing actual legislative language, many questions still remain.
Here is some of what we know and don't know:
The Good:
Michael D. Tanner is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and co-author of Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It.
More by Michael D. Tanner
— The plan drops the idea of a government-run "public option" in favor of co-ops. Government involvement with these co-ops would essentially be limited to providing start-up grants. The co-ops are unlikely to have much, if any, impact on the cost or availability of health insurance, but are far preferable to a government run plan.
— The plan takes the first tentative steps toward allowing people to purchase health insurance across state lines. It would allow states to establish interstate compacts for insurance purchasing beginning in 2015. It would also allow insurers to develop national products that could be sold in any state. National plans would be exempt from state mandated benefits. This doesn't go far enough, and risks simply transferring regulation and mandates from the state to the regional or national level, but a first read suggests it is a step in the right direction.
The Bad:
— The plan would force states to increase Medicaid eligibility to individuals at 133 percent of the poverty level, and to enroll single, childless adults. While the federal government would pick up some of the increased cost, states would be responsible for at least some of the increase, a provision that will undoubtedly strain already tight state budgets.
— While the employer mandate is much watered-down, it is still there. The Baucus plan has no specific requirement for employers to provide insurance. But any employer who fails to do so would have to pay the cost of all subsidies that the government provides his or her workers to help them pay for insurance on their own, up to $400 per worker. Since it will ultimately be the worker who pays the mandate's cost, through reduced compensation or reduced employment, the government will be giving the worker a subsidy with one hand, and taking it back with the other.
— The bill would cut payments to the Medicare Advantage program. In response, many insurers may stop participating in the program, while others could increase the premiums they charge seniors. Millions of seniors will likely be forced off their current plan and back into traditional Medicare.
The Ugly:
—The Baucus plan contains a heavily punitive individual mandate, a requirement that every American purchase a government-designed minimum insurance package. Failure to comply would result in a fine that could run as high as $3,800 for a family of four. Moreover, the mandate may not apply just to those without insurance today. While the summary says that those with "grandfathered" plans would not have to change their current plan to satisfy the mandate, it is vague about what qualifies as "grandfathered." The summary also says that employer-provided plans would have to be changed within five years to comply with new insurance regulations, and that "grandfathered" plans would not be eligible for any subsidies. It is unclear, therefore, whether people will be able to keep their current plans.
-----more at the link----
Lays it out and explains what is good, bad and just plain wrong. How will those that want a "sensible" debate handle this? Probably not well.Sen. Baucus and his fellow "Gang of Six" negotiators have labored mightily... more
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The insurance industry is trying to convince us that our health care costs will increase by $4,000 in the next 10 years under the Baucus plan. Why? When companies stand to loose money (as insurance companies do from reform) the instinct for self-preservation takes over. They will do whatever they can, even lie, to keep that from happening.
Former insurance industry executive, Wendell Potter, said the industry's goal is to shape reform "for their benefit and at the benefit of Wall Street shareholders, more than Americans."
Health care is a business. Businesses exist to make money. Because of this, the system is fundamentally flawed. I do not believe that a company's profit margin should be a factor in my, or anyone else’s health care decisions. As far as I'm concerned, health care is the right of all citizens. If the boards of directors throughout the insurance industry want to focus on profit, they should fine seats on boards in other industries. It's time to make health the focus of the health care industry!The insurance industry is trying to convince us that our health care costs will... more
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[video at link]
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asherp
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added this
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2 years ago
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Great to see. Obama giving in to pressure over his socialistic health care plan. I do not favor co-ops but this is a drastic improvement from what we almost had.
"Bowing to Republican pressure and an uneasy public, President Barack Obama's administration signaled Sunday it is ready to abandon the idea of giving Americans the option of government-run insurance as part of a new health care system.
Facing mounting opposition to the overhaul, administration officials left open the chance for a compromise with Republicans that would include health insurance cooperatives instead of a government-run plan. Such a concession probably would enrage Obama's liberal supporters but could deliver a much-needed victory on a top domestic priority opposed by GOP lawmakers."Great to see. Obama giving in to pressure over his socialistic health care plan. I do... more
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Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus released a much anticipated proposal to overhaul health care. The plan carries a price tag of $856 billion over 10 years, a number lower than anticipated. The proposal calls for sweeping reform for the insurance industry, as well as a mandate for all citizens and legal residents to carry health insurance.Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus released a much anticipated proposal to... more
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On the eve of the Senate Finance Committee’s release of its much anticipated health care plan, Wendell Potter — the insurance industry whistle blower and former communications director of health insurance giant Cigna — called the Baucus framework “an absolute gift to the industry.” “And if that is what we see in the legislation, [America’s Health Insurance Plans chief] Karen Ignagni will surely get a huge bonus,” Potter said at a briefing for reporters.
The bill establishes a new regulated health insurance exchange and compels every American to purchase qualified health insurance coverage by 2013. Americans with employer-sponsored insurance can stay in their existing plans, while the uninsured would have to enroll in an expanded Medicaid program, a new plan in the Exchange or the now-regulated individual health insurance market. According to a report released by the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would cover 94% of Americans and cost $880 billion over 10 years.
Potter argued that the lax employer requirements would shift the cost and risk of coverage onto the individual and maintained that the bill’s “network of cooperatives” would be unable to compete in today’s concentrated health insurance markets. “The co-ops won’t stand a chance,” he concluded.
Reform must also do more to regulate insurers, who have agreed to accept applicants with pre-existing conditions but are insisting on benefit and rate flexibility. Potter argued that the benefit package standards in the Exchange and the high deductible option for younger beneficiaries would allow insurers to design almost anything that they can sell in the health market place and push the country towards consumer driven health care.
Under the Baucus legislation, private insurers could also charge older individuals up to five times more for coverage. “You’re just using age as a proxy for health status,” Uwe Reinhardt, an economics professor at Princeton University told the New York Times. Reinhardt estimates that “Senator Baucus’s age-rating plan would allow insurers to cover roughly 70 percent of the additional risk they’d take on by being required to accept all comers, regardless of health.”On the eve of the Senate Finance Committee’s release of its much anticipated... more
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The compromise health care reform proposal introduced by Sen. Max Baucus on Monday appears to have been literally written by a former health insurance company vice president, several bloggers asserted Wednesday.
The proposal, which does not provide a public option but compels individuals to purchase health insurance, was written by Liz Fowler, a former vice president of WellPoint and currently the senior counsel to Baucus, writes blogger Marcy Wheeler at the Firedoglake Web site.
Wheeler points out that the name “Liz Fowler” appears as the author in the document properties of the PDF file circulated by Baucus’ staff earlier this week. (The PDF can be found here. To see the author, save it to your hard drive, right-click on the icon, and select “Properties.”)
However, it’s unclear to what extent Fowler wrote the document herself. As Jane Hamsher pointed out Wednesday morning at her Campaign Silo blog, parts of the document match, almost word for word, a health bill amendment put forward by House Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas, a Blue Dog Democrat, in July.
Hamsher cites blogger Jon Walker’s comparison of the two texts:
~Ross’ amendment:
The governing documents of the cooperatives incorporate ethical and conflict of interest standards designed to protect against insurance industry involvement and interference in the governance of the cooperative.
~Baucus’ framework:
Its governing documents must incorporate ethics and conflict of interest standards protecting against insurance industry involvement and interference.
The health reform proposal was put forward by Montana Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat who is part of the “gang of six” Republican and Democratic senators who are working on a compromise health plan that could pass the Senate.
Amanda Terkel reported at ThinkProgress on Tuesday that White House press secretary Robert Gibbs admitted the document had been sent to special-interest groups before it reached the White House.The compromise health care reform proposal introduced by Sen. Max Baucus on Monday... more
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One of Barack Obama's major campaign promises was meaningful health care reform. Several members of Congress are already working to hold the President-Elect's feet to the fire. Leading the way is Montana's senior Senator Max Baucus who has drafted a 35,000-word blueprint to provide health care for all Americans.One of Barack Obama's major campaign promises was meaningful health care reform.... more
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