Health Care For America Now

Health Care for America Now and the Institute for America's Future have teamed up for a report on affordability. The conclusion shouldn't be surprising to anyone who actually has to pay for health care every month (that would exclude Members of Congress):

• In the last nine years, the cost of health insurance has risen 120 percent while wages grew only 29 percent. Health insurance premiums have risen so high that experts forecast 52 million Americans will be uninsured next year.

The Institute for America's Future has a state-by-state interactive map on the results that are particularly illuminating:

Increase in cost of insurance as share of median income, from 2006 to 2016

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70% and lower

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71% to 85%

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86% to 100%

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101% to 115%

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115% or higher

The geographical distribution of the data is interesting. States like Maine are faring the worst - meaning that Maine's Senators might have a real duty to fix the problem.

And how do we fix that problem?

• For families purchasing health insurance, subsidies based on the federal poverty level must be regionally adjusted to account for drastic cost-of-living variations among urban and rural areas.
• Individuals, employers and government have a shared responsibility to contribute to the cost of extending affordable health coverage to everyone.
• The government should not tax employer-sponsored health insurance benefits.
• Benefit packages should be comprehensive and defined as a benchmark for all insurance plans.
• There should be no annual or lifetime caps on benefits payable by a health insurance plan.

That's what we're going for with health reform, and making sure its affordable for our families is the key to the entire issue. Because clearly, this trend cannot continue.

Conservatives claim health reform will hurt small business owners, but it's not true: it's the current system that has small businessmen and womens' backs against the wall.

Reader LB shares her experience with running a small business and dealing with exorbitant health care costs from private insurers:

My husband was a member of UFCW when employed by a local grocery store between the mid 60's to mid 90's. During that time his employer provided wonderful health care including eye and dental and even though our annual income was not great, the health care made up for it. Since that time, and now that the health care industry realizes the cash cow they have, we have seen the demise of good insurance and the ever increasing rise in our health care premiums. I am a small business owner and independent contractor. I have only a few employees but because of the nature of our business and the expense, we are unable to provide health care to our staff. I purchase private insurance which has increased each year that I've had it. One year alone, before my husband was eligible for Medicare, we had an insurance bill for two people that was just under $20,000. for the year. Since that time, due to the economic downturn, I have been forced to trim my coverage to a minimum catastropic plan which provides no coverage for annual screening or routine tests (all of which now must come out of pocket). It's time we join the rest of the industrialized countries and provide care for our citizens. Health care should not be a privilege of wealth but a right of every citizen in this country. Let's flood DC phone lines on the 25th of June during the national rally and every day until the hearings produce a Public Option. Let's take back our country from the greedy companies that reward profit over people. IT'S LONG PAST TIME!

Stories like this emphasize how brutally the health crisis is affecting hard-working, entrepreneurial, middle-class Americans. This story also reminds us of an important point: with the flexibility offered by a public health insurance option, more Americans would be able to start and succeed in their own small businesses. As it is, people who have health insurance and have employment are struggling to stay ahead of, in LB's words, "the ever increasing rise in our health care premiums."

This is a clear call to action. We hope you'll join in on the 25th!

In the last few days, there has been a significant shift in the political winds in Washington towards real health care reform, with a robust public health insurance option at its heart. The last thing we need is someone nay-saying that reform won't pass. Let's take a look at the landscape.

First, two polls from respected news organizations were released almost simultaneously, both showing strong support for a public health insurance option. The Wall Street Journal/NBC poll showed 76% in favor of the choice of public health insurance, and the New York Times/CBS poll showed 72% favor that same choice. As Nate Silver, polling guru and most accurate forecaster of the 2008 elections, put it, "Overall, polling points toward the public option being at least mildly popular and indeed perhaps quite popular."

Second, proposals in Congress are moving in the direction of offering Americans this choice that they clearly want. On Friday, the three committees in the House with jurisdiction over health care, endorsed by the House leadership, came out with a great bill, with everything we wanted in it.

Third, the Senate is moving in the right direction, however slowly. Kent Conrad, the author of the co-op proposal, is working with Chuck Schumer to figure out how a co-op could become a public health insurance option that meets our principles:

Schumer and other backers of a public option insist that any plan must be national in scope, have substantial funding at the beginning from the federal government, and include national purchasing power in order to negotiate lower prices.

Conrad ticked off the areas of agreement that were reached Monday.

"National structure: I believe to be effective there has to a national entity with state affiliates and those affiliates have to have the ability to regionalize. I think his concern there can be addressed," said Conrad. "Second, he believes there needs to be national purchasing power. I think that's a good point that the national entity would be able to do purchasing on behalf of the state and regional affiliates and on behalf of the national entity itself."

The HELP Committee is currently marking up a bill as well, moving the process along.

And finally, President Obama, the President with a 63% approval rating, is campaign hard for a public health insurance option. He went up against a somewhat hostile crowd at the AMA's annual meeting to promote his helath care plan, and he's going on national television for two hours tomorrow night to answer questions on it.

So why, in the face of all this momentum for a public health insurance option from the House, the Senate, the White House, and the American people, is Senator Dianne Feinstein going on TV and saying something like this?

President Barack Obama may not have enough votes in the U.S. Senate to pass his effort to overhaul the nation’s health-care system, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein said.

“I don’t know that he has the votes right now,” Feinstein said today on CNN’s “State of the Union” program. “I think there’s a lot of concern in the Democratic caucus.” Controlling costs of the new system is a “difficult subject.”

Where's the concern in the Democratic caucus? The people want reform, the House wants reform, the Senate is moving in the right direction, and the President is out promoting his plan. What concern?

The statement about having the votes is curious, too, because as it looks to me, we don't have the votes in the House for anything less than real reform, or so says Speaker Pelosi.

Why, then, is Feinstein insisting on being a nay-sayer on health reform? Honestly, the only people saying health care may not pass are hard-core conservatives and Feinstein. Even the insurance industry says it wants health care to pass!

Health Care for America Now is working to get to the bottom of this question. Our field partners in California are making sure she's hearing from her constituents on this issue, including office visits and hundreds of calls every day. They've got thousands of signatures on a petition asking Feinstein to support a public health insurance option. And they're going door to door to tell voters in California about health reform and Feinstein's positions. Given the pressure her constituents are putting on her, who is Feinstein representing here?

There's no reason for Senator Feinstein to be a nay-sayer on health care, especially given the political climate in Washington right now. So why is she? If you want to know the answer to this question yourself, give her a call at (202) 224-3841. I'd be very interested to hear her explanation.

Feinstein needs to stop nay-saying on health care. Real reform will pass this year, because we can't afford to wait any longer. Senator Feinstein should help make history, instead of standing in the way.

NEWS

Conrad Moves Closer To Public Health Care After Negotiations - Huffington Post

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) moved sharply toward public health care Monday, saying that he could "absolutely" support major parts of Sen. Chuck Schumer's compromise proposal for a public option after closed-door negotiations.

Obama’s Political Operation To Launch Big Database Of Health Care Stories - Greg Sargent

In a major new effort to throw Obama’s campaign apparatus into the push for health care reform, the White House’s political operation is set to launch a massive new online data bank of thousands of health care stories, which will be spread around the country via Obama’s extensive email list, officials familiar with the project tell me.

For Drug Makers, Concessions Have a Bright Side - Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON — The pharmaceutical industry's agreement to contribute $80 billion over 10 years to a proposed health-care overhaul could yield new business for drug makers, and provide them more certainty about how big a hit they'll take from government cost-cutting.

Democrats getting bolder on gov't insurance plan - Associated Press

Democrats are becoming bolder about their idea that middle-class familes get the option of joining a government insurance plan in any overhaul of the health care system. Their fervor carries a risk.

Ads Highlight Different Aspects Of Health Reform Debate - Kaiser Health News

A coalition of union and liberal groups began running television ads designed to get "the attention of one particular television viewer: Sen. Kay Hagan," The Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record reports.

ABC, you're going to be broadcasting an Obama town hall on health care on Wednesday. I'm immensely pleased you're doing that. But if we've learned anything from the past election cycle, it's that we can't necessarily trust the media to be non-partial and fair arbiters of national conversations.

Diane Sawyer is living up that that infamous reputation, according to Media Matters and the Huffington Post:

A media watchdog group, Media Matters, has released an analysis of the first installment of the ABC series — a Good Morning America segment headed by Diane Sawyer — including critiques of the actual questions asked. In particular, the group draws parallels between the areas of Sawyer's interests and how the Republican strategist Frank Luntz framed his strategy to derail health care reform.

For example, Sawyer began the segment by questioning Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius about "the public fear of a towering $1-to-2 trillion cost. Can Americans afford it?" From there, she pressed he president's top domestic policy adviser, Melody Barnes, about the issue of "rationed care" before playing a video of Newt Gingrich warning about "government bureacrat[s]" telling the public what type of coverage it can and cannot receive.

Echoing Frank Luntz? Really?

We've been through this before. Frank Luntz's talking points are not substantive critiques of health care, and should not be taken as such. They are poll-tested messages designed to kill reform, and they consist of a bunch of strawmen (rationing, Washington takeovers, etc…). None of these things will come to pass if President Obama gets his way on health reform, so why is the media asking the administration about them?

ABC, you can do better. I'm hoping for a well-moderated town hall that sticks to the issues at hand, not the issues that invade Republican dreams at night. Please, the American people deserve no less.

Republican opponents of serious health reform like Senator Mitch McConnell love to claim that a public option would hurt small business owners. On the ground, though, the picture is more complex and, if anything, the opposite. Small business owners are suffering under the current system, and many of them strongly support health reform that includes a public option. That's because enacting real health reform would be a boost - not a blow - to America's economy.

Looking at the status quo, we find "health care costs choking small businesses." Listen to the story of this businessman:

Maryland auto shop owner Brian England offers health care coverage to his 18 employees, including part-time staff. He calls it "the right thing to do," and besides, he knows taking care of his employees makes good business sense.

But every year his insurance premium costs rise another 10 or 20 percent, and England worries about the day when the fees will overwhelm him. After payroll and rent, health care is his largest business expense.

"A business down the road could have their labor rate $5 cheaper than us because that's how much it costs for us to provide health care," England said, referring to the hourly rates his business and competitors might offer customers.

[snip]

For England, shopping for policies and finding a way to afford to offer the benefits has become a yearly headache.

"I'm in the business to do auto repair," England said. "I'm not in the business of trying to find out how to provide health coverage and how to get the right sort of plan…. And it's not easy."

Brian England goes on to say that he supports a public option.

But anecdotes don't tell us everything we need to know. In the same story, one of Brian's peers (albeit someone who employs over nine times as many people) expresses some skepticism about the public option. Turning to quantitative data, then, we get another perspective on small business owners and health care.

Last week, New York Small Business United for Health Care released the results of its statewide survey of 202 small businesses in New York (.pdf). 73% of respondents favored the public option.

NEWS

In Poll, Wide Support for Government-Run Health - New York Times

Americans overwhelmingly support substantial changes to the health care system and are strongly behind one of the most contentious proposals Congress is considering, a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Blue Cross seeks immediate rate hike - Detroit Free Press

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has asked the state to let it immediately raise rates for 400,000 people who buy their own health insurance outside the workplace.

Democrats May Unite On Public Health Plan - CBS News

Emboldened by polls that show public backing for a government health insurance plan, Democrats are moving to make it a politically defining issue in the debate over the future of medical care.

Small businesses have big impact on health care; many favor public health insurance - NY Daily News

There are pundits and politicians who repeat - as if it were an article of faith - that business owners oppose President Obama's proposal to give people the choice of a public health insurance plans.

Health Care Reform Group Says Premiums Rising Rapidly - Philadelphia KYW

Health insurance premiums in the tri-state area have risen about five times faster than personal income. That's according to a health care reform lobbying group that blames a lack of competition for the high rates.

Here's a bit of video from the press conference Chairmen Waxman, Rangel, and Miller gave announcing their health care draft. It's worth taking a step back and realizing how historic it is to see these committees working so closely together:

The idea, as I understand it, is to introduce the same bill in all three committees, making the process of bringing a bill to the floor much easier. And given that this bill is shaping up to be great, this is really good news.

Health insurance companies routinely abuse the trust of patients and providers alike. State regulators have not been able to stop them. Insurers were not even intimidated when brought before Congress to answer for their abuses. The only thing that may scare health insurers straight is what they are fighting tooth and nail: giving people the choice of a public health insurance plan. Senators seem to be falling prey to the special interests of the health insurance industry. Don’t let them!

Read more…

The three committees in the House with jurisdiction over health reform - Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor - have together released a draft of their health reform legislation [pdf].

It's excellent.

It's got a strong public health insurance option, available everywhere on day one. It's got affordability provisions up to 400% of the poverty level, and caps on out-of-pocket expenses. There would be no deductibles or co-pays for preventative care. And no denying care or increasing prices for pre-existing conditions. Everyone would share responsibility for health care costs. And it would put doctors, not insurance companies, squarely in charge of health decisions.

It adds up to a bill that works. It preserves choice, so people can choose the plans and doctors that work for them. It controls costs, by establishing a strong public health insurance option to compete with private insurers and a capping personal expenses so they don't break the bank. And it extends coverage by putting insurance in reach of everyone as well as asking employers to share in the responsibility of paying for care.

As our National Campaign Manager, Richard Kirsch, said:

The House bill is resounding evidence that we can achieve the President’s goal of quality, affordable health care for all this year, and it can be done right. It’s absolutely possible.

…

For those who say it’s too hard, too complicated, too expensive, this bill is proof positive that we can do this in America.

That's exactly right. When you put together a good health care bill, the pieces work together, and it delivers. This is what you get when you listen to the American people, instead of vainly groping for compromises and half-measures.

The guantlet has been thrown down.