America is sick of big insurance. With over 100 protests against insurance companies yesterday, that message is clear. And it's not just people in the "blue" states. Roughly from west to east, here's what America thinks of insurance companies.
Protests against Blue Cross in New Mexico:
Rallies against Blue Cross in Fargo, North Dakota:
I’ll give you a hint: This past July, UnitedHealthcare reported its profits had soared 155 percent because of "strong growth in its public-sector businesses, Medicare and Medicaid."
Olympia Snowe's trigger is a plan to kill the public health insurance option. Not kill it as in make it weaker, but kill it as in make absolutely sure it will never, ever come into existence.
Senator Snowe's trigger is literally a catch-22, defined by Wikipedia as "a set of rules, regulations, procedures, or situations which present the illusion of choice while preventing any real choice."
The legislative language says that a public option will be set up in a state in which health care is not affordable to 95% of the state's residents, but it defines affordability as after the new tax credits that are written into the bill to make health care affordable.
Let's break that down.
In Snowe's trigger amendment, if affordable coverage is not available for 95% of a state's residents, then you get a public option in that state. While there are issues with state-based public health insurance options, the catch-22 comes with Snowe's definition of affordability.
Affordable is defined as 13% of income. So, if there is no plan in the exchange that costs less than 13% of a person's income, we'd get a public health insurance option. But that calculation of what a plan costs is made after the government pays out subsidies or employers pay their share. And therein lies the catch-22.
Max Baucus's bill caps out-of-pocket costs for people buying insurance in the exchange at 12% of their income (if they purchase the silver plan in Baucus's four plan levels - bronze, silver, gold, and platinum). Therefore, after you add in government subsidies, you will always have access to a plan (or two, the bronze plan would presumably be cheaper than the silver plan) where costs will legally always have to be below 12%. The insurance industry can raise their rates as much as they want and government will make up the difference. The trigger, if passed, will never trigger. Not ever.
(This opinion has historical weight - there is a trigger for prescription drugs in Medicare Part D. So far, after 6 years, it still hasn't been triggered. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry rakes in the profits and seniors get screwed - a Families USA report [pdf] showed that private drug prices were an average of 58% higher than prices the government could have obtained through a public option. The fact that this trigger was never triggered costs government and seniors hundreds of billions per year, money that goes straight into the pockets of private pharmaceutical companies.)
It's clear: No public health insurance option anywhere in the country will ever be created under Snowe's trigger amendment.
The trigger amendment isn't a fig leaf. It isn't even a co-op. It's a plan to kill the public health insurance option outright, and give taxpayer money straight to private insurance companies.
Why does Senator Snowe want to deny choice and competition to her constituents, something they want? Why would she rather bail out the private insurance companies?
In a poll conducted September 14th by Lake Research Partners of 400 likely voters in Maine (with a margin of error of 4.9%), a strong majority - 58% - favor the creation of a "a public health insurance option to compete with private insurance companies."
When asked if they favor or oppose "requiring everyone to buy and be covered by a private health insurance plan," 55% of Mainers are opposed. When asked if they favor or oppose "requiring everyone to buy and be covered by a health insurance plan, with a choice between a public option and private insurance plans," 55% favor.
If you ask Mainers if they should be required to buy private insurance, they're against it, but if you ask them if they should be required to buy insurance, with a choice of public or private, they're for it. The numbers exactly flip.
The poll numbers further comdemn Snowe's trigger. We asked people which statement below comes closer to their view:
- The public health insurance option should be a back-up; we should only offer it in case reforms to private health insurance companies don’t result in making health care affordable for most people.
- Because people are going to be required to buy health insurance, we need to offer the choice of an affordable public health insurance option to provide competition so that people aren’t at the mercy of private insurance companies.
By a 54% to 24% margin, Maine voters chose the 2nd statement.
It's clear the people of Maine understand that a trigger for a public health insurance option is not health care reform. They get the essential question: Will the private health insurance companies finally face competition, or will they keep their government-supported monopoly to continue screwing you over with skyrocketing rates and serial denial of care, subsidized with your taxpayer dollars.
94% of insurance markets in this country are not competitive. This has led to rising costs that squeeze families and business as the insurance companies rake in the profits. As Senator Chuck Schumer said, "Any reasonable criteria for triggering a public plan has already been met."
The private insurance market has failed, and we've given them enough second chances. The American people support a public health insurance option that's available on day one, not a bailout of the insurance industry. President Obama has said that a public health insurance option is his first choice to lower costs and increase competition. Senator Snowe should not stand in the way of the people of Maine or the rest of us for the sake of the insurance companies.
Protesters Rally With Gripes Against Big Health Insurers - Wall Street Journal
Health-overhaul advocates turned out across the country today at rallies targeted against insurance companies and promoting a public insurance alternative as part of health legislation. MoveOn.org, Health Care for America Now and labor unions said they organized about 150 gatherings, which followed last month’s raucous town-hall meetings focused on the health overhaul.
Fifty-one votes for health care? - USA Today
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has got his hands full this week trying to move his health care bill through the Senate Finance Committee (see today's USA TODAY story here), but many lawmakers are looking ahead to how the debate could unfold once the legislation hits in the Senate floor.
Democrats Question Baucus's $80B Deal With Drug Makers - Washington Post
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) faced an early test of his leadership Wednesday after fellow Democrats challenged the $80 billion deal he struck with drug makers to help pay for health-care reform.
Conservatives Turn Their Sights On Health Care Reform's Most Obvious Provision - Huffington Post
Democrats are bracing themselves for a new line of conservative attack against a provision in the health care legislation once considered so non-controversial that it was endorsed by several major Republican officials.
G.O.P. Senator Draws Critics in Both Parties - New York Times
Nearly three decades ago, Charles E. Grassley was among the Republican conservatives swept into the Senate on the wave that Ronald Reagan rode to the White House. Now he is on the defensive as he seeks a sixth term, no longer conservative enough for those back home in Iowa who style themselves the protectors of the Reagan legacy.
Senate passes successor bill - Boston Globe
The state Senate passed a bill this afternoon that would allow Governor Deval Patrick to name an interim successor to Edward M. Kennedy, potentially paving the way for appointment of a new US senator later this week.
Elmendorf: Health Care Progress May Not Be Possible for Two Weeks - TPM
This is somewhat complicated, and I'll flesh it out and get you video just as soon as I can. But with Democrats anxious to pass a health care bill, and avoiding delays seen as a high political priority, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) indicated today that there may be major delays in the health care process going forward. During today's health care hearing, he told CBO chief Doug Elmendorf today that the Senate Finance Committee must be provided with a complete CBO score of the final package before the panel can hold a vote on it.
Mike Ross raises eyebrows with healthy haul - Politico
Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross — a Blue Dog Democrat playing a key role in the health care debate — sold a piece of commercial property in 2007 for substantially more than a county assessment and an independent appraisal say it was worth.
Lawmakers regrouping to seek bipartisan healthcare deal - The Hill
Democrats’ failure to attract Republican support on health reform has launched new bipartisan talks in both chambers as groups seek to influence the legislation ahead of crucial floor debates.
The Chairman's mark from Senator Max Baucus - the "Baucus Bill" - is truly the insurance industry's bill, as Wendell Potter, former insurance industry executive, says. Now, it's time to fight back.
Click here to send a fax to your insurance company and the members of the Senate Finance Committee, who are right now debating the Baucus Bill. Demand the insurance industry stop spending your premiums to lobby against a public health insurance option and affordable health care.
Why is the Baucus Bill the insurance industry bill?
Back in December, AHIP, the insurance industry trade group and head lobbying front, came out with what they called a "health reform plan," [pdf] putting forward the industry's position on the issue. The paper was full of a lot of vague policy recommendations, sugar-coated to seem people-friendly, but it had a few main points:
The four points above lay out a government-subsidized monopoly for private insrurance whereby individuals must purchase at least a high-deductible health plan from private insurers (no public option is endorsed), and government foots the bill through tax credits or subsidies.
The Baucus Bill delivered on that framework in spades. The bill has no public option, requires people to buy private insurance or face stiff penalties, endorses high-deductible junk insurance as an "Essential Benefits Plan," and caps expenses at 12% of income - a level that is nowhere near affordable - with government making up the difference with your tax dollars.
Today, people stood up and said they're sick of big insurance. They're sick of denied claims. They're sick of discriminatory practices. And they're sick of their premiums being used to lobby against reform and pad the pockets of health insurance executives who care nothing about their health, only the next quarter's stock price.
In West Virginia, a crowd gathered outside of Coventry's office:
In New Hampshire, more ordinary people protested Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield's bad practices like denying care for pre-existing conditions and using our premiums to pay for lobbyists intent on killing health care reform and a public health insurance option:
In Chicago, more people came out to protest Blue Cross:
Key Senator Says He Will Alter Health Proposal - New York Times
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, said Monday that he would modify his health care bill to provide more generous assistance to moderate-income Americans, to help them buy insurance.
Supporters of Public Option Plan Nationwide Protest - New York Times
When the Senate Finance Committee takes up its health-care bill on Tuesday, activists who favor a public option plan to stage demonstrations nationwide against the health insurance industry.
Pelosi wants House to pass healthcare bill ‘within weeks’ - The Hill
Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to make final decisions this week on the healthcare reform bill that will hit the House floor, but some centrists in the lower chamber want her to hold off until the Senate Finance Committee acts.
The Burden of Health Insurance Premium Increases on American Families - White House
Letter from AHIP to Baucus - AHIP
Kennedy successor bill nearing debate in Senate - Associated Press
Massachusetts could have a new U.S. senator by the end of the week.
Baucus Bludgeons Humana - Wall Street Journal
Political intimidation has always been part of the current Congress's health-care strategy: "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu" is tattooed on every lobbyist and industry rep in Washington. But Max Baucus's latest bullying tactics are hard to believe by even these standards, as the Senate Finance Chairman has sicced federal regulators on the insurer Humana Inc. for daring to criticize one part of his health bill.
Baucus healthcare bill 'worth serious consideration,' says Rep. Mike Ross - The Hill
Sen. Max Baucus's (D-Mont.) proposed healthcare compromise is "an idea worth serious consideration," a key centrist Blue Dog Democrat said Monday.
Grassley, Harkin approval ratings decline amid health talks - Des Moines Register
Iowans’ approval of Sens. Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin has dipped sharply in the past five months, a time when both have taken lead roles in controversial health care reform in Congress, according to The Des Moines Register’s new Iowa Poll.
In his speech on health care to Congress, President Obama laid down a challenge of sorts to progressives.
He laid out his principles for what a public health insurance option or any other idea to replace it would have to accomplish. In my mind, he is asking us to prove to those writing the policy (the Senate Finance Committee right now, and the rest of Congress) how the compromises on the table - co-ops and triggers - would not meet his principles.
Here is what the President said:
To my progressive friends, I would remind you that for decades, the driving idea behind reform has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage affordable for those without it. The public option is only a means to that end — and we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal.
…
But I will not back down on the basic principle that if Americans can't find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice. And I will make sure that no government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between you and the care that you need.
He repeated both principles twice. The goal of a public health insurance option in his mind is twofold: To offer Americans who can't find insurance an affordable choice and to end insurance industry abuses. Anything that doesn't meet both of those principles would fall short of what the President asked for.
So let's go through the two compromises on the table - state-based consumer-run co-ops and a trigger for a public health insurance option - and see if they meet both of those principles.
For President, Five Programs, One Message - New York Times
No one shifted an armchair, moved a flower arrangement or asked an unexpected question.
SPIN METER: $2 trillion in health savings? Where? - Associated Press
It was a watershed moment in the health care struggle: Leaders of the insurance, hospital and other medical industries stood with President Barack Obama at the White House and promised steps to save $2 trillion over the next decade.
Confusing Insurance Jargon Prompts Call For Reform - Kaiser Health News
Neil Dukas knew little about health insurance because he had always been healthy. When he and his wife bought a high-deductible policy in 2008, he didn’t know the difference between a deductible and an out-of-pocket limit. He simply assumed that when he needed care, the insurer would cover it.
A Proposed Tax on the Cadillac Health Insurance Plans May Also Hit the Chevys - New York Times
Although cast as a tax on gold-plated insurance policies for the well-heeled, it has prompted anxiety among the middle class.
The President’s Best Hope in the G.O.P. - New York Times
President Obama intends to keep wooing the public to support for his health care goals in a scheduled Monday night appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman.” Polls suggest he has had mixed results so far.
Graham: Health care must be reformed - The Greenville News
With the conversation in Washington and at public “town hall” gatherings getting more and more heated, many are wondering if the government is up to the challenge of fixing health care. Count U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham among them.
Toughest test coming up for health care overhaul - Associated Press
Keep going. You don't have to fix all of it now. Just please don't let it stall. That's the essence of the message that Senate Democratic leaders have for their Finance Committee senators, who plan to start voting Tuesday on a remake of the nation's health care system.
Rockefeller Stands Up for Liberals on Health Care - New York Times
On Tuesday, John D. Rockefeller IV, a leading Senate liberal on health issues, said he would oppose a new Democratic proposal intended to win elusive Republican support to remake the health system. On Wednesday, he was summoned to a private meeting with President Obama.
Uninsured More Likely to Die, Study Finds - ABC
People without health insurance are 40 percent more likely to die than those with private insurance, according to a new study whose authors say the finding underscores the need to expand coverage to the 46 million who lack it.
Plan for a Kennedy Successor Advances - New York Times
After hours of testy debate, the Massachusetts House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation allowing Gov. Deval Patrick to appoint an interim successor to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
New Tax in Senate Health Plan Draws Bipartisan Fire - New York Times
Senators of both parties said Thursday that they would seek significant changes in a Democratic proposal to tax generous high-cost health insurance policies.
More employers drop workers' health insurance - The Columbus Dispatch
Where you get health insurance typically depends on where you work.
Left and right plot on Baucus bill - Politico
A day after Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus released a health care bill that he predicted would win bipartisan support, Democrats and Republicans retreated to their separate corners Thursday as both parties plotted their strategy to shape the legislation.
O’Reilly backs government health insurance option - DKOStv
O’REILLY: The public option now is done. We discussed this, it’s not going to happen. But you say that this little marketplace that they’re going to set up, whereby the federal government would subsidize insurance for some Americans, that is, in your opinion, a public option?