HealthCareForAmericaNow

Today, those of us who work at Health Care for America Now - including myself - went down to Capitol Hill where the 111th Congress was being sworn in. We were down there to visit the 171 Members of Congress who support Health Care for America Now and President-elect Obama's principles for health care reform.

The mood on the Hill was festive, with new Members having small gatherings of supporters in their offices and members of the public touring the halls and speaking with their Senators and Representatives. We walked into each office on our list and thanked the Member for their support, showing off the advertisement we placed in The Hill, Roll Call, and Politico this morning:

The first day of the 111th Congress comes with the news that health care spending's growth slowed to the lowest rate in 9 years.

The Institute for America’s Future and renowned health care and economics expert, Jacob Hacker, released a report today called: “The Case for Public Plan Choice in National Health Reform.” The report explains how the public plan option levels the playing field to allow for access and affordability by reducing costs, without reducing the innovation that can come from the private market. The Key Findings (pdf) of the report state:

A health care system that contains costs and drives value must include a good public plan if the broad goals of reform—universal insurance and improved value—are to be achieved. Private insurance and public insurance have distinct strengths and weaknesses, and thus should be encouraged to compete side by side to attract enrollees on a level playing field that rewards plans that deliver better value and health to their enrollees. Public insurance has a better track record at reining in costs, while preserving access; it has pioneered key quality and payment innovations that have often set the standard for private plans; it is essential to set a standard against which private plans must compete to drive value and can be a source of stability for people. Private plans are a source of new benefit options, and continuing pressure for innovation in benefit design and care management strategies.

HCAN Campaign Director, Richard Kirsch, voiced his support for the report’s conclusion: “Creating a high quality, affordable public plan alternative to private insurance is absolutely essential to achieving comprehensive health care reform solutions that will work for all of us in 2009.” Rep. Pete Stark stated his strong support for the choice of a public plan and HCAN agrees that a health care solution that does not include a public plan would be a non-starter. President-elect Obama also talks about the choice of a public option as a critical part of his plan, saying again and again in his speeches that every American should have a choice of a public plan similar to the health care that every Member of Congress gets.

However, we have seen signs that there will be debate on this issue. Advocates of real health care reform need to make sure that this critical part of the solution is not bargained away in a misguided attempt to placate those who see health care reform as a business opportunity, not a matter of the health of our families and our neighbors. This would be a tragic mistake.

Many of you who have been following Congressional politics for some time now will remember that in recent years, “Mr. Hastert was an advocate of governing the House by a ‘majority of the majority’ – a standard he thought best served the interests of his Republican members and, by extension, the nation.” By that standard on the list of Congressional supporters for the HCAN Statement of Common Purpose, we have a ‘majority of the majority’ supporting the public plan choice. We hope this will allay the fears of anyone who believes that real change can’t happen, because, in fact, this train is already pulling out the station.

It feels so good.

Today, Senator Max Baucus stepped firmly forward and proposed a vision for health care reform that can only be called "sweeping:"

Mr. Baucus would create a nationwide marketplace, a “health insurance exchange,” where people could compare and buy insurance policies. The options would include private insurance policies and a new public plan similar to Medicare. Insurers could no longer deny coverage to people who had been sick. Congress would also limit insurers’ ability to charge higher premiums because of a person’s age or prior illness.

People would have a duty to obtain coverage when affordable options were available to all through employers or through the insurance exchange. This obligation “would be enforced, possibly through the tax system,” the plan says.

Everyone over here at Health Care for America Now is applauding.

Specifically, the fact that Senator Baucus is proposing a vision that takes on insurance companies, makes health care affordable, and includes a public plan that provides for competition to lower costs for everyone makes this proposal hugely significant and extremely welcome.

And most importantly, we're delighted that Senator Baucus is committed to health care reform in 2009. As I've argued earlier, health care can't wait. And as Barack Obama put it, "We can't afford not to do it."

The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee (Sen. Baucus) is moving forward and showing leadership. The chairman of the HELP committee (Sen. Kennedy) is, too. So is our President-elect. After eight years making no progress towards the goal of quality, affordable health care for all, it's wonderful to finally have the momentum and leadership we need at all levels to get something truly meaningful written into law.

Pretty much everyone across the political spectrum agrees our health care system is broken. But let's take a minute and catalogue all the things people like about our current setup:

1. ChoicePeople like having control over their health. Choosing their doctor and being involved in their health decisions is key for Americans.
2. Employer Based InsuranceThough not a perfect solution, the employer based insurance system is one Americans are comfortable with and one that allows employers to offer health insurance as a benefit while leveraging the power of group plan insurance to lower costs. Plus, businesses can offer this substantial benefit tax-free.
3. Medicare and MedicaidMedicare and Medicaid, again, while problematic, have been huge successes by many measures. In fact, they were responsible for the slight decrease in the number of uninsured in America last year. Even the insurance industry wants to expand funding to these programs.

Senator John McCain wants to destroy all of these things. His proposed health care plan would eliminate the tax break employers get for offering health care, which would lead to a massive shift away from the employer based health care system. It's estimated 20 million people would lose their health care in the first year. (And if employers kept offering benefits to their employees, that money would actually be taxed!)

This would throw masses of people out into the free market without any protections or the benefit of group plan insurance. People would have to purchase plans where they could find them or afford them, severely limiting choice. Not to mention the cost - McCain is offering a $5,000 tax credit (which goes right to the insurance company) which would only cover five months of health care for the average family.

Now, to offset the trillions of dollars McCain would have to spend on these tax credits, he plans deep cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, severely weakening the third part of our system that is somewhat functional.

John McCain wants to take away everything good about our current system, and replace it with deregulation and free market ideology. It's a bait-and switch. As Bob Herbert says, John McCain is the one with a radical health care plan.

So, it's no surprise that everyone, from business to fellow Republicans are running away from this plan as fast as they can.

Now, I'd never say our system as it stands is perfect, or even good. Millions are uninsured and millions more are underinsured. Health care is in crisis and we need a fix.

Today, we're running a national call-in day to get Congress on board with our vision for health care reform. With Barack Obama and Joe Biden signing on yesterday, we've got 76 Members of Congress on board already and the momentum is rising. 

So, take five minutes and give your Congress-critters a call. Even if you've called already, they could stand to hear from you again.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, health care has crept up as the top issue for independents, now #3 behind the economy and the war (but above high gas prices):

The latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 finds that health care has crept up in importance as an election issue in recent months among a key voting group: political independents, who ranked it as highly as Democrats did in this poll.  Roughly one in four (26%) independents rank health care as one of the top issues they would "most like to hear the presidential candidates talk about." Health care's importance has risen among independents by eight percentage points since April.  At the same time, health care has dropped even further down Republicans' priority list (now mentioned by 11%, a new low) and stayed roughly stable among Democrats (25%).

This shouldn't be surprising to anyone. As I've argued before, health care and the economy and intricately linked, and a downturn in one causes and aids a downturn in the other. In a country where the majority of bankruptcies are related to medical bills - and they have a significant hand in home foreclosures, too - voters rightly recognize health care as a priority.

Now, will politicians realize this, as well? While there's hope - just look at all the Members of Congress that are signed on to Health Care for America Now's vision for reform - it remains to be seen whether Washington will really get the message.

This morning, Representative Pete Stark (D-CA) released this statement in response to America's Health Insurance Plans (an industry front group) campaign launch that Health Care for America Now will be crashing this morning:

"America's Health Insurance Plans' new 'Campaign for an American Solution' rings as true as the tobacco industry's efforts to end smoking. There is nothing grassroots about it. It is designed, financed, and coordinated through their Washington trade association with the singular goal of protecting their profits.

"I hope it is true that these companies intend to be a positive force in health reform efforts, but I tend to be cautious when the fox starts drawing up plans for a new henhouse."

We couldn't agree more. AHIP will try, against all the facts, to convince us that we are happy and well served by the private insurance industry. The reality is, we're not. Health industry profits continue to go up, while our benefits go down and our costs rise to debilitating levels. We need a solution. We need a public insurance plan, without the waste and excesses of the private insurance industry, to truly provide the affordable, comprehensive coverage we all desperately need.

AHIP's campaign may be one of the first industry astroturf campaigns to get off the ground, but it won't be the last. Health Care for America Now will be there fighting them every step of the way.

Stay tuned for pictures and video from our party crashing later this afternoon!