Universal Health Care for America

[Guest Kettek]

I had no idea the insurance industry was exempt from anti-trust laws.

What a BS, sweetheart of a deal!!!

I'm going to raise hell if they don't repeal that law.

 

Rush

 

Let free market reign!

 

Let the poor die.

Let the middle class use their life's savings to pay for their family medical bills.

Let the upper class afford premium health care.

 

Laissez-faire! Repeal child labor laws, minimum wage, federal workplace safety mandates, maternity leave, equal employment guarantees.

 

I want lead in my toothpaste, and shirts made by uneducated 12 year olds!

[Guest Falconear]

I'm starting to think that even a system with no government intervention and no insurance companies would be better than what we have now.

[Guest Fedup]

Watch the video above or read the transcript below.

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Polls show the overwhelming majority of Americans favor a non-profit alternative -- like Medicare -- that would give the private health insurance industry some competition. But if so many Americans and the President himself want that public option, how come we're not getting one?

Because, the medicine has been poisoned from day one, in part because of that same revolving door that Congresswoman Kaptur and Simon Johnson were just talking about. Movers and shakers rotate between government and the lucrative private sector at a speed so dizzying they forget who they're working for.

SEN. MAX BAUCUS: Our plan does not include a public option.

BILL MOYERS: Take a close look at that woman sitting behind Montana Senator Max Baucus. He's the Democrat who's the Chairman of the Finance Committee. Liz Fowler is her name. And now get this. She used to work for WellPoint, the largest health insurer in the country. She was Vice President of Public Policy. And now she's working for the very committee with the most power to give her old company and the entire industry exactly what they want: higher profits, and no competition from alternative non-profit coverage that could lower costs and premiums.

I'm not making this up. Here's another little eye-opener. The woman who was Baucus' top health advisor before he hired Liz Fowler? Her name is Michelle Easton. Why did she leave the Committee? To go to work -- where else? -- at a firm representing the same company Liz Fowler worked for WellPoint. As a lobbyist.

It's the old Washington shell game. Lobbyist out, lobbyist in. And it's why they always win.

They've been plowing this ground for years, but with the broad legislative agenda of the Obama White House, it's more fertile than ever. The health insurance industry alone has six lobbyists for every member of Congress, and more than 500 of them are former congressional staff members.

Just to be certain Congress sticks with the program, they've been showering megabucks all over Capitol Hill. From the beginning, they wanted to make sure that the bill that comes out of the Finance Committee next week puts for-profit health insurance companies first, by forcing the uninsured to buy medical policies from them. Money not only talks, it writes the prescriptions.

In just the last few months, the health care industry has spent 380 million dollars on lobbying, advertising and campaign contributions. And a million and a half of it went to -- don't hold your breath -- Finance Committee Chairman Baucus, who said he saw "a lot to like" in two proposed public options but voted "no."

SEN. MAX BAUCUS: My job is to put together a bill that gets 60 votes. Now I can count and no one has been able to show me how we can count up to 60 votes with a public option in the bill.

BILL MOYERS: Of course not. They can't get 60 votes. Not when the people who want a public alternative can't possibly scrape up the millions of dollars Baucus has received from the health sector during his political career.

Over the last two decades, the current members of the Senate Finance Committee - you're looking at them -- have collected nearly 50 million dollars from the health sector. A long-term investment that's now paying off like a busted slot machine.

Not that we should be surprised. A century ago, muckraking journalists reported that large corporations and other wealthy interests virtually owned the Senate, using bribery, fraud, and sometimes blackmail to get their way. Jokes were made about the Senator from Union Pacific or the Senator from Standard Oil.

This fellow in particular was out to break their grip. His name was David Graham Phillips, and one day in 1906, readers of COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE opened its March issue to discover the first of nine articles by Phillips titled "The Treason of the Senate."

He wrote: "Treason is a strong word, but not too strong, rather too weak, to characterize the situation in which the Senate is the eager, resourceful, indefatigable agent of interests as hostile to the American people as any invading army could be..."

The public outrage provoked by Phillips and other muckrakers contributed to the passage of the Constitutional amendment providing for the direct election of Senators, who until then were elected by easily bought-off state legislators.

Of course, like water seeking its own level, big money finds its way around every obstacle, and was soon up to its old tricks, filling the pockets of friendly politicians. Today none dare call it treason. So how about calling it what it is: a friendly takeover of government. A leveraged buyout of democracy.

Outrageous? You bet. But don't just get mad. Get busy.

[Guest Fedup]

WellPoint, Inc. is a large, U.S. based health insurance company and the largest member of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. It was formed when WellPoint Health Networks, Inc. merged into Anthem, Inc., with the surviving Anthem adopting the name, WellPoint, Inc. and began trading its common stock under the WLP symbol on December 1, 2004.

[Guest AARON]

Republicans and Democrats are pressing to change language contained in a Senate health care reform bill that would effectively prohibit new doctor-owned hospitals from opening. If passed as currently written, they say, the legislation could cripple health care efforts in communities around the country.

 

At issue is the ability of doctors with ownership stakes in hospitals to refer patients to their own facilities. The practice has occurred for years and has drawn increasing criticism in Washington as health care costs climb.

 

Critics say the practice allows doctors to line their own pockets by referring the most lucrative, well-insured patients to their own hospitals and ignoring the uninsured.

The language in the bills now before Congress would prevent new doctor-owned hospitals from gaining Medicare provider contracts. Without those, most hospitals cannot survive.

 

The measure won support from the American Hospital Association, an industry group that represents thousands of hospitals and tens of thousands of medical professionals.

 

But last week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein wrote a letter to the chief architect of the Senate health care reform bill, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, urging him to rethink the provision.

 

"While I understand that you have concerns about the operation of some physician owned facilities, these provisions will harm patient access to care in California," wrote Feinstein, D-Calif. "Several facilities will not be able to serve their communities if the language remains as written."

 

More than 220 physician-owned hospitals would retain their Medicare agreements under the legislation, but Feinstein said she is concerned that they would be unable to expand or move into new buildings.

 

Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is holding hearings this week during which other members of the committee can offer amendments to the legislation.

 

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has authored two amendments: one that would strike the provision altogether and another that would delay the cut-off date to November of 2012.

[Luke_Wilbur]

Senator Max Baucus

 

Be a good Citizen of our Country.

 

Do the right thing and give back the money.

 

Break the chain of special interest.

 

Give back the the $1.5 million for your campaign.

 

You concience is worth far more than that.

[Guest A Fixed Game]

I had no idea the insurance industry was exempt from anti-trust laws.

What a BS, sweetheart of a deal!!!

I'm going to raise hell if they don't repeal that law.

 

Rush

 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York. have are planning to make an announcement today on this issue. Sen. Leahy convened a Judiciary Committee meeting to air the possibility of revoking the industry's antitrust exemption.

 

I agree with the statement President Obama made last night. "Insurers and the financial industry are resisting changes because they were "doing just fine under the status quo."

 

The insurance industry is spending enormous amounts of money to keep the status quo. The insurance companies are spending money on both sides of the aisle to pit both groups against each other, so nothing gets done.

 

A red herring is an idiom referring to a device which intends to divert the audience from the truth. The insurance industry and Wall Street intentions are to divert the truth to Americans with a bombardment of media noise, so they can keep their status quo.

[Guest Levana]

URGENT: March against insurance companies in DC!

 

I wanted to send you a quick note about the march against the insurance industry happening in D.C. tomorrow.

 

America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the front group for the insurance companies, is having a conference with all the major insurance industry executives. They've been working overtime to block health care reform and a public health insurance option. We must be there to confront them.

 

Seven families who's lives have been turned upside because of the insurance companies' bad practices will be there to confront Karen Ignagni, the insurance industry's top lobbyists. Can you join us tomorrow to back them up?

 

When: Thursday, October 22nd, 2:30 pm

Where: Assemble outside the AFL-CIO, 815 16th St NW (between H and I streets, near the Farragut and McPherson Square Metro stops - map)

[Guest Kristen Jones]

Stop Playing Monopoly with Health Insurance — Break Up the BUCAs and Restore Competition in the Marketplace

 

Protecting Small Health Plans and Other Healthcare Payors and Setting Uniform Rates Are Key to Breaking Up Monopoly Power in Health

 

October 14, 2009 – Warwick, RI – What Congress is doing about the healthcare dilemma that is currently facing them is flat-out wrong, according to Samuel H. Fleet, President of AmWINS Group Benefits. Not one of the bills being considered focuses on breaking the stranglehold the BUCA monopoly – Blue Cross/Blue Shield for profit plans, United Healthcare, CIGNA and Aetna – has on the health insurance market. In Fact, Fleet insists that many of the provisions of the health care reform bills will actually make the monopolies more powerful.

 

Today, Fleet released his second health care reform position paper, “Time to Stop Playing Monopoly with Health Insurance,” which proposes two key solutions that will help restore competition and allow smaller health plans to have new opportunities and thrive in the health insurance market.

 

Fleet compares the health care reform debate with two familiar examples: phone calls and razor blades. He draws a strong comparison between the BUCA monopoly with the 1983 breakup of AT&T, a regulated monopoly that the federal government encouraged for decades as a way to build a nationwide network of phone lines. Fleet believes that just like AT&T, the BUCA monopoly is growing so large that the initial benefits provided are now being overtaken by their ability to operate like an oligopoly.

 

“They are able to hold service providers hostage to lower and lower reimbursement rates, they generate larger and larger profits for themselves that are not passed on to consumers, and they protect turf by blocking entry for smaller firms,” says Fleet.

 

Fleet suggests the reason BUCA customers put up with this pattern is because the “razor” is cheap and no one pays attention to the cost of replacement blades. From a healthcare standpoint, Fleet explains that the BUCA promise very high discounts on the cost of healthcare procedures, but then charges very high rates for the administration of these plans.

 

Following are Fleets solutions to break up the monopoly power of the BUCAs:

 

➢ Apply the anti-trust Robinson-Patman Act to smaller service providers – This law protects small retailers from being forced out of the market by large stores that can demand special pricing from suppliers. Similarly, an amendment to include service providers will protect these smaller health plans by eliminating the ability of BUCA insurers to control the health insurance marketplace.

 

➢ Set procedure reimbursement rates at a fair cost – By doing so, dozens of companies stifled by the big health insurance monopolies can innovate, excel and compete to lower the cost of administering health insurance benefits.

 

“Ultimately, health care reform should be about affordability and accessibility,” says Fleet. Instead, Fleet suggests that instead of focusing on the rising cost of health care and its causes, politicians have chosen to focus on insurance reforms thus treating the symptoms of the illness and not the cure a for the disease.

[Guest LAW]

On October 14, 2009, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) held a hearing to examine the health insurance industry antitrust exemption. Since 1945, the insurance industry has been exempt from our nation's antitrust laws, which is anticompetitive and wrong. Senator Leahy introduced the Health Insurance Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009 to end this exemption. This bill would give doctors and consumers the confidence that the price they pay for insurance is fair and the product of a competitive marketplace.

 

[Guest Jonathan]

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) today applauded the strong, bipartisan vote to report H.R. 3596, The Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009.

 

"Today’s vote is an important step forward toward opening up health and medical malpractice insurance markets to real competition," said Conyers. "Joined by three of my Republican colleagues, the House Judiciary Committee agreed to bring antitrust enforcement to the two most abusive practices of the health insurance industry - price fixing and market allocation. Although state regulation of this industry is crucial – and is preserved in this bill – it has proved insufficient to prevent these particularly abusive practices. No one on this committee believes that price fixing or carving up markets is a good thing, and the wide, bipartisan support for this bill’s passage reflects this. This measure fixes a mistake sitting on the federal statutes for over sixty years, making an important contribution to the health reform efforts underway in both houses of Congress."

 

H.R. 3596, The Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009 passed by recorded vote with a bipartisan margin of 20-9.

[Guest Vice President Joe Biden]

Powerful insurance companies are pulling out all the stops to defeat the President's plan for health reform. They're spending seven million bucks a week on lobbyists, blanketing the country with deceptive TV ads, and just funded two high-profile "reports" to distort what reform would mean for you.

 

I know their game. I was in the Senate the last time health reform came around, and I saw the special interests savage our efforts. Frankly, under the old rules of Washington they were nearly impossible to beat. But now, thanks to you, the rules are changing. All the lies, scare tactics and lobbyist shake-downs in the world are no match for the incredible work of Organizing for America supporters like you. That's exactly what frightens them so much -- and it's what Barack and I are counting on.

 

After decades of false starts, we're now just a short time from finally passing real reform. Every member of Congress will soon have to cast their vote. As real change draws near, you can bet the insurance companies will hold nothing back. That means OFA will need the extra resources to beat back whatever attack they can dream up next.

 

When I talk about you changing the rules in Washington, here's what I mean: This week, crucial negotiations on Capitol Hill are shaping a comprehensive reform proposal. At the same time, the insurance companies' phony reports are grabbing headlines and their lobbyists are twisting arms. But your work is keeping them from setting us back.

 

On Tuesday, OFA supporters around the country organized more than 1,000 local outreach events and generated an astounding 330,000 calls to Congress from constituents telling their representatives that "it's time to deliver." From my years in Congress and my conversations with Senate colleagues this week, I can tell you with confidence that your message broke through and you helped keep us on track.

 

If this fight were only about guaranteeing the choice of secure, quality, affordable care for every American, it would be worth everything we could throw at it. But as Barack reminded us this week, this fight for change is now about something even bigger: a test of whether or not "we as a nation are capable of tackling our toughest challenges, if we can serve the national interest despite the unrelenting efforts of the special interests; if we can still do big things in America."

[Guest Casey]

The amount of money that insurance companies and drug companies put into defeating any change to the status quo is unreal.

[Guest LAW]

Polls show public sentiment increasing for a public option. A Washington Post-ABC poll found nearly six out of 10 favor a public option; 73 percent of doctors want it, too.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/19/AR2009101902451.html

[Guest Monica]

Your right Mr. Vice President. All the insurance reports indicating that health insurance premiums will go up is all BS to me. What I see is reports that are trying to scare people into believing that change will be bad for them.

[Guest Blue Dog]

I am self-employed and do not have employer provided insurance. I have an individual policy and my insurance premium increases every single year. In fact, it has doubled in the past four years alone. So, it seems to me that with or without any health care reform, premiums are going to increase.

[Guest David]

I favor a quasi-single-payer system in which the government gives you free insurance with a high co-pay and a high deductible.

[Guest A Fixed Game]

The concession being made to the insurance companies make the public option available only for individuals and small businesses. Private insurers would get to keep the biggest and most lucrative part of the market, the large companies and their employees. This is really becoming a much smaller bill than it appears.

[Guest Mike Hersh]

Join us at the Rockville Library tomorrow, 1 PM-3 PM Sunday Oct 25 for the latest news on health care from the White House and Congress, then learn how you can get involved to make a difference. NO minimum donation. NO ONE turned away for lack of contribution.

 

New guests announced! Sen. Jennie Forehand reporting on Maryland's Senators and Members of Congress--their positions and efforts on behalf of healthcare reform. Also, Karen McManus from Rep. Chris Van Hollen's office with the latest new from Congress.

[Guest Billionaires 4 Wealthcare]

Public Option Annie - with lyrics (guerrilla musical at AHIP conference)

 

AHIP is the powerful insurance lobby that spends 5 million dollars a week trying to kill health care reform. Billionaires for Wealthcare is a grassroots network looking to stop them - with song.

 

 

The protesters interrupted a presentation by Republican pollster Bill McInturff, whose work for AHIP on the series of early-90s “Harry and Louise” anti-health-care reform commercials has been called by Advertising Age ‘among the best conceived and executed public affairs advertising programs in history.’

 

AHIP represents insurers who provide coverage to more than 200 million Americans, the group says. Singing out against them were a small group of protesters from the group Billionaires for Wealthcare, which specializes in dressing up as members of the groups it is critiquing (often in an exaggerated or satirical way, as with top hats or suspenders).”

[Guest LAW]

http://www.pos.org/about/mcinturff.asp

 

Bill McInturff is a partner and co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies, a national political and public affairs survey research firm. Since its founding in 1991, the firm has completed more than 5 million interviews with voters and consumers in all fifty states and over a dozen foreign countries, and conducted more than 3,500 focus groups. Called by The New York Times, "the leading Republican polling company," Public Opinion Strategies currently represents nineteen U.S. Senators, seven governors, and over 40 Members of Congress.

 

Bill is actively engaged in American politics, conducting national survey research on behalf of the Republican Governors Association. Most recently, Bill served as the lead pollster for John McCain 2008. Bill, along with Peter Hart of Peter D. Hart Research Associates also conducts The NBC News/The Wall Street Journal Poll.

 

Much of his work has been devoted to what he describes as "combat message development," not simply monitoring public opinion, but developing messages to defend and promote client interests on complex public policy issues. Bill has conducted groundbreaking research on Medicare reform, creating Social Security private retirement accounts, juvenile justice reform, genetic testing, school choice, tort reform, health care policy, and a host of other policy issues.

 

The focus of much of Bill's work has been health care, having completed more than 350 focus groups and more than 80 national surveys on this topic alone. Bill's health care clients include the American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, America's Health Insurance Plans, the Kaiser Family Foundation, Pfizer, Inc., and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation His work on behalf of Health Insurance Association of America included conducting the message and advertising testing for their series of 'Harry and Louise' television commercials, called by Advertising Age "among the best conceived and executed public affairs advertising programs in history."

 

His prior experiences include 'hands on' campaign management experience at the local, congressional, and the presidential level. He also held senior positions with the Republican national party committees prior to entering the field of survey research.

 

Bill is a frequently quoted source on the topic of American politics. He has appeared on Meet the Press, Face the Nation, and is frequently quoted in a variety of national news magazines and major newspapers.

 

Bill lives in Alexandria with his two sons, and coaches baseball.

[Guest Fedup]

William "Bill" McInturff is a Republican pollster, the Director of Public Opinion Strategies, and, along with Peter D. Hart, the lead pollster for the NBC News/Wall Street Journal polling series for the past decade. He was the lead pollster for John McCain in his 2008 bid for the office of United States President. He has built Public Opinion Strategies into the largest Republican polling operation, representing 19 American Senators and over 50 Congressmen. His work includes testing the Harry and Louise commercials that were run against the Clinton health care plan of 1993.

[Guest Levana Layendecker]

Today, Senator Reid stood up and announced he is putting a public health insurance option in the Senate bill that will go to the floor for a full vote in the coming weeks.

 

This is a huge victory.

 

Putting the public option in the bill that goes to the floor makes it much harder to remove later on in the process. We haven't won yet, not by a long shot, but we've passed a big milestone - we have a bill going to the Senator floor with a public health insurance option, something the pundits in Washington predicted would never happen.

 

Senator Reid stood up for America and took the lead today. He gave us a public health insurance option, something the vast majority of Americans want.2 There are things that still need to be fixed in the Senate bill like:

 

 

Making sure health care is truly affordable to everyone

Ensuring employers are responsible for helping to provide good health benefits to their employees

Fairly financing reform rather than taxing higher-cost plans

We've got a long way to go before we reach the finish line, but Harry Reid deserves our thanks. As he keeps fighting for all of us, we'll keep standing with him.

 

We're nearing the finish line and we're winning victories.

[wiley]

Nevada Senator Harry Reid discussed the status of the healthinsurance reform bill he has been working on with Senators Dodd andBaucus and the White House. Reid announced today that he is sending abill to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that includes a publicoption giving states the choice to opt-out. When the CBO has finishedscoring the combined Senate bill, Reid will bring the bill to the floorfor an open debate and amendment process.

 

[Guest The White House]

“The President congratulates Senator Reid and Chairmen Baucus and Dodd for their hard work on health insurance reform. Thanks to their efforts, we’re closer than we’ve ever been to solving this decades-old problem. And while much work remains, the President is pleased with the progress that Congress has made. He’s also pleased that the Senate has decided to include a public option for health coverage, in this case with an allowance for states to opt out. As he said to Congress and the nation in September, he supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition.”