Baucus Says Health Bill Is Solid

By Laura Smith, University Of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Monday that a significant step was taken last week when the Senate Finance Committee approved the America’s Healthy Future Act.

“Our bill lowers federal deficit, ends insurance discrimination, expands coverage … improves quality, and also guarantees [that] in our country, finally, nobody will ever go broke just because they get sick,” Baucus said during a teleconference with reporters.

The Montana Democrat went on to comment that he thinks one of the biggest travesties in America is how many people go bankrupt because of high medical bills.

Baucus, who chairs the Finance Commitee, said the bill will help with lowering costs, be deficit neutral in approximately 10 years and will protect Americans from harmful insurance industry practices. Baucus also stressed that the legislation will stop companies from denying coverage to those who have pre-existing conditions and to those who become ill while insured.

“It’s going to be reform that will provide real, quality, affordable health insurance for millions more Americans,” Baucus said. “It’s also a reform measure that can pass.”

Lower Costs, Republican Support Key To Passing Healthcare Reform

Tasked with finding bipartisan support for healthcare reform, the Senate will use this week, as well as its month-long recess, to explore ways to lower the price tag on the current legislation, said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY.) during a conference call with reporters Monday.

“Many are asking, ‘how are you gonna pay for it?’ The number one way we’re gonna pay for it is by cutting costs," said Schumer, a member of the Senate Finance Committee.

Schumer disclosed that his committee, led by Chairman Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), wants the bill to include provisions such as care bundling and value-based purchasing, items he believes will lower the bill’s cost to under $900 billion and will ensure that the system it creates will not be based on a ‘fee for service’ model.

“We’re gonna make sure that doctors and hospitals are awarded based on [patient] outcomes,” pledged Schumer.

Baucus, said Schumer, has told the committee that he wants a bipartisan compromise on the legislation reached by no later then September 15th, a timeline that Schumer called “more than fair.”

“Six weeks should be enough to sort things out,” said Schumer, who added that the Senate’s goal is to “have the bill passed and signed by the President by the end of the year.”

However, Schumer and his Democratic colleagues will face fierce opposition to reform efforts in the coming weeks from Republicans who argue that a government-run healthcare system will ration care to patients and ultimately, will lead to a system of ‘socialized’ medicine. In addition, certain conservative Democrats are worried that the high cost of reform will lead to tax increases on most Americans, a concern that certainly was not put to rest over the weekend when Larry Summers, the Chairman of President Obama’s National Economic Council, told a cable news program that "It's never a good idea to absolutely...rule things out no matter what."

To that end, Schumer explained that Democrats in the Senate are working on contingency plans to move the legislation forward in the event that a bipartisan consensus can't be reached. Yet aside from suggesting that Democrats might consider using budget reconciliation as a means of lowering the number of votes required to block a filibuster on the floor, Schumer declined to reveal specifics on what such plans would involve, insisting that “no matter what happens, we’re gonna enact healthcare reform by the end of the year.”

Schumer explained that the bill’s public option provision, a key item in President Obama’s reform wish-list, could be scrapped in the quest for bipartisanship.

“I believe very strongly in the public option, I’m gonna fight for it.....but no one’s drawing any lines in the sand yet,” said Schumer.

The Senator was also asked to address concerns that Congress’s failure to plan accordingly for it’s “Cash For Clunkers” program, which will require a Senate vote to supply $2 billion in additional funds after the program ran out of money, meant that it wouldn’t be able to handle healthcare reform effectively.

Replied Schumer, “there were some computer problems....those problems will be straightened out,” adding that the car rebate program and healthcare reform are “apples and oranges.”

“Healthcare [reform] is totally different,” said Schumer. “Yes, it’s hard to do, we know that...but the two are not analogous at all.”

Democrats Discuss the Advantages of their Budget

Democratic Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Max Baucus (D-MONT.), Representatives John Spratt (D-SC) and George Miller (D-CA) held a press conference today talking about the Democratic Budget. Sharon Patterson-Stallings, a recipient of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Carmen Berkley, a recent graduate from Pittsburgh University and Vice-President of the United States Student Association also joined the Senators and the Representatives to show their support to the Budget. This week, the Senate and the House will be debating the Democrats’ plan to cut taxes for the middle class, create jobs at home and strengthen the economy.

The plan is concentrated on education tax cuts, energy tax cuts, Alternative Minimum Tax relief and infrastructure. The objective is to restore fiscal responsible balance by 2012/2013.

This budget promises to secure both complex domestic society and economic leadership, “where Bush has failed” said Chairman Miller. It also promises to help homeowners, by property tax deduction, not only itemizing it, helps soldiers get houses, helps families with children and helps College graduates with their loans.

Senate Committee on Finance Questions Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson About President's 2009 Budget Proposal

In this morning's Senate Committee on Finance hearing chaired by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson was questioned about President Bush's fiscal year 2009 budget proposal. The Committee's questions were concerned primarily with Paulson and Bush's stimulus proposal and their plans for avoiding economic recession in both the immediate and long term future.

Baucus emphasized that the President's hope for a projected surplus by 2012 was "unrealistic." The Senator went on to caution that the budget's calls for Medicare and Medicaid spending cuts would be "devastating" to many dependent on the programs, including seniors, people with disabilities, and children. Baucus spoke out against the budget plans to further cut taxes.

Secretary Paulson's defense was that he believed our economy could not handle anything that would further increase taxes. He reminded the Committee that the Bush Administration was succeeding with programs such as the HOPE NOW alliance. Paulson added he had "great confidence" in the ability of our market to recover from this difficult time.

Paulson and the Bush Administration want to see a plan implemented that is "robust, temporary, and broad-based." While arguing philosophically about the best way to move our economy in the right direction, all present at the hearing were in agreement that what our government is doing now to help America is not working efficiently enough.