Health Care Is In The House

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Democratic Representatives say there is a rapidly closing window for passing health care. A health care bill, known as the Dingell bill, will come out Tuesday. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) mentioned that the bill is not exactly what he would have put together, but that he believes if the U.S. is going to do something about the problem, it must be better addressed.

“This is a great opportunity. If we waste it, I can’t tell you when it will return,” said Dingell.

Dingell was joined by Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) for a health care discussion Tuesday. The Representatives agreed that health care brings a “unique American challenge” that requires an “American solution.”

Kind used a different analogy than that of Dingell and said they were trying to get healthcare “across the finish line.” No matter what the analogy, the point was clear that Democrats want to get the debate going, now.

Altmire said Republicans and Democrats are not that far apart in their ideas but a systematic reform is necessary. He said it would be nice to have Republican support and it would be a chance for them to be part of an important piece of legislation.

“It will not be a perfect bill but we hope it’s one that advances in the right direction which will lead to increased quality [health care] at a lower cost for all Americans,” said Altmire.

The Representatives highlighted aspects of the debate that bring about concerns such as: the costs, a level playing field for insurance companies, and a public option.

At this time, the New Democratic Coalition has not put out a position on a public option, according to Kind. He said it would be a tough sell for some members but that failure is not an option.

Massachusetts’ Health Care Reforms Could Provide Lessons On The National Level

By Courtney Ann Jackson- Talk Radio News Service

Policy analysts are taking their cue from Massachusetts’ 2006 health care reforms. Fellows from the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation discussed the results of Massachusetts’ reforms Monday, contrasting the state's health care system with the possibility of health care reform on the national scale. All said there are lessons to be learned from the state of Massachusetts and certain problems that cannot be ignored.

Michael Tanner, senior fellow of the Cato Institute said, “Massachusetts’ biggest mistake was that they made universal coverage the loadstone of their reforms. That the whole idea of whether or not this was to be a successful reform was did they get a piece of paper into everybody’s hands that said they had health insurance. They neglected the all important issue of cost containment.”

Turner said Massachusetts could have pursued more consumer involvement and deregulated their health care system. Instead, he said they chose to go with a system that imposed government controls on the individuals, the insurers, and the providers.

Turner believes these are all issues the federal government should take into consideration and learn from Massachusetts’ mistakes.

Greg Scandlen, president and CEO at Consumers for Healthcare Choices asked, “If we reform all [U.S.] health care assistance the way Massachusetts was done, what’s going to happen with all these newly insured people coming in to see a doctor?”

Scandlen brought up the issue of accommodating such a large number of insured people. He said the rate of people going to the emergency room could rise if doctors have a difficult time providing for such large additions of insured patients.

U.S. health care system is not up to snuff

Today in a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, business owners from across the country met with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) about trends in employer-sponsored health coverage. Small and large business owners discussed their concerns with health care costs and urged Congress to make some changes in 2009.

Fixing health care is a top priority and an urgent priority, said Andrew Stern, from the Service Employees International Union. Stern advised Congress to create affordable alternatives to job-based health care that will provide more predictable costs to small business owners, workers and students. Under the new legislation, insurers should not be allowed to discriminate on the basis of health status, age or other factors.

About 60 percent of employees are insured through their employers, but this hearing showed that employers are concerned about the high costs they will have to pay in the future in private health care costs. Carl Redman, from Innovation Construction and Bear Electric, said that Congress and small business owners need to band together and negotiate plans with insurance agencies to get smaller premiums and more affordable health care coverage.

Obama campaign offers relief

The Obama campaign held a conference call advocating the creation of a National Catastrophic Insurance Fund. The call focused on describing Senator Obama’s support for such a fund, as well as the way Obama’s opponent for the presidency, Republican John McCain, has sided with current president George Bush in “letting the market work itself out” instead of helping people in need of governmental assistance.

Obama’s supporters described a system which the people in the states most in need of affordable disaster insurance could acquire it, with particular attention being paid to Florida (being that they are the most susceptible to being effected by a natural disaster). The call hosts noted that the money needed to lower insurance costs would come from private funding, and they mentioned that this would help make certain that states unwilling to pay for the insurance of people in other states would not have to do so.

Obama’s campaign painted the picture of McCain siding with insurance companies instead of helping out needy Americans. They said McCain initially supported such an insurance plan, but changed his mind after realizing President Bush opposed government intervention between citizens and insurance companies. Also, they said McCain’s belief that FEMA could help solve disaster relief problems was illogical.