No Public Option, No Health Care Reform Say House Progressive Leaders

By Laura Woodhead - Talk Radio News Service

Health care reform without a public option is not worth the vote House progressive leaders said Thursday. Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Raul Grijalva, (D-Ariz.) warned that a plan without a strong public option does not constitute real reform.

"The line has been drawn," said Grijalva, during a conference call to discuss why a growing number of House members refuse to support a bill without a public option. "For us to pile on a trillion plus dollars into the same bankrupt system that we have of health care delivery in this country, the same insurance industry, is not worth the vote if it doesn't have a public option."

The comments come following a letter sent to Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Monday, signed by 60 progressive members of congress, stating that there would be no support for a health care bill, either on the House floor or after conference, that contained no public option.

Congressional Progressive Caucus vice Co-Chair Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), warned that attempts at a bi-partisan compromise on the public option would not produce positive votes from Republicans, as it is reform that they oppose, not a public plan.

"Anybody who thinks that the way to get a bill is to abandon the public option better be able to explain, better be able to tell me how many people they think they are going to get from the right side of the aisle," Ellison said. "We won't get any. The fact is that we should not count on any Republican votes."

Joining the Congressmen in the discussion was Jacob Hacker, Stanley Resor Professor of Political Science, Yale University who said that the Senate Finance Committee's compromise in the form of "untested" consumer co-operative simply did not represent real reform.

"Consumer co-operatives should not be seen as a substitute for a public plan," said Hacker. "[Co-ops are a] political solution to a political problem unlike the public plan which is a policy solution to a real world problem."

"They should be understood for what they are, an effort to kill the public plan and with it an effective competitor to consolidated insurance companies."

Cabinet Members Advise Government And Private Cooperation To Combat H1N1

By Laura Woodhead - Talk Radio News Service

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Department Of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that it was imperative that the private sector and the government work together to stop the spread of the H1N1 strain which is expected to make a resurgence in mid September.

"This a real shared responsibility. The federal government is doing our part," said Sebelius during a joint news conference Wednesday. "But we really rely on the private sector to make sure that Americans are as safe and secure as possible."

"A little planning now will help ensure that our economy withstands whatever the H1N1 throws us this fall," said Commerce Secretray Gary Locke.

Secretary Napolitano warned against failing to take immediate action to halt the virus.

"Lets not just play wait and see, lets be proactive," said Napolitano. "We are being proactive at the level we are at, but now we are asking the business community to be proactive too."

The new guidelines outline how businesses can help prevent the spread of disease within their workforce, through steps that include enforcing cleanliness standards, encouraging employees to get their regular flu shots and putting plans in place to accommodate the expected absences caused by H1N1.

Secretary Locke said that during the outbreak it would be essential for employers to send their employees home if they showed symptoms and allow them to take time off to recover.

"In America we love to praise puritan work ethic," said Locke. "But this fall it would serve the country better to praise common sense and responsibility."

Responding to the claim that the H1N1 vaccine would not be ready in time for the upcoming flu season, Secretary Sebelius said that production is on schedule.

"We are very much on target," Sebelius said. However, she added, "we never anticipated that all of the vaccine would be available day one, it will be on a role out basis."

To view the guidelines and for more information of preventing the spread of H1N1 visit www.flu.gov

Sebelius On The Public Option: Nothing Has Changed

By Laura Woodhead - Talk Radio News Service

The public option is still on the table Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday. Speaking at the US Administration on Aging's annual Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) conference, Secretary Sebelius said that her comment Sunday that the public option was "not an essential element" of health care reform, was misrepresented by the media.

"All I can tell you is that Sunday must have been a very slow news day, because here's the bottom line: absolutely nothing has changed," she said. "We continue to support the public option that will help lower costs, give American consumers more choice and keep private insurers honest."

The Secretary went on to address the scare tactics that she said opponents of health care reform were using in order to frighten the elderly into not supporting the administrations' proposed changes.

"Lots of information has been circulated causing fear among some seniors about cutting valuable medicare services or rationing care," Sebelius said. "Nothing could be further from the truth."

The comments came at the end of the Secretary's speech on how the administration is taking steps to tackle Medicare fraud. In any system were there was over $600 billion circulating, "you know that there are people around who want to get their mitts on the cash" Sebelius said. Efforts by the SMP would help "save medicare dollars" and cut waste within the health care system but it was reform that would make the real difference.

"Absent health care reform, doctors providing medicare are scheduled to be cut 21%," she warned. "You talk about losing your doctor. That will happen [unless we pass reform]."

Dept. Of Transportation Urged To Investigate Cash For Clunkers Scams

By Laura Woodhead

Consumer protection groups urged the Department of Transportation (DOT) Thursday to investigate scams stemming from the Car Allowance Rebate System, commonly called Cash For Clunkers, in a letter sent to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.

According to the groups, some dealers are making customers sign liability waivers that will result in the consumer being held liable if the dealer is not given a rebate by the government, despite being accepted by the dealer as meeting all "Cash for Clunkers" standards. According to these contracts, the consumer would have to pay up the loss or risk losing their new car, even if their old car had already been crushed, said Joe Ridout, spokesman for Consumer Action during a conference call with reporters.

"We are troubled by this disturbing new trend," said Ridout. "Frankly, we feel that dealers should be bending over backwards in gratitude to car buyers, who in their role as tax payers, provided this financial lifeline to dealerships."

"The DOT should send a clear message that car buyers should in no way be liable," he added. "Dealers have reaped the benefits of the program and should be made to play by its rules."

The letter also called for an investigation into so called "double dipping," in which dealers deliberately mislead the consumer into paying the "Cash for Clunkers" payment upfront under the promise they will receive the check for $4500 later, only to have the dealer take the money and later tell them that their car did not qualify.

"Some are taking advantage of consumers who are still confused about the program," Ridout said. This puts consumers "at risk of being charged twice, once as a taxpayer footing the bill for this subsidy to assist car dealerships and the second time as a customer of a dealer known to double dip."

Rosemary Shahan, President of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, said that she understood the anxiety that was behind the contingency contracts, when many dealers were unsure of how long the program would last or if they would recieve a check. However, it should be them, not the consumer that carried the liability, Shahan said.

"A lot of them have gone out on a limb and entered into a lot of contracts on the promise the money is forthcoming and they are still waiting for the deals to be processed," Shahan said. "The question is: should consumers take the risk when dealers know what they are getting into?"

"If the dealers decides, given all the unknowns, that they want to go ahead and offer these [Cash for Clunkers] contracts they should be assuming the risks and argue it out with the government,” she said.

In response to the letter, the DOT has placed a warning on the Cash for Clunkers website (www.cars.gov) telling customers that "consumers are not required to sign contingency agreements to pay back the dealer should the cars credit be rejected."

The Insurance Industry Is Writing The Anti Health Care Script, Claims Whistleblower

By Laura Woodhead - Talk Radio News

Health insurance companies are using disinformation to spread lies about health care reform to scare Americans, an industry whistleblower, former CIGNA Vice President Wendell Potter, said Wednesday during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol. Potter warned that Americans need to be alert about tactics the health insurance industry have used in the past to stop health care reform.

"Industry leaders are always full partners in developing strategies to derail any reform that may interfere with insurers ability to increase profits," Potter said.

Potter claimed that health Insurance firms have a history of "well financed PR campaigns every time Congress has tried to do what it is trying to do right now". "Its current behind the scenes efforts may well shape reform that will benefit wall street much more than it will benefit average Americans," said Potter.

While Potter acknowledged that not all outbursts at town halls were a result of insurance companies' PR campaigns, he said it was important to recognize the covert role that the industry plays in promoting the false information that fuels opponents.

"The playbook is the same and has been the same for many years," he said. "They are masters of linguistics. They know the hot button issues. They know buzzwords and expressions that get people excited."

"Americans should realize that when they hear isolated stories about long waiting times in Canada to see doctors or allegations that care in other systems is rationed by government bureaucrats, the insurance industry has written the script."

Potter claimed that these PR campaigns are payed for by increasingly costly consumer premiums of which only 85 cents of each dollar goes towards medical expenses.

"You can rest assured that's where all the money comes from," Potter said. "You can just imagine the amount of money that is being spent right now, millions and millions and millions of premium dollars are being spent to kill health care reform."

Potter was joined by House Rules Chair Louise M. Slaughter (D- N.Y.), who said that many of the claims being made about the House health care bills were ridiculous and did not deserve the time that was being awarded to refuting them.

"With all the access to information it is simply pointless that we all have to go around seriously and try to refute those things with a crowd of people who are yelling and screaming," said the Congresswoman.

"It is embarrassing to me as an American that people would even begin believe that their government would be putting people to death," Slaughter said. "Why in the world would Americans believe this?"