One of the issues in this year's campaign was Peter Shumlin's call for a single payer health care system. There was a lot of skirmishing, with Peter arguing that single payer is the best way to structure health care financing and Dubie arguing that, regardless of its merits, single payer is off the table because it isn't allowed under the Affordable Care Act.
Peter's response was that we can ask for a waiver, and they'll probably grant it. Not bad, but it depends on getting the waiver, and getting it years before the law says we can ask for it.
Today we learn that things may be changing. Scott Brown, the new Senator from Massachusetts whose qualifications are apparently limited to the fact that he owns a truck and has, in the past, had the ability to make women salivate,is working with Oregon Senator Ron Wyden to "fix" the Affordable Care Act.
According to Ezra Klein in today's Washington Post:
These are early days and there's a lot that could go wrong with this proposal.
Still, if Peter Shumlin, working with Bernie Sanders (exactly what he said he'd do in his campaign) can get some traction for a waiver to try a single payer system in Vermont, this will be not only a huge benefit for the people of Vermont, but a tremendous accomplishment for our new governor.
The R's did what they could to stall the inevitable, but Congress has completed its work on the health care package.
Talking Points Memo reports at 9:06 that the House passed the amended reconciliation bill and the next step is Obama's signature, which could come as soon as tomorrow.
Somehow, Republicans who spent last week and all day Sunday squealing like stuck pigs about special deals for Nebraska and Louisiana spent most of this week fighting like hell to keep them in the law.
We're all familiar with the fight over what the Democrats were "required" to do to distance themselves from the Move On "Betray Us" ad a couple of years ago, right?
And a little over a week ago we raised the question here again on the issue of condemnation of the Mary Cheney "Department of Jihad" screed.
Bernie Sanders to Make Sure Public Option Gets Up-or-Down Vote, Defying Reid, Durbin
-- By: Jon Walker
We recently learned that Harry Reid (D-NV) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) were actually whipping against the public option and trying to deny the American people a real up-or-down vote on the issue in the Senate. It is good to see that Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is willing to defy them and instead go with the will of the American people. From Greg Sargent:
"I think somebody should do that, and I'd certainly be prepared to do that," Sanders told me when I asked him if he'd be willing to commit to introducing a public option amendment. This is, in effect, a commitment to introduce the amendment if no one else does.
As I have explained earlier, if even one senator offers a public option amendment, and it is ruled germane, it would likely receive an up-or-down vote as part of the reconciliation vote-a-rama. Designing a public option/public program buy-in that would be ruled germane and does not violate the Byrd rule should definitely be possible.
Durbin's argument against the public option amendment, or any other smart, pro-consumer, Democratic amendments, is that they could endanger passage of the reconciliation bill if it is sent back to the House. Given that Republican sources are saying the Senate parliamentarian ruled the House must first pass the comprehensive Senate health care bill before the reconciliation fixes can be taken up, the fear that the public option amendment could derail the reconciliation fixes seem strange.
If it gets to that point, Durbin will already have the health care reform bill he originally voted for signed into law. The reconciliation fixes are minor, and clearly not overly important to Durbin, since he already voted for a bill with all the "problems" in it. Since Durbin does not want the important student loan reform bill as part of reconciliation, there is no reason to actually worry about the fate of the reconciliation sidecar bill from his stand point.
Last year I testified in Burlington to a panel of government officials, civic leaders, and doctors regarding my experience back in the early 1990's without health care. It was a challenging and difficult time for me and my family, and luckily we and our children were in good health and came through that hardship relatively unscathed.
All around me, friends are losing jobs and health care, and those friends who do have healthcare are finding their coverage lessened as their costs rise astronomically.
According to the Grassroots orgainization Billionaires for Wealthcare,45,000 people die every year because they can't get access to the health care they need. What kind of cruel third-world country have we become where corporate profits are more important than the health and welfare of our citizens.
This video brings home the point that
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.
And they make a big deal about something that distracts and frightens the voters like those so-called death panels, then the Democrats drop that . . .
I'm sure she thinks she's being fair and balanced because she said "so-called", thus imparting a note of skepticism. But this is inadequate. What she said was that the death panels were in the bill until the Republicans made a big deal about them, and then the Democrats dropped them. In other words, the Democrats' plan was to kill your grandmother and Sarah Palin's baby.
How about telling the truth: the Republicans made it all up. There are no death panels, so-called or not. It's all a big lie by the Republicans.
I don't know about you, but I think the job of journalists goes beyond parroting what the various sides say, and extends to actually reporting the facts. Of course, Roberts didn't even do that. She didn't resort to the old reliable, "he said, she said" formulation. If you listened to her commentary, not only would you get no idea of what the truth is you would get no idea of what the Democrats say about the Republican claim about death panels.
And this is what passes for a respected journalist in this country?
I'm sure that most readers of this site will find this utterly unacceptable. President Obama ran on a platfom of delivering health care reform, and the fraudulent package he is apparently willing to accept is a betrayal of all of us who worked so hard to put him in office.
If you agree that health care "reform" without even the watered-down public option is no reform at all, please contact your congressional delegation and ask them to oppose any health care package that does not include the public option.
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Update: Tweet the following on Twitter, and get all your friends and family to tweet it, too:
@ChuckGrassley Public option = $256B in savings. Your plan = $32B in added cost. http://bit.ly/VDBH4. Public Option, now. #health_care -------
More than 70% of Americans want a public health care option, but the health insurers and others who profit from the current "death by spreadsheet" system are fighting tooth and nail against us.
There are two paths for action, both of which are needed, to get the message across to our elected leadership in Washington.
Path One - Call People in Key States and ask them to Contact their Congressional Delegation
Those making deals with insurers and others to weaken health care need to hear from their constituents (aka: the people who can vote against them in the next election). They need to hear every single day, and the way to make that happen is to make sure their constituents know that these fine folks are planning to vote against the constituents' wishes.
The Organizing for America Neighbor to Neighbor tool is the key tool for this path. You'll need and Organizing for America account, if you don't already have one, but it's an easy sign-up.
Look for this button when you go there:
Click it, and on the page that appears, choose the state of one of the key legislators. Those states and legislators are listed in the table on this page.
Path Two - Call Key Representatives and Senators Directly
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Update: Tweet the following on Twitter, and get all your friends and family to tweet it, too:
@ChuckGrassley Public option = $256B in savings. Your plan = $32B in added cost. http://bit.ly/VDBH4. Public Option, now. #health_care -------
This path is slightly less effective than when constituents call, BUT is still needed in order to let these particularly important folks know that we're all watching and that campaign funds from us might just find its way to their opponents next time out, if they ignore us on this issue.
Over the fold is a complete repost from today's DailyKos diary by slinkerwink on the subject. It provides a little background, contact info, and talking points.
We can sit by and despair over how "it's never going to happen" or we can do our best to make it happen despite the odds. I'm for the latter option.
Peter Welch will be the primary guest on Vermont Public Radio on Friday, June 19, on the noontime show Vermont Edition, which will be hosted by Bob Kinzel. According to their site's blurb (also heard on promos):
Congress is tackling a comprehensive health care reform bill. Congressman Peter Welch discusses the prospects for this legislation and his support of a climate change bill that includes the controversial cap-and-trade provision.
He's been a busy guy. Wonder where Peter is vis a vis Howard Dean's proposals.
No mention of the recent war supplemental vote. Perhaps someone from here would and could call in to ask about that, too.
NanuqFC
Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
Last spring the Vermont Workers' Center - Jobs With Justice began the campaign Healthcare Is A Human Right. For the past year they have conducted more than 1,400 interview surveys with Vermonters all across the state. They've held hearings in Brattleboro, Burlington, St. Albans, Lyndonville, Barre, Rutland, and Bennington.
Everywhere they have gone the story has been the same. People want want and need universal healthcare.
These are challenging times. We have a new president, a declining economy full of upheaval, and Vermont State Government is facing cuts on every level. According to the Vermont Workers Center (VWC), it is time to change the paradigm
and save Vermonters tens of millions of dollars by establishing a universal single-payer healthcare system which eliminates the waste and profit of the current insurance financing system. These are critical times, full of new possibilities and great challenges.
I agree. It is a time "full of new possibilities", but only if we have the vision and energy to create change.
Come be part of that change tomorrow, Friday, May 1st for the first major statewide Healthcare Is A Human Right Rally at the Statehouse in Montpelier at 12 noon.
President Obama is talking about a single-payer universal healthcare system, and already the pundits are trying to create scare tactics telling us that we will face healthcare rationing. Healthcare Blogger Maggie Maher said,
We've barely started to discuss the specifics of health insurance reform and already confront a debate among the deaf. Consider the concerns of the Washington Times, which opines:
"Nationalized health care puts bureaucrats - not doctors - in charge of deciding who needs what medical treatment. Rationing is inevitable under these schemes. That's one reason Mr. Obama's universal health care plans must be stopped."
Office of the Press Secretary
____________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 6, 2009
Building on Thursday's White House Forum on Health Care Reform, President Obama Announces Series of Regional White House Forums to be Held Across Country
California, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina and Vermont to host regional forums to continue discussion about bringing down health care costs, expanding coverage for all Americans
WASHINGTON, DC - Building on Thursday's White House Forum on Health Care Reform, President Obama announced a series of Regional White House Forums on Health Reform that will bring the conversation about health care reform directly to communities across the country. In keeping with the Obama administration's commitment to a transparent, accountable government, the forums will be an opportunity for Americans from all over the country to voice their concerns and ideas about reforming our health care system.
"Health care reform is a fiscal imperative," President Obama said. "Skyrocketing health care costs are draining our federal budget, undermining our long-term economic prosperity and devastating American families. The time for reform is now and these regional forums are some of the key first steps toward breaking the stalemate we have been stuck in for far too long. The forums will bring together diverse groups of people all over the country who have a stake in reforming our health care system and ask them to put forward their best ideas about how we bring down costs and expand coverage for American families."
The Regional White House Forums on Health Care Reform will be hosted by the states' Governors and will include participants ranging from doctors to patients to providers to policy experts. They will be open conversations with everyday Americans, local, state and federal elected officials - both Democrat and Republican -- and senior Obama administration officials. The events will begin with a video recorded by the President, a summary of the findings from the Health Care Community Discussions that took place in December, and an overview of the discussion that took place at the White House Forum on Health Reform.
The meetings in California, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina and Vermont will take place in March and early April. Further logistical information about the forums is forthcoming.
UPDATE--JANUARY 18, 2008: Ways and Means voted yesterday to take Sec 10 of the fee bill, the section on co-pays in corrections, out of the bill. Reps Hube and Condon were not there but the other 9 voted unanimously to strip this section from the bill
You know that Douglas likes to talk about Vermont's affordability crisis, and how hard people who don't have a lot of extra money have it to afford their basic necessities of life. And it must be really hard if your job pays you a very low salary, like $.25 an hour, right?
That's right, $.25 an hour. You could get paid that little if you're employed by Correctional Industries of Vermont. I'm not sure about license plates, but if you spend any time in state office buildings you've probably sat on furniture made by prisoners.
Well, you say, what expenses do prisoners have? Aren't all their needs taken care of? They get housing, they get three hots and a cot, they probably have doctors and dentists and people like that come in to take care of them, right? How about this: the Douglas administration wants to make prisoners pay a $5.00 co-pay whenever they go to the doctor. If you're only getting paid $.25 an hour, even $5.00, which is a pretty low co-pay in the private insurance world, starts to look like a lot of money.
It's part of the Fee Bill, and here's the legislative language:
Sec. 10 28 V.S.A.§ 801 is amended to read § 801. MEDICAL CARE OF INMATES
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(d) The department is authorized to deduct of fee of up to $5.00 from inmate accounts for each request for sick call initiated by an inmate. The fee shall be deposited into a special fund administered pursuant to subchapter 5 of chapter 7 of Title 32 and used to offset the department's costs of medical services.
They're doing it because, in their words, "[T]he costs of medical care could be defrayed, personal responsibility enhanced, and unnecessary usage reduced) (sic) by a modest inmate co-pay per visit." They also think they'll save $50,000. Out of $130 million.
So in their view, doing this will have the beneficial effect of keeping prisoners from seeing doctors. On the other hand, a study on corrections policy across the country a couple of years ago argues that if we are going to provide decent health care to prisoners, who are, after all, people in the custody of the taxpayers' government, one thing we have to do is get rid of co-pays.
This is an area, one of many, in which Vermont is ahead of the rest of the country. While 33 states have adopted co-pays for prisoners, Vermont doesn't have them, and now the Douglas administration is once again racing to the bottom, trying to abandon one positive, progressive aspect of corrections policy, And it's also self-defeating. You may remember this fall when the Springfield prison was locked down because of an outbreak of MRSA. How much worse would it have been if the prisoners were avoiding the doctor because they didn't have the five bucks to get into the office?
House Ways and Means is taking its first look at this proposal Friday morning at 9:30. Let's hope that they say no to this ridiculous and short-sighted proposal.
250-1
75-1
