- Feb 8, 2001
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Despite all of the hokum from Candidate Obama and the One Party Congress about transparency in government and the promise to broadcast negotiations and hearings on health legislation on CSPAN (in HD, no less!) the deals are being cut in secret and what is finally coming out is nothing less than some of the worst special interest dealing in recent memory.
What, you expected something different?
The rush to get health care/health insurance/whatever passed (The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Again and again and again!) is political payback at its worst. The aim is simple - cut massive breaks for favored voting blocks and the massive bill will be paid by everyone else.
While Harry Reid is using his leadership position to garner the best breaks for his supporters (he is 5-10% behind likely Republican opponents in the polling for the 2010 election and desperately NEEDS to bring the pork home!) he is not alone in playing this game.
While we await more detailed analyses from the Congressional Budget Office on the proposed legislation, the independent analyses that are being made show some might fancy dancing on the numbers -
Budget tricks rife in health reform effort - Health care overhaul bill has been front-loaded with revenue and backloaded with spending to make it look $250 billion less expensive that it actually is
Courting doctors in health care battle - $247 billion measure making its way to the Senate floor, aims to wipe out a scheduled 21 percent rate cut for doctors treating Medicare patients
If you are a voter and a taxpayer, Democrat or Republican or independent, isn't it about time that you contacted your elected representative and let them know that they need to cut out the special dealing?
Reid Leads Democrats In Carving Out Favors for States on Health
Reid Leads Democrats In Carving Out Favors for States on Health
By Brian Faler
Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Nevada would get help with its Medicaid bills. The elderly in Florida and New York would receive additional Medicare benefits. And workers in so-called high-risk professions such as firefighting and construction would get a break on a new insurance tax.
Those are provisions that Senate Democrats, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, put in an $829 billion health-care bill to shield constituents from measures intended to pay for the biggest overhaul of the medical system in four decades.
The result is the new policies may be unevenly administered, with some U.S. states getting preferential treatment, a possibility that has given Republican lawmakers ammunition to attack the legislation.
?It?s going to hurt the bill and raise the level of cynicism about Washington politics,? said Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican. ?The provisions ought to be applied to all of the states.?
The number of special provisions is likely to grow as the full Senate begins debating the measure in coming weeks. Because Democrats are unlikely to win many Republican votes, individual lawmakers will have leverage to demand changes to satisfy parochial interests.
At the same time, those provisions may make it easier for Congress to approve a sweeping bill by giving lawmakers more of a stake in legislation they may not otherwise fully support.
Doing Their Jobs
?Members being able to convince colleagues of the special circumstances in their states?? said Senator Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat. ?That?s what members are here to do -- represent their state.?
Senate Democratic leaders are meeting behind closed doors with Obama administration officials to combine measures approved by the finance and health committees. Debate may begin next week on the legislation, which would expand health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and place new restrictions on insurance companies.
Health-insurer stocks have lost ground in the last month on concern the overhaul will hurt profits. The Standard & Poor?s index of 13 managed-care companies dropped 13 percent, led by Hartford, Connecticut-based Aetna Inc.
Lawmakers have already made exceptions to some of the biggest policy changes under consideration.
$100 Billion Cut
Democrats such as Senators Bill Nelson of Florida and Ron Wyden of Oregon secured provisions setting aside $5 billion to shore up benefits for constituents who participate in Medicare Advantage. That program allows private insurers to contract with the government to provide Medicare benefits.
The bill that came out of Senator Max Baucus?s finance committee cuts more than $100 billion from Medicare Advantage to help fund the overhaul. Some lawmakers say they are concerned the elderly will see a reduction in benefits.
The measure doesn?t identify which states could get the $5 billion. The language is so confusing -- those eligible include retirees in ?counties where the MA benchmark amount in 2011 is equal to the legacy urban floor amount? -- that even congressional aides said they aren?t sure.
Nelson said the aid isn?t directed solely at Florida. ?It affects several states, including New York,? he said. ?We?re trying to grandfather in seniors so that they don?t lose the benefits they have.?
Wyden said it would go to states like Oregon that ?would face hardships? under Medicare Advantage cuts.
Help for Unions
Lawmakers such as Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey pushed for exceptions to a tax on expensive insurance plans. The tax would be phased in more slowly in states the government determines have the highest costs.
Democrat John Kerry, whose state of Massachusetts is likely to end up on the list, said the tax may disrupt his state?s own efforts to expand health coverage.
?If you change the way it?s working, you automatically upset people?s expectations,? Kerry said.
Those in professions deemed high risk like mining would also get a break. For them, the tax would kick in for family insurance plans worth $26,000 not $21,000.
Menendez said that was designed to protect those ?who gave up money at the table in order to get better health-care packages,? referring to Democratic-supporting unions. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois last week said lawmakers are considering additional changes to reduce the tax hit on union members.
Full Funding
Reid secured provisions to ensure his state of Nevada won?t face higher Medicaid costs.
Democrats want to expand coverage by loosening eligibility rules for the joint federal-state health-care program for the poor. Some governors say that could saddle them with higher bills. State spending would increase by $33 billon under Baucus?s plan, the Congressional Budget Office says.
The plan calls for ?full federal funding? of Medicaid for new beneficiaries in only those states that had unemployment rates of at least 12 percent in August and whose Medicaid enrollment is below the national average.
Only Nevada, Rhode Island, Michigan and Oregon meet that criteria. That prompted complaints from other lawmakers that their states would have to pay more.
?We cut special favors for special states, not based on need or requirements but on the influence of the individual senator,? said Arizona Republican John McCain.
Reid responded: ?I make absolutely no apologies -- none - - for helping people in my state.?
What, you expected something different?
The rush to get health care/health insurance/whatever passed (The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Again and again and again!) is political payback at its worst. The aim is simple - cut massive breaks for favored voting blocks and the massive bill will be paid by everyone else.
While Harry Reid is using his leadership position to garner the best breaks for his supporters (he is 5-10% behind likely Republican opponents in the polling for the 2010 election and desperately NEEDS to bring the pork home!) he is not alone in playing this game.
While we await more detailed analyses from the Congressional Budget Office on the proposed legislation, the independent analyses that are being made show some might fancy dancing on the numbers -
Budget tricks rife in health reform effort - Health care overhaul bill has been front-loaded with revenue and backloaded with spending to make it look $250 billion less expensive that it actually is
Courting doctors in health care battle - $247 billion measure making its way to the Senate floor, aims to wipe out a scheduled 21 percent rate cut for doctors treating Medicare patients
If you are a voter and a taxpayer, Democrat or Republican or independent, isn't it about time that you contacted your elected representative and let them know that they need to cut out the special dealing?
Reid Leads Democrats In Carving Out Favors for States on Health
Reid Leads Democrats In Carving Out Favors for States on Health
By Brian Faler
Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Nevada would get help with its Medicaid bills. The elderly in Florida and New York would receive additional Medicare benefits. And workers in so-called high-risk professions such as firefighting and construction would get a break on a new insurance tax.
Those are provisions that Senate Democrats, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, put in an $829 billion health-care bill to shield constituents from measures intended to pay for the biggest overhaul of the medical system in four decades.
The result is the new policies may be unevenly administered, with some U.S. states getting preferential treatment, a possibility that has given Republican lawmakers ammunition to attack the legislation.
?It?s going to hurt the bill and raise the level of cynicism about Washington politics,? said Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican. ?The provisions ought to be applied to all of the states.?
The number of special provisions is likely to grow as the full Senate begins debating the measure in coming weeks. Because Democrats are unlikely to win many Republican votes, individual lawmakers will have leverage to demand changes to satisfy parochial interests.
At the same time, those provisions may make it easier for Congress to approve a sweeping bill by giving lawmakers more of a stake in legislation they may not otherwise fully support.
Doing Their Jobs
?Members being able to convince colleagues of the special circumstances in their states?? said Senator Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat. ?That?s what members are here to do -- represent their state.?
Senate Democratic leaders are meeting behind closed doors with Obama administration officials to combine measures approved by the finance and health committees. Debate may begin next week on the legislation, which would expand health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and place new restrictions on insurance companies.
Health-insurer stocks have lost ground in the last month on concern the overhaul will hurt profits. The Standard & Poor?s index of 13 managed-care companies dropped 13 percent, led by Hartford, Connecticut-based Aetna Inc.
Lawmakers have already made exceptions to some of the biggest policy changes under consideration.
$100 Billion Cut
Democrats such as Senators Bill Nelson of Florida and Ron Wyden of Oregon secured provisions setting aside $5 billion to shore up benefits for constituents who participate in Medicare Advantage. That program allows private insurers to contract with the government to provide Medicare benefits.
The bill that came out of Senator Max Baucus?s finance committee cuts more than $100 billion from Medicare Advantage to help fund the overhaul. Some lawmakers say they are concerned the elderly will see a reduction in benefits.
The measure doesn?t identify which states could get the $5 billion. The language is so confusing -- those eligible include retirees in ?counties where the MA benchmark amount in 2011 is equal to the legacy urban floor amount? -- that even congressional aides said they aren?t sure.
Nelson said the aid isn?t directed solely at Florida. ?It affects several states, including New York,? he said. ?We?re trying to grandfather in seniors so that they don?t lose the benefits they have.?
Wyden said it would go to states like Oregon that ?would face hardships? under Medicare Advantage cuts.
Help for Unions
Lawmakers such as Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey pushed for exceptions to a tax on expensive insurance plans. The tax would be phased in more slowly in states the government determines have the highest costs.
Democrat John Kerry, whose state of Massachusetts is likely to end up on the list, said the tax may disrupt his state?s own efforts to expand health coverage.
?If you change the way it?s working, you automatically upset people?s expectations,? Kerry said.
Those in professions deemed high risk like mining would also get a break. For them, the tax would kick in for family insurance plans worth $26,000 not $21,000.
Menendez said that was designed to protect those ?who gave up money at the table in order to get better health-care packages,? referring to Democratic-supporting unions. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois last week said lawmakers are considering additional changes to reduce the tax hit on union members.
Full Funding
Reid secured provisions to ensure his state of Nevada won?t face higher Medicaid costs.
Democrats want to expand coverage by loosening eligibility rules for the joint federal-state health-care program for the poor. Some governors say that could saddle them with higher bills. State spending would increase by $33 billon under Baucus?s plan, the Congressional Budget Office says.
The plan calls for ?full federal funding? of Medicaid for new beneficiaries in only those states that had unemployment rates of at least 12 percent in August and whose Medicaid enrollment is below the national average.
Only Nevada, Rhode Island, Michigan and Oregon meet that criteria. That prompted complaints from other lawmakers that their states would have to pay more.
?We cut special favors for special states, not based on need or requirements but on the influence of the individual senator,? said Arizona Republican John McCain.
Reid responded: ?I make absolutely no apologies -- none - - for helping people in my state.?
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