Baucus' Bill Is Like A Car With A Broken Axle

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Wednesday September 16, 2009 · 5:53 AM PDT

2009/09/16 · 05:53

Baucus' health care proposal is like a used car with a broken axle and bad alternator. It has most of the pieces a health care system would need but is lacking critical components, making it basically useless. Without sufficient subsidies, a good minimum standard for benefits, and a public option to hold down costs, Baucus' health care plan will end up a disaster.

thehouse1

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Tuesday September 15, 2009 · 8:35 PM PDT

2009/09/15 · 20:35

A month ago I wrote about how Grassley and the rest of the Republican party were trying to kill reform one childish hissy fit at a time. It has proven surprisingly successful, since Chairman Baucus has been rewarding them with surrender each time.

The pattern has continued with Rep. Wilson's rude outburst being rewarded with a provision to bar illegal immigrants from buying health insurance even if they are willing to fully pay for it. This policy is just not cruel and expensive (we all end up paying for illegal immigrants going to emergency rooms because we don't allow them to pay for their own care by buying health insurance), but it is also terrible political optics. Working class Americans will be forced to buy insurance or pay huge fines but illegal immigrants will not.

Poll

46 votes Show Results

Did Obama Sell The Progressives Out On Reform?

46 votes Vote Now!

Did Obama Sell The Progressives Out On Reform?

Yes he has cut backroom deals to sell out his supports

12 votes

We need to wait and see

21 votes

The Dem's will eventually push a good partisan bill through reconciliation

13 votes

Why Do Republicans Want Illegal Immigrants To Get Jobs Instead Of Americans? - Updated

thehouse1

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Monday September 14, 2009 · 7:22 PM PDT

2009/09/14 · 19:22

To make the current health care reform proposals work there must be some form of an employer mandate to provide health insurance. If there is not one, companies would have a strong incentive to drop coverage knowing the government will help their employees get insurance.

The easiest, best, and simplest way to create an employer mandate is to charge companies a flat fee if they don't offer health insurance. The fee could be some percent of payroll or a set fine multiplied by the number of employees at the firm.

Poll

20 votes Show Results

Is the "free rider" provision the worst idea in health care reform?

20 votes Vote Now!

Is the "free rider" provision the worst idea in health care reform?

Yes, it creates many many problems

10 votes

It is up there, but not the worst

8 votes

I don't care one way or the other

1 vote

No, I think it is a great idea instead of a simple employer mandate

1 vote

What Real Compromise Looks Like

thehouse1

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Sunday September 13, 2009 · 2:38 PM PDT

2009/09/13 · 14:38

A vast majority of Democrats in Congress want health care reform to include a robust public option. As I have discussed Conrad/Ross' co-ops and Snowe's trigger are not in any way compromises. They are fig leaves. The vast majority of Conrad's state based co-ops have too many restrictions and would be too small (by Conrad's definition) to ever work except in a handful of states. A trigger can too easily be made useless. As Robert Reich pointed out, the whole reason Washington DC is filled with lobbyists is to slowly and quietly kill things like a trigger. They would do nothing except make it look like Democrats had not given up on the key promise of a public option. They are not compromises; they are surrender and capitulation. Real compromise would at least try to address all or some of the reason why progressives want a public option.

Poll

30 votes Show Results

Is the trigger and co-ops about compromise or profit?

30 votes Vote Now!

Is the trigger and co-ops about compromise or profit?

The trigger and co-op idea are legitimate compromise to the public option

5 votes

No, they are face saving moves to protect the private insurance industry.

25 votes

CBO: Public Option Would Reduce Premiums Across The Board

thehouse1

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Saturday September 12, 2009 · 10:37 AM PDT

2009/09/12 · 10:37

The CBO recently published a new letter on health care reform. They were asked to evaluate the impact of the weak (level playing field) public option in the Senate HELP committee's bill. Their conclusion was that the competitive pressure from the public option "would probably lower private premiums in the insurance exchanges to a small degree," and with a public plan in the exchange "the costs and premiums of competing private plans would, on average, be slightly lower than if no public plan was available." By reduce the cost of buying private insurance on the exchange, a public plan, "would tend to lower federal subsidy payments through the exchanges."

Poll

112 votes Show Results

Is the cost savings from a public option getting enough coverage

112 votes Vote Now!

Is the cost savings from a public option getting enough coverage

NO!

108 votes

About right

1 vote

Yes

0 votes

It is covered too much. That is all the media ever talks about.

3 votes

Conrad's Co-ops Are No Compromise Because They Are Designed To Fail

thehouse1

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Friday September 11, 2009 · 5:02 AM PDT

2009/09/11 · 05:02

The problem with Conrad/Ross' state based co-ops idea is not just that co-ops have proven to be a mostly unsuccessful model for health insurance. The real problem is that they are purposely designed to fail. Conrad wants there to be 51 co-ops (50 states plus DC), and he would restrict the co-ops to only offering plans to the individuals and small businesses using the new health care exchange (roughly 10% of the population). According to Conrad's own admission a health insurance co-op needs a minimum of 500,000 members to be able to negotiate competitive rates.

Poll

21 votes Show Results

Do Progessives need to do a better job explaining why Conrad's Co-ops are unacceptable?

21 votes Vote Now!

Do Progessives need to do a better job explaining why Conrad's Co-ops are unacceptable?

Yes, the media seems unwilling to even question the viablity of the idea

17 votes

No, the media is doing a good job explaining co-ops

0 votes

Progessives first need to better understanding the idea first

4 votes

Harkin's Good News For Progressives

thehouse1

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Thursday September 10, 2009 · 5:51 PM PDT

2009/09/10 · 17:51

Senator Harkin decision to take the chairmanship of the Senate HELP committee should be some positive news for progressives. He is a strong support of the public option and made it clear today that he is willing to play hard ball on the issue. Being the chairman of the Senate HELP committee should insure that senator Harkin is one of the senators who goes to the conference committee. Since senator Dodd was responsible for shepherded the health care bill through the HELP committee he should likely also be part of the conference committee even though he turned down the HELP committee chair.

Conrad and Ross Double Team Against Progressives

thehouse1

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Wednesday September 09, 2009 · 6:00 AM PDT

2009/09/09 · 06:00

When the House Energy and Commerce Committee was marking up the health care bill Rep. Mike Ross submitted an amendment that gutted the public option and include legislative language to create small non-profit health insurance cooperatives. It is now clear comparing the language in Baucus' framework dealing with co-ops to Ross' amendment, that either Conrad directly or through some third party (Rahm Emanuel, Baucus, etc...) provided Ross with his legislative language for co-ops. The two documents are almost identical and and sometimes use the exact same wording:

thehouse1

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Tuesday September 08, 2009 · 5:40 AM PDT

2009/09/08 · 05:40

The New York Times ran a story that outlines Baucus' health care proposal. According to the story:

Mr. Baucus’s plan, expected to cost $850 billion to $900 billion over 10 years, would tax insurance companies on their most expensive health care policies. The hope is that employers would buy cheaper, less generous coverage for employees, thereby reducing the overuse of medical services.

Poll

156 votes Show Results

Are Democrats really this stupid?

156 votes Vote Now!

Are Democrats really this stupid?

Yes, they think this really is a smart move.

58 votes

They are just terrified of the mean Republicans.

54 votes

No, they will stand up to Baucus.

44 votes

You Want To Go Through This Again?

thehouse1

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Sunday September 06, 2009 · 10:06 AM PDT

2009/09/06 · 10:06

To all the incrementalists out there, I have one simple question for you: Do you want to go through this again?

thehouse1

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Thursday September 03, 2009 · 4:26 AM PDT

2009/09/03 · 04:26

It appears that Obama is trying to convince Republican senator Olympia Snowe to support health care reform by offering to support a trigger for a public option instead of a public option available from day one. The trigger option is incredibly dangerous and should make progressives very nervous. It is theoretically possible to get a "good" trigger that might help control cost, but even the smallest modifications could make it worse than useless. A bad trigger could actually do more harm than having nothing at all.

thehouse1

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Wednesday September 02, 2009 · 4:15 PM PDT

2009/09/02 · 16:15

The most disappointing part about Obama's willingness to abandon the public option is that he doesn't even seem to understand why progressives think it is so important. A Politico story reports:

Aides said Obama does not plan to make a public option, or government plan, a make-or-break issue when he spells out his specifics. "We have been saying all along that the most important part of this debate is not the public option, but rather ensuring choice and competition," an aide said. "There are lots of different ways to get there."

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Baucus' Bill Is Like A Car With A Broken Axle

Death By Republican Hissy Fits Continues

Why Do Republicans Want Illegal Immigrants To Get Jobs Instead Of Americans? - Updated

What Real Compromise Looks Like

CBO: Public Option Would Reduce Premiums Across The Board

Conrad's Co-ops Are No Compromise Because They Are Designed To Fail

Harkin's Good News For Progressives

Conrad and Ross Double Team Against Progressives

Baucus Asks Democrats To Commit Political Suicide

You Want To Go Through This Again?

Why The Trigger Is So Dangerous

“Choice and Competition” Are Stupid