The article by Ryan Grim over at HuffingtonPost has it quite wrong about Sen. Conrad moving in favor of the public option in health care reform. It's shocking to see how Ryan Grim has grossly misinterpreted Conrad's statements, and missed a crucial part of his own article that made it clear that Conrad was talking about the co-op plan, NOT the public option. Here's the crucial part of Ryan's own article which was misinterpreted:
Conrad ticked off the areas of agreement that were reached Monday.
"National structure: I believe to be effective there has to a national entity with state affiliates and those affiliates have to have the ability to regionalize. I think his concern there can be addressed," said Conrad. "Second, he believes there needs to be national purchasing power. I think that's a good point that the national entity would be able to do purchasing on behalf of the state and regional affiliates and on behalf of the national entity itself."
Schumer wants $10 billion to start the plan, after which it would be self-sustaining. Conrad said the "state of negotiations" is that $3 to $4 billion would be provided.
Schumer wants the board overseeing the plan to be appointed by the president. Conrad said that according to the state of negotiations, the Health and Human Services Secretary would be charged with appointing the board.
Conrad wants the board to be temporary and eventually disappear, leaving the co-op to be run by its members. Schumer, said Conrad, still wants the board to be permanent.
See that bolded part? That's the co-op that Senator Conrad was talking about in regards to negotiations by Senator Schumer to make the co-op a stronger proposal in the Senate. How did it get misinterpreted so badly to think that Senator Conrad was now moving towards in support of the public option? Unless Ryan Grim thinks that the co-op plan is a form of the public option, which would explain the misunderstanding. Please e-mail Ryan Grim at ryan@huffingtonpost.comto let him know he badly misinterpreted his own article and that he should issue a correction on that article.
And if you're wondering why Conrad hasn't issued a press release from his office clarifying this misinterpretation? It's because it's in his own best interest to confuse the co-op plan with the public option, and other Senators, like Maria Cantwell, are following along with this deliberate confusion.
They're trying to hoodwink and bamboozle us in the Senate by confusing the co-op plan with the public option. They think we're that dumb, and that we'll fall for e-mails like this excerpt below in an e-mail from Maria Cantwell where she says she's working on a public option in the Senate:
I am also working closely with my colleagues on the Finance Committee to develop a public option that will benefit Washington State residents. I believe an effective public option could help improve access to high quality care, while bringing down costs through expanded choice and competition in the health care industry. However, this will only be achieved if we take full advantage of our opportunity to overhaul America's health care system, instead of just expanding flaws that exist in the current Medicare program.
She's not talking about a strong, robust Medicare-like public option. Instead, she's trying to confuse it with the co-op plan which she supports. She was quoted in a newspaper interview as likening the co-op plan to the public option. Here's the relevant portion from the interview:
“While you can describe something that gives leverage in the marketplace, you have to get the votes. And so that’s why I think right now the thing being discussed (co-ops) ... which is a public option; it would be support for something that would allow people to join into a system that would be a not-for-profit system that would help in driving down the costs ... something I do think could get done.”
Cantwell said Group Health Cooperative is a good model.
I'm sick and tired of Senators trying to pretend that the Conrad co-op compromise is a good alternative to the public option, and trying to confuse it as the public option in order to fool voters like you and me.
Please CALL Senator Maria Cantwell at 202-224-3441 and let her know that you're tired of her trying to fool you by calling the Conrad co-op a public option, when it's NOT.
Now, here's the action part of this diary. I wrote two days about the good points and the BAD points of the public option in the Tri-Committee House draft bill. Let me summarize the weak points for you.
- The public option and the National Exchange won't be available on day 1. They both get started in 2013. That's too long. We should ask for it to be pushed back sooner.
- The public option will be tied to Medicare plus rates at first, but over time, it has to find new payment mechanisms, which makes it weaker. Why hobble a strong public option over time? We have to insist on its continuing to be tied to Medicare plus rates at first.
- The public option has to be completely self-sustaining by premiums alone, with no revenue whatsoever from the government. This is of concern, because it has to have a large start-up fund, and it needs a partial revenue from the government to stay stable, so I would encourage the use of the Value-added tax, which is a national sales tax, and a tax raise on the wealthy to help pay for the public option.
- The administrative functions of the public option will be contracted out to private insurance companies. That's the best way to hobble the public option. We have to INSIST that the administrative control of the public option stay within the government alone.
- People in employer group plans won't be able to take advantage of the public option. Only the uninsured and individual policy holders will be able to take advantage of the public option. Thus it's not OPEN to ALL Americans, and we have to pressure the Committee on Education and Labor Committee to make it open to all Americans.
The Education and Labor Committee is having their meeting today over the discussion draft which has the public option that I just wrote about. I really NEED for you to CALL ALL of the members on the House Education and Labor Committee to ask them to support a STRONGER public option than what is currently proposed in the Tri-Committee draft with these talking points below:
Tell Representative [Name] that we want them to consider starting the National Exchange and the public option earlier than 2013 because we desperately need affordable health care RIGHT NOW. Also, tell him or her that YOU DON'T WANT the public option's tie to Medicare rates to "severed over time as more flexible payment systems are developed." You want the public option to be based on Medicare plus rates, and that you don't want the public option to end up as a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. You want it to be administered by the government and NOT by any private insurance companies, and to be like Medicare based on its ability to negotiate rates with providers and pharmaceutical companies. Also, that you want employer group plans to have ACCESS to the public option, and not be locked out of that access. Say that you don't want your health benefits to be taxed, but that you support a raise in taxes for the wealthy to help pay for the public option. You don't want the public option to be self-sustained only by premiums because that will help hobble its viability, and that you NEED for it to have some financing from the government.
Please USE these toll-free congressional numbers to CALL these Education and Labor Committee members below! Just say the name of the committee member, and you'll be connected to that person.
800-828-0498
1-800-828-0498
1-866-338-1015
1-866-220-0044
1-877-851-6437
George Miller, Chairman (CA-07)
Dale E. Kildee (MI-05)
Donald M. Payne (NJ-10)
Robert E. Andrews (NJ-01)
Robert C. Scott (VA-03)
Lynn C. Woolsey (CA-06)
Rubén Hinojosa (TX-15)
Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04)
John F. Tierney (MA-06)
Dennis J. Kucinich (OH-10)
David Wu (OR-01)
Rush D. Holt (NJ-12)
Susan A. Davis (CA-53)
Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07)
Timothy H. Bishop (NY-01)
Joe Sestak (PA-07)
Dave Loebsack (IA-02)
Mazie Hirono (HI-02)
Jason Altmire (PA-04)
Phil Hare (IL-17)
Yvette Clarke (NY-11)
Joe Courtney (CT-02)
Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01)
Marcia Fudge (OH-11)
Jared Polis (CO-2)
Paul Tonko (NY-21)
Pedro Pierluisi (PR)
Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (Northern Mariana Islands)
Dina Titus (NV-3)
Vacancy
Also, can you please CALL these THREE chairmen in the House of Representatives, especially Rep. Waxman who's leading the charge on health care reform below with your concerns about the five weak points of the public option in their house bill?
Ways and Means Committee Chair Charlie Rangel (202) 225-3625)
Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (202) 225-2927)
Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller (202) 225-3725)
CALL Senator Dodd at (202) 224-2823 and ask him to put in OPTION A, which is the strong, robust Medicare-like public option, NOT OPTION B, which is the Conrad co-op proposal, in the markup. He says that the CBO will release the score on the public option late today or tomorrow. Why can't we SEE the full text of the public option ourselves in the bill draft?
ALSO, PLEASE CALL the phone numbers of ALL the Senators on the HELP Committee with these talking points below and tell them to support OPTION A, not OPTION B, in the mark-up:
Tell Senator [Name] that you DO NOT want the 7-year trigger for the public option and take it off the table, and that you want him to support an affordable strong, robust Medicare-like public option. We NEED a strong, robust Medicare-like public option NOW OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS AND AFFORDABLE, not more of the SAME broken system that's given us unaffordable premiums, little private insurance coverage, and rising co-pays. Also, DON'T TAX OUR EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFITS. Instead, follow the proposal by President Obama to tax the wealthy above $250,000, eliminate the overpayments in Medicare Advantage, and put tax capital gains to help fund health care reform. TELL YOUR SENATOR NO ON THE SCHUMER COMPROMISE AND NO ON THE CONRAD CO-OP COMPROMISE.
These are the members of the HELP Committee to CALL today since they're having their markup.
Tom Harkin (IA): (202) 224-3254
Barbara A. Mikulski (MD): (202) 224-4654
Jeff Bingaman (NM): (202) 224-5521
Patty Murray (WA: (202) 224-2621
Jack Reed (RI): (202) 224-4642
Bernard Sanders (I) (VT): (202) 224-5141
Sherrod Brown (OH): (202) 224-2315
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (PA): (202) 224-6324
Kay Hagan (NC): (202) 224-6342
Jeff Merkley (OR): (202) 224-3753
Then PLEASE CALL the rest of the Democratic Senators to urge them to support a strong, robust Medicare-like public option in health care reform!
Please CALL Senator Max Baucus at (202) 224-2651
Please CALL Senator Olympia Snowe at (202) 224-5344
Please CALL Senator Charles Schumer at 202-224-6542
Please CALL Senator Edward Kennedy at (202) 224-4543
Please CALL Senator John Rockefeller at (202) 224-6472
Please CALL Senator Ron Wyden at (202) 224-5244
Please CALL Senator Kent Conrad at (202) 224-2043
Please CALL Senator Jeff Bingaman at (202) 224-5521
Please CALL Senator John Kerry at (202) 224-2742
Please CALL Senator Blanche Lincoln at 202-224-4843
Please CALL Senator Debbie Stabenow at (202) 224-4822
Please CALL Senator Maria Cantwell at 202-224-3441
Please CALL Senator Bill Nelson at 202-224-5274
Please CALL Senator Robert Menendez at 202-224-4744
Please CALL Senator Thomas Carper at (202) 224-2441
CALL the White House at: 202-456-1111 and E-MAIL them as well to let them know that you DO NOT want the Conrad co-op alternative, and that you want a strong, robust Medicare-like public option instead!
Whew. I've got one last thing for you guys to do. President Obama is going to have a televised town hall on ABCNEWS on Wednesday. I really NEED for you to go and PLEASE DIGG UP THIS QUESTION to ask President Obama in his town hall on ABC News!
Please feel free to REC up this diary so it can be on the rec list for others to see the phone numbers and call today.