There are so many Bushite/Republican scandals and outrages these days, it's hard to spot the ones that might kill you.
Like the recent Republican Congressional bill that nullifies state food labeling and purity laws, so Republican bribers can more easily put poisons into our food. That slipped by with little notice (except here) recently.
In the same anti-state's-rights, sell-out-to-K-Street vein, Republicans want to nullify state laws that provide some level of consumer protection for people who have health insurance.
Since most of you haven't heard of this killer bill, check out the bad news, below.
Ron Pollack of
Families USA, an indefatigable campaigner for national health insurance, talked about the typically Orwellian Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act on Franken's show today.
There is nothing good about this bill -- it's just another sell-out by Republicans to the insurers who bribe them so effectively.
Here's some of what Pollack has to say about this plan to make your health insurance worthless on his website:
The Enzi (sponsor Sen. Mike Enzi, wingnut from Wyoming) bill is one of the most harmful anti-consumer health bills in recent memory. It will cause more than 85 million people to lose important state protections that safeguard their health and wallets.
The bill will push consumers into barebones health insurance plans that contravene existing state laws guaranteeing coverage for such crucial services as cervical, prostate, and colorectal cancer screenings, as well as mammograms, mental health, and well-child care.
Anyone wishing to retain decent health coverage consistent with existing state laws, instead of barebones policies, will wind up with much higher premiums than they pay today.
The bill leaves consumers at the mercy of health insurance companies by eliminating a range of state laws that protect the consumer and regulate insurance company behavior.
Fundamental consumer protections that will be wiped out include: rules that limit premium discrimination based on health status, age and gender; prohibitions of huge premium increases when people get sick; and prohibitions of misleading insurance company marketing practices.
Sen. Enzi claims his bill is a compromise that ameliorates the controversial defects of past proposals to create Association Health Plans (AHPs). The Enzi bill, however, is much worse: It not only eliminates essential rights for people in AHPs, it also eliminates these rights for all people with health insurance through state-regulated individual, small group, and large group plans -- thereby harming 85 million people.
Pollack is being polite here -- in my view, any bill that makes it easier for health insurers to deny claims for life-saving treatment or early warning of serious illnesses will lead to the corporate murder of many more people than were murdered on Sept. 11.
Let's be clear about this -- Republicans favor "premium discrimination based on health status, age and gender; huge premium increases when people get sick; and misleading insurance company marketing practices."
Pollack told Franken that this bill was voted out of Enzi's committee this week, and seems likely to pass the Senate soon. If you think state consumer protections are important to prevent insurance companies from murdering untold thousands, contact your senators ASAP and ask them to oppose, and filibuster if necessary, S.1955.
Who knows, if the word gets out, this could be a Dubai Ports moment for Republican whores in the House and Senate.