I am watching the Senate Healthcare Debate. Senators Wyden, Bayh and Collins are offering a bipartisan amendment to allow people who are not getting subsidies from the government to purchase insurance with a high deductible in order to keep costs down. They actually admitted during the debate that premiums would increase for these people without this amendment. We keep saying WE DON"T WANT THIS BILL and they are saying to us, "this will make it better". They are treating us like children who don't want to take our medicine.
This morning on the Senate floor Senator Mitch McConnell said the recent CNN poll showed that 61% of Americans oppose this bill. I wonder if any of the Democratic Senators care?
It was announced on the Senate floor by Senator Enzi this morning that the CMS (Center for Medicare Services) announced that the Reid bill bends the cost curve up and is unsustainable. I hope the Democrats hear this.
I also just heard Senators McConnell and Johannis on Fox News state that this bill will definitely cost everyone more... as we know the entire premise of reform and cutting costs was a big fat lie. The GOP had the CMS go over the bill and the actuary verified that cost would be much higher than the CBO and Congress are saying and that the cost will continue on an upward curve.
Cavuto (FNC) had a surgeon that said there is also a provision in the new Medicare provision of the HC bill that will only someone 90-days in the hospital in one year. So if you have been in perfect health all your life and never collect a dime from insurance, but all of a sudden come down with a major illness, accident or condition, you will have to pay out of pocket for your hospital stay beyond 90-days, if it all falls into one year.
And the bad news just keeps on coming....
At one point the GOP explored the option of expanding Medicare and they were told that it would cause an immediate death spiral to this already ailing program… yet now the Dems are selling this as their Public Option.
Add the above to:
John Thune & The Senate Health Care Bill – New Compromise is Public Option on Steroids
There is a crisis, and it appears to be located in the U.S. Senate. My esteemed Keloland colleague and colleague Emeritus, David Newquist, has this:
John Thune has become the voice of the GOP–Groundless Obstinence and Petulance–according to the Huffington Post. He says his party will unanimously oppose any health care reform, no matter what is proposed.
For someone who complains a lot when he thinks that others have distorted his words, he seems very careless in describing what Senator Thune said or what the Huffington Post said he said. The Huffington Post article he links to makes it clear in the title that Thune was only speaking about "the Newest Heath Care Compromise," and hardly ruling out GOP support for any bill.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told the Huffington Post that he did not think the dropping of a public option for insurance coverage from the bill would be enough for Democrats to win even the support of moderate Republican Senators Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins, both of Maine.
"I just think that our side believes that it is a really bad idea to take a program that is already sinking and put more people into it."
Here is how the Washington Post describes the "newest" idea that Reid is floating:
The 11th-hour "compromise" on health-care reform and the public option supposedly includes an expansion of Medicare to let people ages 55 to 64 buy into the program.
This deal, which the WaPo dates back to the Clinton Administration, seems designed to get something like a "public option" into the bill without calling it a public option. Republican opposition may be obstinate and petulant, or maybe not; however, it is hardly groundless. The WaPo points out that it is difficult to tell what effect this "buy in" would have on the reform scheme.
Presumably, the expanded Medicare program would pay Medicare rates to providers, raising the question of the spillover effects on a health-care system already stressed by a dramatic expansion of Medicaid. Will providers cut costs -- or will they shift them to private insurers, driving up premiums? Will they stop taking Medicare patients or go to Congress demanding higher rates? Once 55-year-olds are in, they are not likely to be kicked out, and the pressure will be on to expand the program to make more people eligible. The irony of this late-breaking Medicare proposal is that it could be a bigger step toward a single-payer system than the milquetoast public option plans rejected by Senate moderates as too disruptive of the private market.
As the perhaps obstinate and petulant, but hardly Republican WaPo presents it, there is no way to predict what unintended consequences may follow.
But Republican opposition is based on broader considerations. Expanding Medicare would be a step towards a single payer plan. But it was also mean expanding a program that is on schedule to go broke in only a few years. It also looks like more sleight of hand on the Democrat's part. They are already counting on dramatic cuts in Medicare to make other parts of the bill look more affordable. As the WaPo points out, Medicare reimbursement rates are already too low to sustain hospital and doctor care, which results in a shift of costs to private insurance. The medical establishment is vehemently criticizing the idea.
This looks like a big mess. Rumors that a deal has been reached appear to be greatly exaggerated. I am not even certain that there is a coherent idea here. Meanwhile the petulant and obstinate public continues to oppose the bill by wide margins. Quinnipiac and Rasmussen put the 52% opposed/38% in favor, and 51/41 respectively. Worse news for reform is the CNN poll, which has 61% opposed and only 36% in favor. That's the first time to my knowledge that opposition has risen above 60%. If it's on track, the CNN poll is disastrous news for Harry Reid.
In opposing the Senate reform bill, Senator Thune is not only exercising common sense. He is standing on behalf of the majority of the American people.
Posted by Ken Blanchard
New Compromise… Bet That Makes You Feel Better?!? – Video
Democrats: Medicare Expansion the Ultimate Public Option - Video
WASHINGTON - -- The unexpected new proposal for breaking the impasse over the so-called public option won President Barack Obama's endorsement Wednesday and sent hopes surging among a wide array of Democrats that the way may be clearing to pass their massive Senate health care bill by Christmas.
The deal, which emerged late Tuesday night after days of secret negotiations, would eliminate the new government-run insurance plan that many liberals had seen as the linchpin of meaningful reform.
But paradoxically, what lies at the heart of the compromise may be a more durable, if initially smaller, form of the public option: an expansion of Medicare, the huge federal health insurance program for seniors, to include millions of Americans ages 55 through 64.
And by enlarging Medicare eligibility, the compromise could sharply expand the base of political support, giving ordinary Americans a concrete stake in what many may have seen as a distant battle among drug companies, doctors and other interests.
Under the deal hammered out by 10 Democratic negotiators, potentially millions of Americans 55 to 64 could sign up for a program that has become a vital safety net for the country's retirees since it was created more than four decades ago.
That prospect has excited some proponents of creating a single-payer system, who saw even the weak government program in the original bill as a "camel's nose under the tent" in their drive to ensure that all Americans get a government-provided insurance plan.
"Expanding Medicare is an unvarnished, complete victory for people like me," said Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y. "It's the mother of all public options. We've taken something people know and expanded it. ... Never mind the camel's nose, we've got his head and neck under the tent."
Todd Swim, a partner with the health benefits consulting firm Mercer, said a Medicare expansion could also have profound effects on employers and their workers.
"Access to medical care is one of the biggest inhibitors to retiring early, and a lot of people are going to be looking at that as an option," he said.
Although Americans in this age group are more likely to have insurance than those in their 20s or 30s, they often have a very difficult time getting coverage because many have pre-existing medical conditions.
Next year, most Medicare beneficiaries will pay a monthly premium of $110.50.
"The price point will be much more affordable than any option they have," Swim said.
Chicago Tribune
**Everyone I have heard talk about this today has said that this new Medicare enlargement will absolutely bring us to a single payer system much much sooner than any of the other options in any of the other bills. They took out the "Public Option" wording and intend to roll over us and pass this regardless of what we want. The GOP has been standing up but the Dems are not listening to anything they say. We absolutely need to keep up the pressure and hammer the possible fence sitters letting them know that if they vote for this this are out, even if they are not up for election in 2010.
I heard Lieberman earlier today blabbering on about he didn't know what was in this new version/compromise. Who cares what is in it.... We don't want the whole thing and we know whatever is in it, it is full of lies and bad things. Lieberman needs to vote no and we really need to pressure him!!!!!!!!!!!
The Mayo Clinic has come out absolutely against this bill and the latest compromise!!!
20% of hospitals and convalescent homes announce that they will close their doors under the latest Medicare Compromise measure and many others will not take the coverage!!
HEALTH CARE SHOCKER: SPECIAL DEMOCRATIC VOTING COUNTIES WOULD GET PROTECTED MEDICARE BENEFITS - Video
A True Tale of Canadian (Socialized) Healthcare - Video
ALSO:
Gleeful Begala: Expanding Medicare is the 'Ultimate Public Option'
Medicare Sausage?
House Democrat: Senate Public Option 'Compromise' Is a Total Victory for Fans of ... Single-Payer
This could finally be the nail in the coffin of ObamaCare. 61% of the American people are absolutely against an form of ObamaCare; and another 20% are unhappy about the present reform. So the Dems in and Congress the White House are planning to ignore 81% of the American people and cram a bill that will increase costs, reduce services, invade your privacy, takeaway your choices and decision making, and in the opinion of more and more doctors reduce lifespans and increase early death due to rationing and the decrease of early detection.
Please call/Contact your senator!! Several additional Senators appear to be, at least waffling, and then there are the 17 initial Fence Sitters that Harry Reid and the White House are frantically trying to buy off and threaten to vote their way. Please stand up America~
17 Senators
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) 202-224-4843, Fax: (202) 228-1371
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) 202-224-5623
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) 202-224-2551
Sen. Michael Bennett (D-CO) 202-224-5852
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) 202-224-4041, Fax: (202) 224-9750
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) 202-224-5824
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) 202-224-6551, Fax: (202) 228-0012
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) 202-224-2043
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) 202-224-6154
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) 202-224-5274
Sen. John Tester (D-MT) 202-224-2644
Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) 202-224-3004
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) 202-224-2023
Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) 202-224-6324
Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) 202-224-4024
and Republican:
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME),((202)224-5344, Fax: (202) 224-1946
Info for all Senators (from your State) etc.
Full Contact Info Just Sent Me by the MOM’s patriot group out of Texas
Alaska
Begich, Mark - (D - AK)
144 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3004
F(202) 224-2354
Toll Free: (877) 501 - 6275*
Email
Begich Website
Arkansas
Lincoln, Blanche L. - (D - AR)
255 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2353
F(202) 228-1371
Email
Lincoln Website
Colorado
Bennet, Michael F. - (D - CO)
702 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5852
F(202) 228-5036
Email
Bennet Website
Connecticut
Lieberman, Joseph I. - (ID - CT)
706 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4041
F(202) 224-9750
Email
Lieberman Website
Florida
Nelson, Bill - (D - FL)
716 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5274
F(202)228-2183
Email
Nelson Website
Indiana
Bayh, Evan - (D - IN) Class III
131 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5623
F(202) 228-1377
Email
Bayh Website
Louisiana
Landrieu, Mary L. - (D - LA) Class II
328 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5824
F(202) 224-9735
Email
Landrieu Website
Maine
Snowe, Olympia J. - (R - ME) Class I
154 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5344
F(202) 224-1946
Toll Free: (800) 432-1599
Email
Snowe Website
Missouri
McCaskill, Claire - (D - MO) Class I
717 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6154
F(202) 228-6326
Email
McCaskill Website
Montana
Tester, Jon - (D - MT) Class I
724 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2644
F(202) 224-8594
Email
Tester Website
Nebraska
Nelson, Ben - (D - NE) Class I
720 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6551
F(202)228-0012
Email
Nelson Website
North Dakota
Conrad, Kent - (D - ND) Class I
530 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2043
F(202) 224-7776
Email
Conrad Website
Dorgan, Byron L. - (D - ND) Class III
322 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2551
F(202) 224-1193
Email
Dorgan Website
Pennsylvania
Casey, Robert P., Jr. - (D - PA) Class I
393 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6324
F(202) 228-0604
Toll Free: (866) 802-2833
Email
Casey Website
Virginia
Warner, Mark R. - (D - VA) Class II
459A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2023
F(202)224-6295
Toll free: 877-676-2759 (VA Residents only)
Email
Warner Website
Webb, Jim - (D - VA) Class I
248 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4024
F(202)228-6363
Toll Free: 866-507-1570
Email
Webb Website
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