Posts Tagged ‘Republican’
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
Declaring that “failure is not an option” on healthcare reform, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) said that the legislation will be passed with or without Republican support. “We’re not going to not pass a bill,” Schumer said, pointing to a healthcare system that is broken because some 47 million Americans lack any kind of insurance coverage.
Before this can happen, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has the task of resolving issues within his own party regarding abortion, taxes and allowing the government to sell health insurance in competition with private insurers. Democratic leaders are working to persuade Senator Olympia Snow (R-ME) to cross party lines and vote in favor of the ultimate bill, even though she sided with her fellow Republicans on the recent procedural vote to move the debate to the full Senate floor.
Both the Senate and House of Representatives bills require all Americans to have healthcare insurance, and plan to make government subsidies available to help pay premiums. Insurance companies would be banned from denying coverage or charging extra for individuals with pre-existing conditions. New insurance marketplaces would be created for those Americans who have difficulty finding affordable coverage – such as the self-employed and those who own small businesses. Americans who currently have employer-provided coverage won’t see any big changes in their coverage. Senior citizens will see improvement in their prescription coverage.
As for paying for these bills? The House bill depends primarily on an income tax hike on upper-income individuals. The Senate bill would tax Cadillac insurance plans, increase the Medicare payroll tax for the wealthy and mandate fees on medical industries.
Tags: Blue Dog Democrats, Cadillac insurance plans, Democrats, Healthcare, House of Representatives, Medicaid, Medicare, President Barack Obama, public option, Republican, Senate, Senator Ben Nelson, Senator Blanche Lincoln, Senator Charles Schumer, Senator Harry Reid, Senator Olympia Snowe
Posted in Healthcare | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
A political paradox in the healthcare debate lies in the fact that some members of Congress – whose constituents will benefit the most from reform legislation – oppose the bill. A study by the Urban Institute found there are 20 congressional districts where more than 30 percent of the residents lack even the most basic form of healthcare coverage. California, Florida and Texas are home to 18 of those districts.
In three Florida districts where the uninsured comprise one-third of the population, the Republican representatives are solid in their opposition to healthcare reform. Republican Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, whose south Florida district has 31 percent uninsured residents, bases his opposition on the belief that none of the Democrats’ proposals will cover all of his constituents. “My constituents, they also understand that they are the ones that get stuck with the bills,” he said.
On the opposite side of the aisle, Texas Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar, whose district is in 10th place on the uninsured list, fears that cuts in Medicare will be used to pay for the expanded coverage. Cuellar’s district includes a significant senior citizen population.
By contrast, Southern California’s districts with the most uninsured residents are Los Angeles and Orange County, home to many immigrants and low-income groups. These areas are represented by Democrats who support healthcare reform, which would provide significant benefits to their constituents.
Tags: Congress, Democrat, healthcare coverage, healthcare debate, healthcare reform, immigrants, Medicare, Republican, uninsured
Posted in General, Healthcare, Hospital Systems, Wellness Centers | No Comments »
Monday, October 19th, 2009
Another Republican senator from Maine has expressed support for healthcare reform legislation, although Susan Collins believes that the Senate Finance committee bill needs some work. As expected, the moderate Collins has joined her colleague, Senator Olympia Snowe, in backing healthcare reform. Before voting in favor of the legislation, Collins wants changes to the bill to make coverage more affordable, control costs and protect Medicare.
“My hope is that we can fix the flaws in the bill and come together with a truly bipartisan bill that could garner widespread support,” Collins said. “I think this bill is far superior to the ones passed by the Senate (health) committee and the three House committees, but it needs substantial additional work.”
The Senate Finance Committee’s centrist $829 billion, 10-year bill was approved on a 14 – 9 vote after Snowe broke with Republicans to support the legislation written under Senator Max Baucus’ (D-MT) leadership. The legislation, which does not include the public option that President Barack Obama wants, does include a trigger mechanism that would kick in if private insurers failed to keep premiums affordable for all Americans.
The next step is for the Senate to merge the Finance and Health committees’ bills, which will be led by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). Reid’s goal is to bring the healthcare reform legislation onto the Senate floor as quickly as possible. Although the two bills have the common goal of providing all Americans with access to healthcare, they differ on how to accomplish that objective.
Tags: bipartisan bill, healthcare reform, Medicare, President Barack Obama, Republican, Senate Finance Committee, Susan Collins
Posted in Healthcare, Hospital Systems | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Amidst all the commotion at town hall meetings and attacks on President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform guidelines, the question arises: where is the Republican Party’s plan? The answer is that Republican Congressional leaders chose not to draft a bill encapsulating their own vision.
Some Republicans are challenging this “party of no” moniker. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who has 2012 presidential aspirations, said it’s time for the GOP “to pivot and say, in addition to emphasizing what we oppose, here are our proposals” for healthcare reform. Responding to Jindal, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) sees an opportunity to counter Republican attacks on Obama’s proposals, noting that “The Grand Old Party’s coffers are empty when it comes to healthcare reform.”
A “Republican Solutions Handbook” created by the House Republican Conference possibly has the most comprehensive summary of GOP healthcare proposals. The single-page document offers plans to limit medical malpractice lawsuits and dedicate more resources to stopping “waste, fraud and abuse” in Medicare and Medicaid. Proposed tax cuts would go to workers without employer-provided health plans and to low-income people to help them buy private insurance.
Representative Roy Blunt (R-MO) has been of two minds on the issue. On June 17, he said “I guarantee you, we will bring you a bill that costs far less, far less than the Democrats’ and will provide better results for the American people.” A month later, Blunt wrote on his blog: “Our bill is never going to get to the floor, so why confuse the focus? We clearly have principles; we could have the language, but why start diverting attention from this really bad piece of work they’ve got to whatever we’re offering right now.”
Tags: health insurance, healthcare reform, malpractice lawsuits, Medicaid, Medicare, President Barack Obama, Republican, tax cuts
Posted in General, Healthcare, Hospital Systems, Wellness Centers | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
President Barack Obama’s prime-time speech to a joint session of Congress made a strong case for including a public option, along with a combination of choices designed to keep the insurance industry in check. Recalling Theodore Roosevelt’s efforts to reform healthcare during the 1912 election, Obama said “I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last. Well, the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed,” Obama said. “Now is the season for action.”
That action includes a provision that protects uninsurable individuals from catastrophic healthcare expenses. Another proposal is a series of pilot programs that will study how to reform the medical tort process.
Following is a brief summary of the Obama healthcare plan, which has a projected price tag of just under $1 trillion over 10 years (as a point of comparison, the U.S. spends half this in a single year on military spending):
- Healthcare reform will provide more security and stability to Americans who currently have insurance, and it will provide coverage to those who don’t. It will slow the growth of healthcare costs.
- Americans who already have health insurance through their employers, Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA, will see their coverage improve. The plan will make it illegal to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. Insurers will no longer be able to place a cap on the amount of coverage a patient receives. Additionally, insurance companies will be required to cover routine checkups and preventive care like mammograms and colonoscopies.
- Coverage will be portable (if a person changes jobs or starts a small business) through the creation of an insurance exchange – a marketplace that will provide access to health insurance at competitive prices. The benefit to insurance companies is that the exchange lets them compete for millions of new customers.
- For Americans who currently lack health insurance, Obama proposed a public option where government-subsidies would be available to make premiums affordable. Individuals would be required to obtain coverage, and their employers would have to contribute. Most Senate Republicans and some Blue Dog Democrats oppose this proposal, while Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has said that the House’s version of the healthcare bill will include a public option.
Obama’s flexibility may not please the more liberal members of Congress, but reflects the political reality that exists on Capitol Hill.
Tags: Blue Dog Democrats, colonoscopy, Edward Kennedy, health insurance, healthcare bill, healthcare costs, healthcare expenses, healthcare reform, mammogram, Medicaid, medical, Medicare, Nancy Pelosi, patient, pilot program, President Barack Obama, President Theodore Roosevelt, public option, Republican, security, uninsurable
Posted in Healthcare | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
The Obama administration is playing hardball to force Congress to pass healthcare reform legislation before the end of the year – preferably without the customary Republican-led filibuster delaying the final vote. 
President Obama’s aggressive approach to protect healthcare legislation from Republican filibusters demonstrates the magnitude this ambitious reform package and has come to be called in some circles the nuclear option.
The agreement between the White House and Congressional Democrats lets healthcare legislation that meets budget targets win approval by a simple Senate majority — a process called reconciliation. Not surprisingly, Republican leaders are up in arms about the no-filibuster deal, claiming that healthcare is too important to be exempt from the Senate’s usual rules.
Republicans have threatened to use their own procedural weapons to bog down the Senate if the Democrats try to restrict filibusters. Options include forcing multiple votes on routine bills, inaction on administration nominations, or requiring lengthy legislation to be read in full. Even some Democrats – notably Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Max Baucus of Montana – are uncomfortable with reconciliation. Other Democrats point out that Senate Republicans successfully used reconciliation to enact President George W. Bush’s tax cuts in 2001 and 2003.
The president is relying on his significant political capital to push his agenda through, relying on unwavering support from his sizable Senate Democratic majority. This is likely to total 60 Senators once the Minnesota courts finally certify Al Franken’s victory, and as a result of Arlen Specter’s surprise exit from the Republican Party. That could give President Obama the filibuster-proof majority he wants.
Tags: Al Franken, Arlen Specter, Congress, Congressional Democrats, Democrat, George W Bush, Healthcare, Kent Conrad, legislation, Max Baucus, Minnesota, Montana, no-filibuster deal, North Dakota, Obama, Obama administration, political capital, President Obama, reconciliation, Republican, Republican-led filibuster, White House
Posted in Economics, Healthcare, Hospital Systems | No Comments »
