Senator Max Baucus (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
After a long wait, the health insurance reform plan from the Max Baucus and the Senate Finance Committee has finally been completed and was released this week. The committee has been working for months on this measure, officially titled America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009. The panel’s objective was to create a plan which would win bi-partisan support, although the plan that was submitted appears to not even have the support of one party, let alone two parties. Yes, though the reasoning varies, the plan does achieve bi-partisanship in one way: both parties agree that the Baucus plan for health care reform is abysmal.
In an earlier press release, the chairman of the committee, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), stated, “Thousands of people in Montana and across our country do not have health insurance and that’s not right.” Furthermore, he said, “Reforming our health care system will help make sure that all Montanans and Americans have access to quality, affordable health care and will help strengthen our country’s economy as well. I’m committed to working together with my colleagues in Congress and the new Administration to help make this reform happen.”
Yet this plan fails completely on the operation of the plan as well as the regulation of the role of the insurance companies. While it does make it mandatory for all to receive health care insurance, it does not create a mechanism to reduce or even control the costs of health insurance. In addition, while it mandates that the insurance companies cannot deny health insurance to anyone, it does not regulate how much the insurance companies may charge. This in turn will either create a means for them to force people to drop coverage, create an even larger population of the underinsured, create an ever-flowing stream of revenue to the private insurance companies subsidized by the United States government, or all of the above.
Wendell Potter, who was a vice-president of communications at Cigna, stated that Baucus’ plan is an “absolute gift to the [health insurance] industry." Potter resigned from Cigna because he disagreed with the on-going business strategy which has been adopted by all insurance companies, the idea of increasing profits through the denial of legitimate claims from customers.
The Huffington Post reported, “Potter said the proposal would not provide affordable coverage. It gives the industry too much latitude to charge higher premiums based on age and geographic location, fails to mandate employer coverage, and pushes consumers into plans with limited benefits.”
In his opening remarks in a meeting of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee on Tuesday, Potter stated,
“In the weeks since my June 24 testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, I have expressed hope at every opportunity that this indeed might be the year Congress will enact legislation to reform our health care system in ways that will truly benefit Americans for generations to come. But I have also expressed concern that if Congress goes along with the so-called "solutions" the insurance industry says it is bringing to the table and acquiesces to the demands it is making of lawmakers, and if it fails to create a public insurance option to compete with private insurers, the bill it sends to the president might as well be called the Insurance Industry Profit Protection and Enhancement Act.”
He further said the Baucus plan “would create a government-subsidized monopoly for the purchase of bare-bones, high-deductible policies that would truly benefit Big Insurance. In other words, insurers would win; your constituents would lose.”
In addition to failing on these counts, Baucus’ plan also failed to win any bi-partisan support on either side. None of the three Republicans on the six member panel from the Senate Finance committee support the bill, and the Republican leadership has attacked the bill as partisan. Moreover, health care reform groups share concerns similar to Potter’s. “The Baucus bill is a gift to the insurance industry that fails to meet the most basic promise of health care reform: a guarantee that Americans will have good health care that they can afford,” stated Richard Kirsch who is the National Campaign Manager for Health Care for America Now.
Following are additional articles on health care reform:
Joe "you lie" Wilson and GOP support government run health care...when it is their own
Obama speech to Congress gives more detail on health care reform
Health care insurance reform is about saving American lives
Copyright © 2009 by Raymond Gellner
Comments
Well written sir. You hit the nail on the head in your article. Keep up the good work.
The Baucus plan still looks very similar to all the other bills out there. All the bills suck except for the republican ones that are not allowed to be discussed. Obama would be wise to actually come out with his own bill. The only problem is that he wants others to blame for the little nasties that will reside in the bill.
HEY RAY what about Honduras.
HEY RAY what about ACORN.
This is ultimately about a failure of Presidential leadership.
When the Democrats have 60 votes in the Senate, as well as an overwhelming majority in the House, it should be a fair accompli to get a comprhensive health care bill enacted within the first year of a Presidential term. Presuming, that is, that you have a strong President. And that is what's missing here: this President is a huge wuss.
The fact that the conservative Internet and the FOX NEWS channel alone have driven this entire opposition to the policies of this administration is killing the self esteem of the left.
The entire spectrum of State Run Media has failed to persuade the American people to fall lock stock and barrel for the far left agenda of the far left of the Democrat party.
It must tear into their soulless selves to see that they thought they had a big majority in both houses and the WH.
So the last refuge is the mass consolidated State Run Media slamming down the race card as their trump card. I see a better hand on the winners side.
This is ultimately about a failure of Presidential leadership.
When the Democrats have 60 votes in the Senate, as well as an overwhelming majority in the House, it should be a fair accompli to get a comprhensive health care bill enacted within the first year of a Presidential term. Presuming, that is, that you have a strong President. And that is what's missing here: this President is a huge wuss.
I agree with trailrunner.
Failure of leadership.
Great article!
I will be nice to Obama concerning the failure of leadership thing. The truth is that Obama is trying to sell an unsellable product. The holes in the health care bill are legion.
On the not being kind side, Obama is the one that permitted the congress to ignore Republicans. Obama could have told congress "dont be a Jackass, put Tort reform in the bill". Obama was willing to call Kanye out, why not congress? Maybe they would have rebuked him like they did to Wilson hehe.
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