HEALTH BILL PASSES SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE – MUCH WORK STILL NEEDED

The Senate Finance Committee passed its health care bill by a vote of 14-9 yesterday with one Republican vote from Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME). This marks the largest advance of the health care reform effort in over 70 years.

However, this bill goes against some of our most important priorities:

• It does not contain a public health insurance option, and instead uses co-ops which would not result in the same consumer cost savings and increased competition.
• It contains a 40% excise tax on health insurance plans above $8,000 dollars for an individual and $21,000 for a family plan.
• It does not include employer mandates to provide insurance to their employees.

Once this bill reaches the Senate Floor we will have to work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to ensure that the final health reform bill more closely resembles the House and Senate H.E.L.P. Committee bills. Specifically, we must make sure health reform is not funded on the backs of workers by taxing employer provided health benefits, that it contains provisions guaranteeing access to care, and fosters real competition among insurers.

We are closer than ever before to achieving much needed health care reform. However we must continue to speak out for the interests of the middle class and hold our elected officials responsible for doing the right thing.

DRIVING A FAIR AND HONEST DEBATE ON THE FACTS ABOUT HEALTH CARE

On Thursday, August 20, 2009, President Obama held an online forum to bolster public support for health care reform. During the event, the President insisted that the public debate on health care must maintain a focus on the facts rather than on the rumors and myths being manufactured by those who oppose reform. He reiterated that the government will not come between the people and their health care, explaining that individuals and families will still choose the insurance and health care providers that work best for them. The President stated that health care reform will not add to our country’s deficit since he will only sign a bill that is paid for and responsibly funded. Additionally, President Obama reiterated the importance of instituting a public option immediately to compete with private insurers, and he promised that there will be no additional taxes on the middle class to pay for reform.

As the August recess nears an end, town hall meetings continue to be held to discuss the important components of health care reform. Many elected officials continue to be met with angry protests and unjustified attacks. However, health care supporters still outnumber protestors at most of these events. These protests are being orchestrated at the national level by bureaucrats that oppose reform. Their goal is to distort the facts on health care reform and create anti-reform sentiments among members of the public. The best way to combat the opposition is by maintaining a focus on the facts and by reiterating how health care reform will work to benefit of all Americans, not just the uninsured.

Many people that oppose reform claim that they are generally satisfied with their health care as it is now, and therefore, do not advocate changing it. However, the American health care system is not sustainable, and doing nothing will undoubtedly mean higher costs. Then, as costs continue to increase, people will begin to see their benefits reduced and more and more will lose their insurance all together. By delaying reform now, we put at risk those people that say they are satisfied with their current coverage, setting ourselves up for more costly and complex reform in the future.

In other words, it is important to keep in mind that reform is not just about covering the 47 million Americans that are currently uninsured. In fact, health care reform is a form of preventative care, which will protect those people with insurance from losing their coverage due to factors such as soaring costs, job loss, pre-existing conditions, and chronic illness. There are millions of Americans that enjoy comprehensive benefits right now. The goal of health care reform is to make sure people can keep those same benefits and maintain them over the long run.

In New Jersey, Representatives Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-06), Bill Pascrell (D-08), Steve Rothman (D-09), and Rush Holt (D-12) are each holding their own series of town hall meetings. It is essential that our Representatives continue to champion the reform effort and stand up to the agitators that are conspiring to distort the facts on health care reform. Working families cannot wait for the health care system to completely break down before we decide to do something about it. We must support reliable champions of reform, and we must forge forward in our pursuit of health care for America now.

H.R. 3200 CONQUERS FINAL HOUSE COMMITTEE HURDLE THOUGH WE MUST REMAIN WATCHFUL

“America’s Affordable Health Choices Act” (H.R. 3200) has now passed all three House Committees with jurisdiction over the health care reform bill – most recently passing the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which saw a delay in its passage of the bill as a result of opposition from a group of fiscally conservative Democrats.

Passage of health care reform through the House Education and Labor, Ways and Means Committees, and now the Energy and Commerce Committee, marks a victory for advocates of health care reform, since H.R. 3200 contains a strong public option, does not include a tax on employer health benefits, and is now one step closer to a vote from the full U.S. House.

However, although the bill was reported out of committee, an amendment was attached to the bill which could potentially weaken the House version of reform. Representative Mike Ross (D-AR), who is a member of the fiscally conservative group known as the Blue Dog Coalition, sponsored this amendment which prohibits the public option from using Medicare payment rates and reduces affordability provisions in H.R. 3200. In response, our allies on the Energy and Commerce Committee passed two amendments which sought to restore the affordability protections weakened by the Ross amendment. These attacks to the public option will continue, so we will need to follow the health care debate as it unfolds to make sure that progress continues to be made in a positive direction.

The House and Senate will be in recess through August and plan to move H.R. 3200 through the legislative process after they return to work in September. During the recess, the insurance lobbyists will be out in full force, attempting to sway legislators in their favor. We must remain vigilant and ensure that health reform stays on track and that the middle class is represented in the final form of legislation.

CONGRESS RECEIVES OVER 50,000 CALLS URGING SWIFT PASSAGE OF HEALTH CARE REFORM

From 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 28, 2009, the New Jersey labor movement joined a nationwide network of union members, health care activists, and community leaders to generate tens of thousands of phone calls to the Congress, insisting that lawmakers take immediate action to advance health care reform. Calls were made as a part of the “National Health Care Call-In Day” sponsored by the nation’s largest health care campaign, Health Care for America Now (HCAN).

The multitude of calls which flooded the Capitol Switchboard on Tuesday compelled House members to garner support for “America’s Affordable Health Choice Act” (H.R. 3200) and carry out a vote on the bill as soon as possible. As members of the House and Senate prepare for August recess, it is more important than ever that we remind our representatives of their responsibility to ensure that all Americans have access to quality affordable health care.

We thank you for taking a few minutes of your time to participate in the “National Health Care Call-In Day.” We recognize that your efforts, along with the help of our union brothers and sisters from across the country, will ensure that we succeed in achieving health care reform this year.

CONGRESSIONAL ACTION UPDATE - 7/16/09

Over the past few weeks, Wal-Mart has expressed the need for an employer mandate to be included as a part of health care reform. The employer mandate would make it compulsory for businesses to provide all of their employees with health insurance (small businesses would be exempt from this measure). The employer mandate is supported by many Democrats in Congress and is in line with Barack Obama’s vision for health care reform. What most people still can’t figure out is why Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest private sector employer, would ever endorse, not to mention, strongly support such an idea.

The most obvious answer is that Wal-Mart wants to establish influence over the health care debate. Many people are mistaking Wal-Mart’s actions for a show of goodwill, but the fact remains, Wal-Mart’s underlying motive is to control and influence health care reform for their financial benefit.

Health care reform must be about working families and the nearly 50 million uninsured Americans. We cannot lose sight of this goal because our ability to achieve real effective health care reform depends on it.

Congress will have to contend with many interests such as Wal-Mart in their endeavor to enact comprehensive reform. The following is a summary of their most recent action:

                                                             Senate

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee continues to work on its draft of health care reform legislation, which includes a government sponsored insurance option, has an estimated cost of about $600 billion over 10 years, and would cover 97% of all Americans. The HELP Committee’s draft legislation also contains a mandate on individuals and employers to purchase insurance, with certain subsidies applying to provide protections for low income families and small businesses. In terms of funding, the HELP Committee leadership strongly opposes the idea of taxing employer provided health benefits to finance reform and believes that a sufficient amount of funds can be generated through adjustments to the Medicare system and with equitable taxes for upper-income Americans. This week, the HELP Committee will hold a final markup session and seeks to finalize their proposal.   The Senate Finance Committee, which has not yet released comprehensive draft legislation, continues to be the most aggressive in trying to build bipartisan support. As a result, the Finance Committee is considering a tax on employer health benefits as well as seeking alternatives to the public option. This marks a stark contrast to both Obama’s plan and the plans proposed by the Senate HELP Committee and three House Committees. The Finance Committee will most likely release their first draft of health care legislation in early July with an estimated price tag of about $1 trillion.   The HELP Committee and Finance Committee must combine their versions of legislation before debate can commence on the Senate floor. Therefore, it is uncertain that a Senate bill will be passed before the month-long summer recess begins on Saturday, August 8, 2009.

                                                             House

Working collaboratively, the three House Committees with jurisdiction over health care reform (Ways and Means; Energy and Commerce; and Education and Labor) released a joint draft of their health care reform legislation which includes a strong public option and would cover 95% of all Americans. This draft has been discussed by the three committees and each committee will vote on the bill this week. If the bill passes each committee, it will be brought up on the House floor for discussion and an eventual vote.   One more major development that took place this week was that the American Medical Association (AMA), an organization of over 200,000 physicians, formally endorsed the House bill for health care reform (H.R. 3200). The AMA was originally opposed to a public health option, but by endorsing the House bill, they have changed their stance to support the public insurance option.    The House bill coincides with President Obama’s vision for reform and will promote competition in the insurance market to lower health care costs for consumers. The legislation provides that there would be no deductibles or co-pays for preventative care, no denying care or increasing prices based on preexisting conditions, and doctors would be in charge of health care decisions rather than insurance companies. Additionally, the House plan upholds the idea of shared responsibility through the requirement of individuals and employers to purchase health insurance.

                                                           White House 

President Obama is taking his health care pitch on the road. His recent appearances included various town hall meetings as well as a meeting with the AMA. These meetings allow President Obama to answer important questions and facilitate a productive and positive discourse on health care reform. As President Obama stated at the outset of the reform effort, he intends to play a supportive role in the policy debate, leaving the specific details of legislation up to the Congress.   President Obama, however, spoke to a group of Democratic lawmakers at the White House this week and ruled out the possibility of any tax increases affecting the middle class. “During the campaign, I promised health care reform that would control costs, expand coverage and ensure choice and I promised that Americans making $250,000 a year or less would not pay more in taxes. These are promises that we’re keeping as reform moves forward,” President Obama said. This statement from President Obama would rule out the Finance Committee’s idea to tax employer health benefits, compelling lawmakers to consider other financing options.

MASS TURNOUT AT HEALTH CARE REFORM RALLY TOPS 10,000. DELIVERS MESSAGE OF HEALTH CARE NOW, FOR ALL AMERICANS

Over 10,000 union members, community activists, health care professionals, small business owners, and Congressional leaders rallied at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, June 25, 2009. The resounding message of the rally was that comprehensive health care reform cannot wait any longer. The rally kicked off at 11:30 a.m. in Upper Senate Park, marking the beginning of the largest health care rally in our nation’s history.

The national labor movement was vital to generating such an enormous turnout, sponsoring over 120 buses and transporting 4,000 union members from across the country to the rally. Furthermore, in New Jersey alone, over 26 buses made their way to the Capitol, accounting for a total of over 1,300 union attendees.

As the rally got underway, workers and health care professionals addressed the crowd and shared their stories illustrating the need for health care reform. The words of these brave spokespeople were powerful and compelling and revealed the heartbreak and pain associated with a broken health care system.

Following the main rally, a joint rally organized by New Jersey, New York, and Maryland was held featuring Senators Robert Menendez, Frank Lautenberg, Charles Schumer, and Barbara Mikulski, plus Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Charles Rangel. The three-state rally gave a chance for union members to hear from key Congressional leaders that are playing major roles in the health care debate. Additionally, the opportunity was taken to congratulate these members of Congress on their leadership and to urge them to continue fighting for strong legislation that will bring down costs and provide quality care to all.

We have a tremendous opportunity to enact health care reform, and on June 25, 2009 we proved that the New Jersey's working familes allied with Health Care for America Now (HCAN) have the capacity and drive to get the job done.

CLICK HERE to see pictures from the health care rally.

WHAT THE UNINSURED ARE COSTING US

One of the most compelling arguments for health care reform goes like this: “By covering more people, we can also lower health care costs at the same time.” In other words, we can make health care more affordable for everyone if we can cover the 46 million Americans that currently lack insurance.

In economic terms, this makes sense because by insuring more people, risk is spread out amongst a larger pool. This means that more people will share the cost of medical care in the U.S. reducing any one individual’s or family’s contribution. Not to mention that covering the 46 million uninsured will mean that more people are getting the kind of care that will allow them to live a healthy lifestyle and avoid winding up in the emergency room for a condition that could have been prevented by a routine checkup.

Right now, when an uninsured patient is treated in the emergency room and cannot afford to pay his or her medical fees, the expenses they incur are passed onto those with insurance in the form of higher premiums and co-payments. In 2009, this hidden health care tax amounted to an additional payment of $1,017 for a family policy and $368 for an individual. Furthermore, companies that provide their employees with health care have seen health care costs increase and as a result seek larger employee contributions to health care and more contractual concessions.

The pattern here is obvious. Health care costs are increasing due to the growing number of uninsured. As costs go up, more and more families will be unable to afford coverage leaving the insured to absorb an even higher cost burden. Those with insurance that have seen their premiums go up, may as a result no longer be able to afford health care, thus contributing to the growing number of uninsured and higher health care costs.

The study conducted by Families USA which highlighted the hidden health care tax also reported on the total financial burden of the uninsured in the health care market. The study said that the uninsured who sought treatment in 2008 received about $116 billion in care. On average, the uninsured paid more than 37 percent of their health care costs themselves; government programs and charities paid for another 26 percent; and an estimated $42.7 billion in health care costs were unpaid in 2008. Those costs were shifted to private insurers in the form of higher charges for health services and these charges were passed on to families and businesses in the form of higher premiums and co-payments.  

Higher costs will mean that more people are unable to afford insurance. This trend is unsustainable and will ultimately lead to working families being priced out of the health insurance market. It has reached a point where even a successful business can no longer sustain a viable health care program for its employees. Reform must include covering the uninsured, since this is essential to lowering costs both in the short and long term.

OBAMA REINFORCES TIMELINE FOR REFORM – SUPPORTS PUBLIC OPTION

President Obama met with key members of Congress on Tuesday, June 2, 2009, to outline his expectations in moving forward with health care reform. Obama began by affirming his strong support for a government-sponsored health insurance plan, which would offer consumers a choice between their existing insurance options (as provided by private companies) and a government-sponsored health insurance option.

Obama’s support of the public option underlines an already divisive topic on Capitol Hill, but many health care advocates believe that the public option will be necessary to driving down costs and restoring competition to a health insurance market currently dominated by very few players. Additionally, the incorporation of a public option is one of the best ways to cover the millions of Americans that are without insurance.

That same day, President Obama also set forth a timeline calling on Congress to have a health care reform bill prepared for his signature by October. Accordingly, the Senate and House plan to pass their respective versions of a health care bill before the August recess. Then in September a conference will be held to negotiate and finalize a single health care reform bill for the President’s approval.

CLICK HERE to read Obama’s statements as they appear in a letter to Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Senator Max Baucus (D-MT).

TRIGGER PROPOSAL UNDERMINE EFFORT FOR A PUBLIC INSURANCE OPTION

As predicted, the public insurance option has sparked some of the most heated debate on health care reform to date. Current ideas for a public option include an expansion of Medicare; the Schumer plan; and at the other end of the spectrum, the so-called “trigger” proposal.

• Medicare Expansion: Medicare is a government-run social program that provides health insurance coverage to people ages 65 and older. One idea in Congress for a public insurance option is to take the current Medicare system and use it to offer coverage to people of all ages. This expansion of Medicare would create strong competition between public and private insurance companies in the health care market, and as a result many private insurers oppose the idea. However, a major advantage of using Medicare as a base for the public option would be low administrative costs and high efficiency. Medicare is a single-payer system, and therefore, payments to doctors, hospitals, and health care providers are made from a single fund. By keeping the payment method simple and by expanding an already existing system, it is possible for reform to be both cheaper and have a higher potential for savings.

• The Schumer Plan: To alleviate the concern that private insurers have about competing with government-run insurance, Senator Schumer (D-NY) has devised a plan that would ensure a level playing field between public and private insurance providers. In short, the Schumer’s Plan states that the public insurance system must be self sustaining; have optional participation from health care providers; and have the same pay rates for medical services as private insurers. (For a more detailed description of the Schumer Plan, please see the article below titled “Senate Finance Committee Pushes for Consensus on Public Insurance Option”). Although this plan allows for moderate competition, it has a few drawbacks. By introducing a whole new set of regulations, the Schumer Plan might result in inefficiencies and be less likely to develop the type savings of a Medicare-type system could deliver. On the other hand, the Schumer Plan is beneficial since it provides the best opportunity for a bipartisan compromise.

• Trigger Proposal: Those who reject the public option outright are now advocating for a measure called the trigger proposal. This plan would delay the activation of a public insurance option until certain conditions are met. In other words, the public option would be triggered once premiums rise beyond a certain threshold or the number of uninsured increases to a determined point. The idea of introducing a public option after the American health care system deteriorates further is unacceptable. Working families are fighting everyday to make ends meet and cannot afford to wait for things to get worse before they get better. Basically, the trigger proposal is designed to inhibit health care reform and delay the implementation of a public insurance option which would hold private insurers accountable for providing quality affordable health care. The conditions triggering health care reform have already been met and the implementation of a public insurance option must not be delayed.

In light of these three plans, there is an obvious potential for continued debate over the public option. However, if health care reform is to be successful, the public option must go into effect immediately. A delay of the public option would further aggravate our health care system and perpetuate the problems hardworking Americans continue to face when trying to obtain quality health care for themselves and their family.

SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE PUSHES FOR CONSENSUS ON PUBLIC INSURANCE OPTION

When it comes to incorporating a public health insurance option into health care reform, competition is the big issue.

As the debate heats up in Congress, some lawmakers are voicing their opposition to a public insurance option because they believe that private insurance providers would be at a disadvantage if they had to compete with a government run public insurance plan.

However, the real concern for private insurance companies is not one of sustainability, it is one of profits. A public plan would foster competition between public and private insurance providers driving costs down and quality up. In order for private insurance to keep up with this evolving market they would have to adjust their business model and accept that they may no longer be able to sustain the same record profits they have seen year after year. In other words, private insurers would not be driven out of the health care market with the institution of a public plan. Instead, they would simply have to adjust to a more competitive marketplace even if it means the possibility of lower profits.