Conference Call with Senator Reid Team; Health Care Reform

Ronni Bennett of TimeGoesBy blog organized a bloggers outreach on Health Care Reform that motivated me to blog, ad nauseum to some, about my thoughts on this very important matter. As a result of that, Ronni  spoke with Senator Reid's team yesterday and then today 4 other bloggers, myself included, we invited to speak this morning with a team from Senator Reid's office, health policy people and staff, related to Senator Baucas plan. Ronni will be blogging on more specifics on the Medicare aspects of reform; the actual process involved in getting this bill through, and more tomorrow at http://www.timegoesby.net/. My post is my view point on the general topic of getting health care reform bill passed. Some facts, a lot of opinion, and pure emotion.

I spent most of last night and this morning reading Senator Baucas plan that the team graciously supplied to all of us on the call. I am now officially brain dead. This bill is, in my opinion, awful. There is NO public option plan. It is a lesson in how politicians keep their jobs and give buraucracy a lousy name.

What I learned from the call that is positive:

Medicare will cover prevention testing free to subscribers

Medicare will cover free annual check ups(instead of just ONE when you sign up)

If you are in the donut hole on Medicare, you will get a 50% reduction discount on brand name drugs but get credit of 100% toward coming out of the donut hole

There will be a .5% increase in reimbursement to doctors and NOT the 21% reduction. This will keep doctors on the roll of providing medical care for seniors.

What is negative:

no public option plan

574 ammendments submitted as of yesterday

still no coverage of bone density scans as prevention for osteoporosis which has increased health care costs related to this disease to a whopping $19 billion!

No agreement between Repubs and Dems on bills and ammendments

What is hopeful:

House bill does have public option plan

HELP has public option plan (HELP is the anacronym for the Senate's Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Finance)

The call: the staff were very nice, helpful and listened to our concerns and explained the process.  For me, someone who has been in health care in one way or another for more years than I care to count, I do not understand why Congress continues to make something so simple, so difficult.

My question: Medicare is in place. It is not perfect but provides good health care coverage for over 40 million seniors. You do pay a premium for Medicare that is managable to most. If you cannot afford it, and are eligible for Medicaid, Medicaid will pay for Medicare. This is called dual eligibility.

Medicare has an infrastucture in place. True it has some bureacracy but what health insurer doesn't? So, very simply, why  not make Medicare the PUBLIC OPTION plan for the uninsured? tada! Simple. Easy, Fast.

Frustrating...some of congressional staff/members actually suggested this but its not going anywhere. Don't ask me why.

The good: Congress is getting calls, emails, phone calls on Health care reform. So if you have a view point, make it known. Or suffer the consequences of non action.

I know the President's bill and others make certain conditions a necessity in changing the managed care insurers but they forgot to eliminate the term MCO love: Medical necessity which is used to deny coverage for "anything" the plan deems too expensive.

I loved the staff today who were very helpful and honest. More than that, they were willing to listen. Tell everyone you know to call, email, blog about health care reform. Congress is listening. And that is the best news I can offer.

Frankly, I am drained from frustration related to what I perceive as the mind boggling reticence on the part of Congress to make a simple, easy to use health care system possible. Health care coverage is a liberty. I thought liberty for all was part of our US Consitution. Remember when Patrick Henry  said: "give me liberty or give me death"? It is evident today that he was also including health care coverage.....pun intended.

More to come.....

A little more on healthcare reform; Baucus plus

I read September issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. They have a great section on health care reform. A little bit of Trivia:Max Baucus (a so called right wing Democrat) who chairs the Senate Finance committee and is trying to stop the public option of healthcare reform, took almost $3 million from health insurers over the past year...and he knows health care? HAHAHAHA; he is owned by managed care companies.

Here is an emial I got from an organization trying to get health reform passed, the way it needs to be passed. I am including it to show that if we all work together, we can overcome the lobbyists and in fact we are lobbyists!

It's all because of you and the work we've done together.It started with 400,000 thousand signatures of Americans drawing a line in the sand, demanding that the inclusion of a public option in healthcare reform is non-negotiable. Then over 10,000 people delivered these petition signatures to every single member of Congress, sometimes to multiple offices. Governor Howard Dean capped it off with a public delivery event in Washington D.C. that drew over 10,000 supporters.Congress got the message. At least 64 House Democrats have pledged to vote against any bill without a public option. We need to thank our House Healthcare Heroes. Tell them to stand strong against pressure from insurance industry lobbyists.

ADD YOUR NAME NOW AND THANK OUR HOUSE HEALTHCARE HEROESWe're winning today because you've been driving the debate and delivering results.For the last two months, DFA members teamed up with OpenLeft-com and Healthcare for America Now to get every Senator on the record in support. The campaign is working. We are only four Senators away from the 50 we'll need to guarantee passage. We've been raising money all week to put extra staff and resources on the ground starting September 1st in as many as 10 states to pressure the remaining Senators. We will not stop until we win.DFA members also teamed up with FireDogLake-com to mobilize House Democrats. We made calls together.

We went to Town Halls and spoke up. And we offered House Democrats the chance of increased exposure if they shot a video to drive their position home. At least 64 House Democrats have stood up publicly, taken our challenge, and several of them backed it up with a video. Thanks to your work and these 64 Democrats, a Healthcare bill without a public option is D.O.A. in the House.Together with leaders like Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake and Chris Bowers at OpenLeft, we're delivering the results to get the job done. Let's make sure our House Healthcare Heroes know we have their back as long as they stand strong against insurance industry pressure.

THANK THE HEALTHCARE HEROES AND DEMAND THEY STAND STRONGWe're not holding anything back.We're continuing to pressure Roadblock Democrats like Senators Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu and Max Baucus with hard-hitting ads and personal healthcare stories of real Americans calling for change. And, with our friends at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, we're preparing to amp the pressure up for Republican Senators in Iowa and Maine just in time to send them back to Washington with a clear message to not block reform.More than 1,000 DFA members have offered to become a spokesperson in rapid-response ad campaigns pressuring their member of Congress. We're ready to hit back against any Republican or Democrat - in any state - at any time if they plan to stand against the choice of a public health insurance option.

We're organizing everywhere to make sure we pass reform with a real public option. And just as it is important for us to be able to fight back against our opponents, it's important for us to be able to thank our heroes.ADD YOUR NAME NOWWe're winning, but we can't sit back and hope it happens. We need to make it happen.Thank you for everything you do to make sure we win.-ArshadArshad Hasan, Executive Director Democracy for AmericaP.S. On Tuesday, Governor Dean challenged DFA members to fund a campaign to put organizers on the ground in states where we still have Roadblock Senators. We've almost hit our goal. After you add your name, please contribute. We can be on the ground in as many as 10 states if we have the funds by Monday.

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