Healthcare Reform Cost Estimates Have Democrats on Defensive
Obama insists that healthcare reform must include a public option
Around 7 a.m. last Wednesday, Sen. Chris Dodd got a call from Sen. Ted Kennedy. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, was scheduled to kick off debate in the Senate health committee on Kennedy's healthcare overhaul bill, and the Massachusetts Democrat was phoning to wish him luck. "He's dedicated virtually all of his public life to this issue," Dodd said of Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer. "He wanted to warn all of us that he's watching" on TV.
Kennedy couldn't have been pleased with what he saw later that morning. Dodd had barely begun opening remarks when a peeved Sen. John McCain interrupted and denounced the bill as incomplete. "How can we possibly, reasonably address the trillions of dollars of spending associated with this bill without accounting for some way to pay for it?" the Arizona Republican queried.
McCain was not the only one in Washington asking that question last week. New government figures on the potential costs of healthcare legislation put Democrats on the defensive, having to rethink not only their proposals but also their hope of having a bill ready for President Obama's signature by October.
The inciting spark was the Congressional Budget Office's released of preliminary estimates on the costs of the two main Senate bills. Kennedy's was tagged at $1 trillion. The other, being developed by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, would cost $1.6 trillion.
Those numbers—especially the latter figure—thundered through Washington, partly because of their sheer magnitude and partly because of the CBO's nonpartisan reputation. In response, Baucus, a Montana Democrat, announced that he would not unveil his bill last week as planned but will "slow things down" and look for ways to cut more than $600 billion from the cost.
The White House has tried not to flinch. Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said late last week that the president would not be "distracted by the chatter" and asked Congress to ignore day-to-day reports of impending defeat or failure.
President Obama himself is now talking. In a news conference Tuesday, he insisted that reform must include a government-run insurance option. His position has been buoyed by a new poll this week, conducted by CBS and the New York Times, showing that 72 percent of Americans support a public option. "Reform is not a luxury, it's a necessity," Obama said.
But Baucus's move will have real consequences. Senate Democrats plan to weave the Baucus and Kennedy bills together into a single text. Delaying Baucus's bill could slow the whole process. (In the House, Rep. Charles Rangel, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, released draft bill last Friday.)
Amid all the caterwauling, there was some good news for Obama. His remarks to the American Medical Association last week apparently scored points, because the group rejected a resolution officially opposing his public insurance plan. On the other hand, that's far from an endorsement.
Senators from both parties have hailed a new report from former Sens. Bob Dole and Tom Daschle, founders of the Bipartisan Policy Center, as offering a "road map" for healthcare reform. But limited bipartisanship has been in evidence in the marble-walled Senate hearing room that is now overflowing with paper drafts of proposed amendments. Dodd says he hopes to fill in the gaps in Kennedy's bill, including costs, by the end of this week. Republicans warn those moves could add another trillion in red ink.
Reader Comments
health care
I agree 100% with Ed Watson of N J . Take a look at the bail out that everyone was so thrilled about and yet some ceo's are still receiving 100 million dollars in bonuses. Did no one learn from that fiasco? Health care takes a big chunk of my salary but if I hadn't enrolled in one that gave me the freedom to choose who I wanted I would be dead today. Yes it's expensive but death is final and I as a working person had rather pay for health care than be dead. I provided health care for my child, i clothed my child, I have never received any help from the government but know plenty of families(3 generations) who have abused government programs because they knew someone ,a senator or state representative who could help them. Would not there be a lot of people who would expect that they receive health care wheather anyone else did or not because they knew someone in government? I can't see anything fair about this health plan of obama's. Clinton was smart to say NO! when Hillary was pushing health care in 93 when he was president.
competition is how we receive the benefits of great health care. If every hospital was the same where is the incentive to be the best you can be? The same applies to labs and dr's. The government needs to give incentives to persons who want to be great dr's and work in prestigious hospitals.
Why do they not deal with wall street and stop the predictions of the price of oil and other commodities? Stop the fat cats from getting fatter.
In this life your health should be one of the most important things. I do not like the idea of going to a hospital that I might have to wait for a room in ICU because someone hadn't been dismissed. I also do not like the fact that senior citizens will not be treated with cutting edge technology, because of their age, to save their lives. What happened to respect and cherish your elders? They gave us a legacy. Without them we wouldn't be here. We shouldn't assume they are useless.
Yes, health care is expensive but so are utilities and groceries. The 4,500 dollars for your klunkers, how many will be repossessed because people can't pay for them? Did everyone receive this? No, they did not. The people who received the money thought it was fair but what about the people who didn't qualify? I can see the same pit falls for health care.
we elected these officials. They need to take a longer look at health care before they vote for something that has so much conterversary attached to it.
I never wanted to live in Canada or any other country because we were where everyone wanted to be. Why would we pattern after a country that looks up to us and comes to this country for health care if theirs was so great? I can only hope that people come to their senses before they find out how unrealistic this health care plan is.
Health Insurance Reform
Health insurance is not a constitutional right. The government should enable a multi-group plan that unemployed or underprivilegd can particapte as a group. NOT FREE. I am on Medicare and when I became eligible, the very large company I retired from eliminated my health insurance the same day. I still have to pay almost 10% of my Social Security for medicare and 20% of the charges. Same should apply for those drawing unimployment or welfare checks. NO FREE RIDE. All should be responsible for a co-pay. Now, if you realistically and honestly identify $billions of medical cost savings that we here from the Obama administration every day. A very simple and working plan can be inplace quickly. Get rid of the minority stipulations in the existing plan and make it genuinely non racial, non-partisan and non political. Establish a PRIVATE institute to manage this plan. Exclude non legal and their dependents. This is harsh but these are hard times. We need health reforms, not a welfare program.
Examples:
Family's earning up to $30k $100 mthly Prem $10 copay
Family's earning up to $50k $200 mthly Prem #15 copay
Family's earning up to $75k $300 mthly Prem $20 copay
Family's earning up to $100k 400 mthly Prem $25 copay
Family's earning up to $250k 600 mthly Prem $25 copay
Add it up, this would be deficit neutral and very little impact on the taxpayer.
These can be adjusted but the message is there. Anyone can be elligible.
HEALTH CARE
The limited revelation of what's in the health care proposals don't seem to have any reduction in health care costs except to pay the doctors less. Where is Tort reform to reduce insurance doctors costs and extra tests to reduce their liability. Where is the price visibility that is needed for competition and price regulation in a capitalistic system.
I see price increases all around me caused by our government induced financial tsunami. Government does not have a lock on doing things smart or right. We should take health care change very slowly so that the true costs to be payed for by tax payers will sink in and be supported or rejected accordingly.
I am afraid that our government is about to bankrupt and destroy our country.
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