TPMDC HCAN
Health Care
Key Reform Ally Dishes On 'Weak-Kneed' White House Health Care Push
President Barack Obama
In an encyclopedic new book that sheds fresh light on the defining fight of President Obama's first term, one of the administration's key health care reform allies recalls a thin-skinned, "weak-kneed" White House, strategically unwilling and temperamentally unable to face criticism from progressive reformers, whose toughest tactics were reserved for its natural allies.
Many of the revelations will be unsurprising to those who followed the year-long fight over health care reform closely. But they serve as a thorough reminder of the administration's uneven strategy during the debate, including its horsetrading with private industry, and private dealing with supporters on the left -- particularly those, like the author, who fought a bruising fight for a public health insurance option and lost.
The book is Fighting For Our Health, by Richard Kirsch, who directed the advocacy group Health Care for America Now during the push for reform. HCAN is a well financed umbrella group backed by scores of liberal groups, unions, and other reformers -- making Kirsch a close witness to the entire saga. He confirms that the White House treated the public option like a bargaining chip with powerful industry players, and believes that when his group became most critical of the bill mid-way through the fight, that top White House aides sought to have him canned.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, HCAN, Health Care, Health Care Repeal, Max Baucus, Public Option
Health Care
Reformers Fight Senior Citizen's Front Group With Bush Ties Over Health Care Law (VIDEO)
Tea party activists rally in Washington D.C.
As Democrats and Republicans gird themselves for a fight over President Obama's health care law, the leading health care reform coalition in the country is locked in a brawl with the 60-Plus Association -- a corporate-backed organization posing as a senior citizen's advocacy group. And heading the fight for 60-Plus is a former Bush attorney with a history of attempting to suppress voter turnout.
At the center of the tussle are dozens of ads 60-Plus is running in districts of vulnerable Democrats who voted for the law. At a distinct financial disadvantage, progressive groups -- including Health Care for America Now and MoveOn -- are asking TV stations around the country to drop the ad, citing factual inaccuracies.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 60 Plus Association, Defunding health care, HCAN, Health Care, Health Care Implementation, Health care lawsuits, Medicare, MoveOn, Repealing health care
Health care lawsuits
GOP Hails Purely Symbolic Victory In Missouri's Anti-Health Care Reform Vote
A Tea Party protester
While yesterday's vote in Missouri against national health care reform will have little substantive impact on the federal health care reform law, Republicans nonetheless are hailing it as a major victory for their side. Voters in the Show Me State overwhelmingly voted to change Missouri statutes so the mandate for insurance coverage wouldn't apply, a symbolic gesture that everyone acknowledges is highly unlikely to have any effect on the federal health care reform law (absent major and unexpected changes to established legal precedent).
But don't tell RNC Chairman Michael Steele, House Minority Leader John Boehner or former Alaska governor Sarah Palin that.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: HCAN, Health Care, Health care lawsuits, John Boehner, MO-SEN, Missouri, Missouri legislature, RNC, Repealing health care, Robin Carnahan, Roy Blunt, Sarah Palin
Health Care
Health Care Ad Wars: TV Spots Amp Up As Final Vote Nears (VIDEO)
A still from an AHIP ad.
After a cooling off period when health care reform legislation seemed nearly dead, television ad spending is now spiking. Interest groups attempting to swap public opinion and votes in Washington on both sides of the debate are funneling cash into health care ads that experts predict won't let up until after the midterm elections.
"We're going to see a fairly intense couple of weeks as health care reaches the endgame, but advertising related to this issue will only continue," Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis group which tracks ad spending, told me in an interview this morning.
America's Health Insurance Plans and Health Care for America Now sparred yesterday on the air over high costs of insurance and the massive rate hikes we've been tracking at TPMDC.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, AHIP, Ad wars, Chamber of Commerce, DNC, HCAN, Health Care
Health Care
Why The Heck Not! Dems, Reformers See Little Downside To Health Care Summit
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), President Obama, and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)
Top Democratic aides and health care reformers are of basically a single mind about President Obama's planned February 25 health care summit: Why the heck not!
Moments after Obama made the announcement in an interview with Katie Couric, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued pre-cooked statements supporting the President's call, suggesting a high degree of co-ordination. That could ease the concerns of liberals, some of whom worried that Obama might be repeating the same mistakes he made last year in a quixotic quest for bipartisanship.
"If this is what it takes--if doing this will make Democrats say, ok, go ahead and use their majorities to pass reform, then do it," said Richard Kirsch, director of the reform campaign Health Care for America Now.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Barack Obama, Democrats, HCAN, Health Care, House of Representatives, Republicans, Senate, White House
Health Care
Leading Health Care Group Pushes Congress To Pass Comprehensive Health Care Reform
Health Care for America Now is putting its money where its mouth is. Last week, the nation's largest reform campaign put itself on the side of major labor organizations, and leading members of Congress, saying the way out of the Democrats' health care conundrum is for the House to pass the Senate's legislation, and then pair it with a separate package amending key financing and structural aspects of the bill. This week, they're stepping up their efforts to make sure that happens.
The group has launched a new website to help supporters contact their members of Congress to deliver the following message. "I need quality, affordable health care, not politics. This is about health care for everyone, not a special election in Massachusetts."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: HCAN, Health Care, House of Representatives, Senate
Health Care
Democrats Mull Plan C For Health Care; Experts Say Get Real
President Obama with Congressional leaders
Freaked out and angry House Democrats don't know how to move forward on health care reform. But a significant contingent say it's time to radically rethink the approach: Instead of passing comprehensive reform, these Democrats say they should break the House's health care bill into chunks, pass their favorite ones, and send them over to the Senate to see if they can pass.
The gambit is political: get Republicans on the record opposing changes to unpopular insurance industry practices. But it comes with hidden dangers, both politically and substantively. And leading health care experts and advocates say these Democrats need to get real.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)Topics: HCAN, Health Care, House of Representatives
Health Care
Leading Health Care Group To Democrats: Get It Done. Now!
After taking stock of this week's events, the reform group known as Health Care for America Now (HCAN) has a simple message for Democrats on health reform: Get it done. Now!
HCAN wants the House to implement what everyone's been calling Plan B. The groups is calling on House lawmakers to pass the Senate health care bill and tie it to a separate bill enacting key fixes. And they want it done quickly.
"We just had a steering committee meeting and it was just--'end the handwringing and get to work' was the theme of our meeting," HCAN's campaign director Richard Kirsch tells me.
Earlier today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that, for the moment, she doesn't have enough votes in her caucus to pass the Senate health care bill. And many members are saying that an easier way forward would be to cleave the House bill into parts and pass the popular elements--then send them to the Senate for separate votes.
"You can't do incremental reform because, for instance, you can't end pre-existing conditions with incremental reform," Kirsch said. "You've gotta do comprehensive reform."
Topics: Barney Frank, Democrats, HCAN, Health Care, House of Representatives, Labor, Senate
Health Care
In New Ad, Leading Reform Group Throws Weight Behind House Health Care Bill
With House and Senate leaders working with the White House to put the finishing touches on a far-reaching health care bill, the reform campaign Health Care for America Now chimes in with a new ad urging Democrats to use the House's more progressive legislation as a lodestar.
A number of senators have made it clear that they will kill any final bill that doesn't include a public option, and with that provision dead for now, HCAN has tweaked its focus.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: HCAN, Health Care, House of Representatives, Public Option, Senate
Health Care
HCAN's Kirsch: Public Option Compromise Not Good Enough
Richard Kirsch, leader of the reform campaign Health Care for America Now says there are some nice things about the emerging public option compromise in the Senate...but it's still not a public option.
"Our take is pretty simple," Kirsch told me in an interview. "We're glad to see there's a good public option for people 55 and over, and we're going to work hard to extend that."
Kirsch is refering to the Medicare buy-in, which would allow people 55-64 to pay for the same insurance seniors receive from the government. In essence, that amounts to a public option.
He went on, "We don't view non-profit insurers as a substitute for a public option. We're not going to compromise on our principles"
"Our position has always been that we want a national, robust public option," Kirsch said. "The closest thing we've seen to that is the House and that's our position today.
Topics: HCAN, Harry Reid, Health Care, Medicare, Medicare Buy-In, Public Option, Senate
HCAN
HCAN: Public Option Must Be 'Operating Nationally When The Exchanges Start'
The influential reform campaign Health Care for America Now says thanks but no thanks to the idea of trading away the public option for a system modeled on the one that covers members of Congress.
The statement declares that "a public option must be publicly established and accountable and operating nationally when the Exchanges start. Using nonprofits to replace a public option won't work."
Note that HCAN does not address the prospect of a Medicare buy-in option for people aged 55-64, so this may not be the final word from the group. But it's an early sign that they don't like what they're hearing.
The full statement is available after the jump.
(Additional reporting by Brian Beutler.)
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: HCAN, Health Care, Public Option, Robert Lowry
Health Care
HCAN Slams Coburn Over 'Die Sooner' Remark
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Health Care For America Now ripped into Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) for his claim that the Democratic health care bill before the Senate will cause seniors to "die sooner." HCAN executive director Richard Kirsch called the statement "a measure of the Republican party's fear mongering" before taking aim at Coburn, who is an M.D.
"The truth is that the Senate health care bill will lower Medicare drug prices for seniors, enhance prevention, stop insurance company overcharges, and strengthen the Medicare trust fund," Kirsch said, "As a medical professional, Senator Coburn should know better than to lie to people who've instilled their trust in him and his alleged expertise."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: HCAN, Health Care, Tom Coburn
Blanche Lincoln
HCAN Thanks Lincoln, Pryor For Voting To Debate Health Care Bill
The health care debate in the Senate could take weeks, and Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) is threatening to filibuster if the public option isn't stripped out of the bill. But, for the time being anyhow, Health Care for America Now isn't making an issue of that potential flashpoint, and is instead thanking her and her Arkansas colleague Mark Pryor for allowing debate in the first place.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, HCAN, Health Care, Mike Johanns, Senate
AR-SEN
HCAN: Health Care Swing States Want An Up-Or-Down Vote On Reform
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Congressional procedure can be confusing even for politicos, but the reform campaign Health Care for America Now has boiled it down. The group has distributed polling data to its largest member organizations indicating that voters in key swing states believe health care shouldn't be stymied by procedural supermajority requirements in the Senate.
The polls were taken in Nebraska, Louisiana, and Arkansas, home of reform skeptics Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, and Blanche Lincoln, don't believe their senators should kill reform by voting with Republicans to block either a debate or a vote on the bill.
"In the Senate, before a bill can be voted on, there must be a vote to allow it to be debated," reads the first survey question. "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the health insurance reform plan itself, do you believe that it should be debated on the floor of the Senate?"
In all states, voters overwhelmingly said the Senate health care reform bill should be debated on the floor. Nebraska: 88-9, Louisiana: 82-9, Arkansas: 84-11.
Topics: AR-SEN, Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, HCAN, Harry Reid, Health Care, LA-SEN, Mary Landrieu, Senate
Ben Nelson
HCAN Targets Lincoln, Pryor, Nelson Ahead Of Key Health Care Votes
The reform campaign Health Care for America Now is running ads in health care swing states Arkansas and Nebraska, pressuring key Democrats (and one Republican!) to support the Senate health care bill.
Arkansas:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, HCAN, Health Care, Mark Pryor, Mike Johanns, Senate
Barack Obama
Influential Players: How Six Big Stakeholders Shaped Health Care
President Barack Obama
The biggest players in the health care reform debate often blur together into a swirl of acronyms and policy jargon. But they're also key to understanding how health care reform has been shaped, and how it's come as far as it has.
At this point in the health care debate, pro-reform groups have spent more money on health care ads than have well-heeled health care opponents. That's a testament to just how important the issue is to the liberal base, but it's also the precise effect President Obama was seeking when he partnered with the health care industry's most powerful stakeholders.
What sets the following six players apart is how they've defied the usual expectations and taken positions that don't easily fit into the usual left vs. right or corporate vs. consumer paradigm.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: AARP, AHIP, AMA, Barack Obama, HCAN, Health Care, House of Representatives, PhRMA
Health Care
HCAN's Kirsch: We'll Weigh In On Public Option When It's Actually In The Bill
Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE)
Moments ago, I spoke with Richard Kirsch, campaign director for Health Care for America Now. I described the public option proposal that's being considered in the Senate (outlined by Sen. Tom Carper here) and asked whether it would meet HCAN's muster.
Kirsch said it's too early to tell. "There are a lot of rumors right now," Kirsch cautioned.
He said HCAN will wait until there is a finalized bill on the table before weighing in on whether the public option meets HCAN's principles, which, he reminded me "are that it's national, that it's run by the government or an agency accountable to the government, that it's available on day one," and that it provides competition necessary to drive down premium prices.
In the meantime, he notes, HCAN will be pushing for the most robust public option possible, praising the ideas on offer in the House of Representatives.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: HCAN, Health Care, Senate, Tom Carper
Health Care
Health Care Group Hits AHIP For 'Dishonest' Report In New TV Ad
Health Care for America Now is up with a new television ad blasting America's Health Insurance Providers (AHIP) for dropping a report suggesting insurance premiums would increase under the Senate Finance Committee.
It says AHIP's report is filled with "lies" and criticizes industry profits and insurer CEO pay. It closes with a call to action: "Tell Congress. We need good health care we can afford. With the choice of a public health insurance option."
The ad is tied to an afternoon press conference with families who have suffered due to problems with insurers. They plan to challenge AHIP officials today during the industry lobbying group's conference in at the Capital Hilton.
TPMDC will be on hand for the HCAN protest, where activists plan to carry signs reading, "It's a crime to deny care."
Watch the ad after the jump.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: AHIP, HCAN, Health Care
Health Care
Speaker Pelosi Throws Down The Gauntlet For The Public Option--Will She Succeed?
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), President Barack Obama, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
There are no two ways about it. What Speaker Nancy Pelosi's doing in the House of Representatives is a big play, and very, very bold--indicative of her confidence in both the wisdom of the public option as a political and policy tool, and
in her ability to get results out of her 256 member caucus, despite the wide ideological chasm between its most liberal and most conservative members.
Pelosi's pulling out all the stops to pass a health care reform bill with a public option that pays providers at rates slightly higher than Medicare--even if it means she has to squeak a bill out of the House with the barest majority. Since the beginning of the push to pass reform, the public option has been at the center of the fight, pitting Republicans, moderates, and major industry stakeholders against an extremely determined majority of Democrats, progressive interest groups, and the public at large. It has been an epic tug of war, and at times, the pro-public option side seemed on the verge of being yanked into the mud.
But in recent weeks, as the health insurance industry further disgraced itself by rolling out the big anti-reform guns, and liberal leaders in both the House and Senate made it clear that they view the public option as an essential component of reform--one that serves voters' interests, and saves money--even if the White House isn't willing to put its full weight behind the measure.
It's in that context that Pelosi is running thiis public option endgame.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)Topics: HCAN, Harry Reid, Health Care, House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Public Option, Senate, White House
Health Care
HCAN's Kirsch: We're Glad To See Strong Support For Public Option...Let's Do It
Health Care for America Now is the largest reform campaign in the country. It's also the group that set the parameters for the public option that have defined the debate over the provision for months. Today, HCAN campaign director Richard Kirsch sees Pelosi's push for a "robust" public option as a validation of both the politics and policy of the popular measure.
"We're glad to see, as the Speaker points out, strong support [for the robust public option] over 200 members," Kirsch says.
"This is not just an ideological battle," he adds. "At the heart this is a battle about quality of care...it's also about saving money, for making health care more affordable. A strong public option will save $110 billion."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: HCAN, Health Care, House of Representatives, Max Baucus, Nancy Pelosi, Public Option, Senate, Senate Finance Committee
Health Care
Conservative And Liberal Democrats Warm To Public Option Compromise
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Both conservative and liberal Democrats seem to be open to a new public option proposal floated by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Carper (D-DE) to allow states not to participate in the plan if they decide they don't want to.
A Baucus aide tells me "Senator Baucus will look closely at this proposal, as well as other proposals, and could consider supporting them as part of an overall package as long as it achieved his health care reform goals while getting 60 votes."
Along the same lines, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) told Politico that he likes the idea of leaving the decision up to the states.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Ben Nelson, Chuck Schumer, HCAN, Health Care, Howard Dean, Max Baucus, Public Option, Senate, Tom Carper
Health Care
New HCAN Ad Buy Targets Insurance Executive
A new million-dollar Health Care for America Now ad buy contrasts the lavish lifestyle of UnitedHealth executive Stephen Hemsley with that of a family that suffered a medical bankruptcy.
The spot will air for two weeks on national MSNBC and on local broadcast and cable television in DC, Maine, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis. Maine Senator Olympia Snowe is a public option opponent, and the prime mover on the trigger alternative. UnitedHealth is based in Minneapolis.
Interestingly, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has also articulated support for Snowe's trigger compromise, but she hasn't ruled out supporting a more traditional public option.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Amy Klobuchar, HCAN, Health Care, Olympia Snowe, Public Option, Senate
Health Care
HCAN: Despite Today's Votes Public Option Gaining Momentum
The reform campaign Health Care for America Now is out with the following statement in the wake of today's votes on the Senate Finance Committee against the public option:
Today, a vast majority - more than ¾ - of the Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee joined with all of the Democrats on the Senate HELP Committee to support giving us the choice of a strong public health insurance option. Now four of the five committees that have tackled health care legislation have included a public health insurance option, and the Senate Finance Committee as a whole has proven it's out of step with the rest of Congress, the President, and a large majority of the American public. As Senators Schumer and Rockefeller said, the public health insurance option is clearly gaining momentum, and we are confident it will be in the final bill that lands on the President's desk.PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)The Democratic Senators who spoke out in support of the public health insurance option today made it very clear they understand we cannot leave Americans out in the cold without real choice and competition and at the mercy of the private health insurance companies which will only continue to put their corporate profits before people's health care needs.
Topics: Chuck Schumer, HCAN, Health Care, Jay Rockefeller, Public Option, Senate, Senate Finance Committee
Health Care
HCAN: Snowe Still Important, But in the End the Public Option's Up to Democrats
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
A lot of the most pressing political questions about health care reform will soon be answered, and reformers and pols alike are grappling with the fact that Democrats now have enough votes to pass a public option without any Republican votes.
"Hopefully when push comes to shove, Democrats will support a strong public option, and do the right thing," said Jacki Schechner of the reform campaign Health Care for America Now.
"We're in a good spot right now," added Schechner. "We'll see where we are after tomorrow.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: HCAN, Harry Reid, Health Care, Olympia Snowe, Public Option, Senate, Senate Finance Committee, Senate HELP Committee
Health Care
Health Care Compromise Has Fewer Supporters than More Progressive Bills
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
On the left, the Senate Finance Committee health care reform bill has been ripped apart by (deep breath): Health Care for America Now, AFL-CIO, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Sen. Roland Burris, Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Anthony Weiner, and, I'm sure, others.
It earned an icy reception from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and a lukewarm (though overall positive) response from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, it's still getting no love on the right. Even from moderate Republicans. Blue Dogs like it, though!
Late update: Despite calling the Baucus plan the "best effort to date," even the Chamber of Commerce has "grave concerns" and says "the bill still needs tremendous improvement." You can read the full statement below the fold.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: AFL-CIO, Anthony Weiner, HCAN, Harry Reid, Health Care, Jay Rockefeller, Max Baucus, Nancy Pelosi, Olympia Snowe, Public Option, Raul Grijalva, Roland Burris, Senate, Senate Finance Committee
Health Care
Key Reform Group Calls Baucus Bill a "Failure"
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Last week, when Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) circulated an outline of the bill he released today, the reform campaign Health Care for America Now pointed me to letters they'd written to leading Democrats urging Baucus to include a public option in his legislation. Ultimately, he didn't.
Now, HCAN says the Baucus bill is a "failure."
"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," says HCAN's campaign director Richard Kirsch.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: HCAN, Health Care, Max Baucus, Senate, Senate Finance Committee, Senate HELP Committee
Health Care
HCAN Targets Insurers In Million Dollar Ad Buy
The reform campaign Health Care for America Now is out with a million-plus dollar ad buy in Washington, D.C. and on national cable.
The ad targets insurers for raking in huge amounts of money and spending it on CEO salaries, just as Democrats on the hill ramp up their own investigations of waste and fraud in the health insurance industry.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: HCAN, Health Care
Health Care
Key Reform Group Launches Ad Campaign in Maine Targeting Sen. Snowe
In a telling sign that the battle over health care reform may be decided by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), the nation's largest reform campaign Health Care for America Now--in conjunction with Communications Workers of America and the Main Street Alliance--has launched a week-long television, radio, and print ad buy urging Snowe to stand up to insurance companies, and asking supporters to sign this petition.
One TV ad is aimed exclusively at Snowe:
While the other targets both Snowe and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME):
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: HCAN, Health Care, Olympia Snowe, Public Option, Senate, Susan Collins
Health Care
Reform Group Demanded Public Option in Friday Letter To Baucus
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Few have commented this Labor Day on Sen. Max Baucus' health care reform bill, which does not include a public option.
But it's fairly clear that the bill won't win the support of reform groups, many of whom see the public option as a necessary element of reform. Asked for comment, the reform campaign Health Care for America Now referred me to letters they sent Friday to Baucus, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and President Obama demanding that the Finance Committee pass a bill with a strong public option.
"Despite literally months of continuous outreach and effort by you in the Senate Finance Committee, the response of the Republican leadership has been to obstruct progress on achieving our shared goals," the letter to Baucus reads.
Across the four other congressional committees that have already acted on comprehensive health care legislation, a consistent outline has emerged.
It is now time the Finance Committee, and then the full Senate, move forward with a bill that contains...a strong public option...national (not a separate plan in every state), publicly operated and accountable, available on day one across the nation, and have the authority to establish payment rates that balance the dual goals of guaranteeing broad accessto providers and ensuring affordability.
Baucus, of course, didn't follow through.
You can read all three letters at this link. They were delivered Friday, amid news reports that the White House might deliver Congress a bill of its own, and that Baucus was finally ready to circulate a draft of his legislation.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Barack Obama, HCAN, Harry Reid, Health Care, Max Baucus, Public Option, Senate, Senate Finance Committee
Health Care
Reformers to Obama: You Don't Win By Disappointing Your Supporters
President Obama will clarify his health care reform principles before a joint session of Congress Wednesday, and a number of White House officials have come forward to suggest that the public option will not be among them. If that's the case, it will devastate the large segment of the reform community that regards the public option as one of the most crucial elements of legislation.
"The question is what's he gonna do in a week," says Richard Kirsch, campaign director for Health Care for America Now. "He's giving his address next Wednesday. We have to see what the President says."
HCAN is an umbrella group for dozens of influential liberal interest groups supporting reform.
"A lot of people will be disappointed if he doesn't continue to show his commitment [to the public option], but hopefully he will," Kirsch tells me.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, HCAN, Health Care, Public Option
Health Care
HCAN Expands Ad Campaign To Target Key Dems
Just a week after White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel let a bunch of progressive groups know he thinks targeting conservative Democrats is "f@cking stupid," the campaign Health Care for America Now is expanding a television ad campaign to target a handful of key Blue Dogs and conservative Democrats in the Senate.
The ad will run for a week, starting today, in congressional districts represented by Reps. Jason Altmire (D-PA), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), and Rick Boucher (D-VA), and in New Mexico and Deleware, aimed at Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Tom Carper (D-DE). A version of it is also running in upstate New York, urging constituents to call their Congressmen to support reform.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: HCAN, Health Care, Jeff Bingaman, Tom Carper
Barack Obama
Despite Likelihood Of Disruptions, Obama Asks Supporters To Attend Town Halls, Public Forum
Despite the obvious threat that town hall events with members of Congress will be disrupted by tea party protesters and other right wingers, President Obama today signed his name to an email to his supporters, encouraging them to commit to attending at least one such event anyhow.
"There are those who profit from the status quo, or see this debate as a political game, and they will stop at nothing to block reform," Obama writes.
They are filling the airwaves and the internet with outrageous falsehoods to scare people into opposing change. And some people, not surprisingly, are getting pretty nervous. So we've got to get out there, fight lies with truth, and set the record straight....[T]hese canvasses, town halls, and gatherings only make a difference if you turn up to knock on doors, share your views, and show your support. So here's what I need from you:
Can you commit to join at least one event in your community this month?
You can read the entire letter below the fold. The goal appears to be to increase the attendance at these events, so that health care reform supporters aren't outnumbered by shouting protesters. That's also a key aspect of the new strategy endorsed by Health Care for America Now, the reform campaign that's now preparing activists to deal with their vocal opponents at meetings with members of Congress.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Barack Obama, HCAN, Health Care, Organizing for America, Tea Party
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