Move On ads will target "centrist" Dems on Finance Committee regarding Health Reform & public option

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/moveon.org-targets-democrats-on-healthcare-2009-05-29.html

MoveOn.org targets Democrats on healthcare
By Alexander Bolton
Posted: 05/29/09 01:22 PM

The liberal advocacy group announced Friday that it would run radio ads targeting five Democratic senators and centrist Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine). The Democrats under pressure are Sens. Kent Conrad (N.D.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Tom Carper (Del.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.) and Bill Nelson (Fla.).


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The question over whether to make the public plan option available in all parts of the country has emerged as one of the thorniest of the healthcare debate. Republicans say a nationwide public plan option would be a “non-starter” and would represent a march toward a single-payer, socialized healthcare insurance system. They argue that government competition would drive private healthcare companies out of business.

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Healthcare reform has become an increasingly contentious topic between centrist Democrats and groups on the party’s left wing. Last week, three major labor unions, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, launched ads in Oregon criticizing Wyden for a proposal he drafted that has attracted the support of Republican leaders.

Wyden’s plan does not call for a government-run healthcare option to be made available across the country, as liberals want. He would limit the public option to underserved areas of the country where Americans can choose only between two or fewer private plans.

Senator Kennedy's Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee is going to work on it's version of the bill June 2- 3.

Kyle and Grassley, Republicans on the Finance Committee are also opposed to a public option. They are getting support from their buddy Democrat Schumer who is pushing a proposed version of a public plan that makes it entirely useless- underfunded, regulated as a private plan, no mandated acceptance on the part of providers, etc.

Other things I have read concerning the "public option" - someone, I can't remember who, will try to find link, is pushing that only families at up to 5x the poverty level will be eligible for the public plan. 2008 figure for a family of 4 is $21,200, family of 2 is 14,000. So, a couple earning more than 70K would not be permitted to enroll in public plan. Of course, I would have to ask why put a provision like this in? A sop to the insurance companies to guarantee that some more well-off Americans will still be providing available wallets to be drained? I also wonder if this isn't a subtle attempt to stigmatize a public plan as being only available for the people under a certain income level.


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Update concerning what I posted about income levels. It is contained in Sen Kennedy's plan BUT according to the Washington Post and WSJ, his plan opens Medicare to individuals and familes at or below 500% percent of poverty level. He would still have ANOTHER government financed public option in his plan.

So far, of the many things I have read, I like Senator Kennedy's plan overall, but it is not in a final state and is subject to change during these deliberations.

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/05/29/kennedy-plan-health-insurance-mandate-public-option/

[Purveyor]

1. Just received a email from MoveOn on this topic. Sent a few $$$ to help grease the effort. eom

[PM Martin]

2. Open the medicare system to everyone!

This Healthcare System Works

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. Exactly! That's why I was surprised and unhappy at the effort to tie

the public plan to income. Plus, personally, I would like to see healthcare decoupled from employment ASAP.

[snowdays]

8. Well said. More billions will go into administrating

the NEW public option--if it comes to pass.

We already have a Medicare structure in place--just expand it.

[librechik]

4. Wake them up!

those too-comfortable fatuous self righteous elites are going to ignore the public if they can.
Thank you, Move on for showing those Blue Dogs they can't.

[flpoljunkie]

5. It's obviously not just the banks who own Congress, Senator Durbin!

[SpartanDem]

6. K&R

[Sebastian Doyle]

7. The ad is already on the radio in Seattle

Heard it twice on AM 1090 already this morning. Although they probably should have mentioned Murray as well as Cantwell. I know they're targeting the committee here, but sadly Patty's votes haven't been that great in a lot of areas either.

[snowdays]

9. Why support spending billions on a NEW administrative

structure that would have to administer this new public option???

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

10. You're right in that we already have an established Public Option that works with Medicare.

The simple and obvious answer would be to just open up Medicare to anyone who needs/wants it? I don't know, snowdays. The answer is as plain as the nose on one's face. Just as plain is the fact that our Representatives do not represent us or our best interests and are completely comfortable taking anything off the table - impeachment, single payer, etc. that they want. I saw there was not a single co-sponsor to Bernie Sanders single payer in the Senate.

I looked at your voting block post and went to the site and am seriously considering joining. I never thought of myself as a single issue voter because I always (it appears mistakenly) thought that the Dems were on the side of the lower and middle classes, labor, healthcare, etc. and so the joke is on me.

Do you yourself believe that single payer has even a GHOST of a chance? I would be grateful for even that crumb, but I just don't see it. I read ALL the transcriptions from ALL the healthcare meetings on healthcare.gov. and I think I counted possibly 4 references to single payer, mostly in offhand comments about keeping ALL options on the able, etc. There was far more open concerns voiced about how to keep insurance companies in the mix.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

13. The site is healthcarereform.gov if you want to read the transcriptions

of the various meetings. You'd be surprised about how some people come off in these meetings. I'm trying to compile the most "interesting" quotes. Some of the usual good guys don't sound so good. I had a few WTF? moments while reading.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/White_House_Forum_on_Health_Reform_Report.pdf

[Sebastian Doyle]

12. Hey, I'm a HR676 supporter myself

Harry Truman (hardly a Liberal) intended for us to have single payer health care way back in 1947. The Repukes blocked it then too, even as the other Democratic nations - including post war occupied Germany and Japan - were implementing similar plans.

Same excuses used against it now, as then. God forbid some fucking corporate CEO would lose his third mansion.

[snowdays]

11. "He would still have ANOTHER government financed public option in his plan." And

this 'reform' was suspose to save money. ha ha.

[brentspeak]

14. They should also target Obama's trillion-dollar waste of a health care plan

and Obama's rejection of single-payer.

[Vidar]

15. Good for MoveOn.