INTERESTING READS: Why Insurers Should Support Reform (and Other Notable Tidbits)

Who should we looking to ensure that insurance reform gets passed? The Hill suggests Vice President Joe Biden, while CQ Today says it is the Blue Dog Democrats that may be the key.

• "Joe Biden Still Has One Foot in the Senate; May Be Key to Health Care": Vice President Joe Biden's "relationship with his former colleagues [in the Senate] has been key to President Barack Obama's first 13 months in office," but on the issue of health reform, "Biden has used his friendships carefully," according to The Hill. "With Democrats poised to use reconciliation to pass health care reform, Biden's deep friendships on both sides of the aisle will be put to the test" as he may have to, in his role as Senate president, "cast the tie-breaking votes and overrule the Senate parliamentarian," The Hill reports (Rushing, The Hill, 3/9).
  
• "Overhaul Puts 'Blue Dogs' in Middle": Using the example of Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), CQ Today examines how Blue Dog Democrats are faced with a dilemma when it comes to health reform, being "marked for potential retaliation" by those they disappoint either by voting for the legislation or against it. Blue Dogs are "a key element of gaining passage" but "persuading a significant number to support the health care overhaul looks like it will be tough" despite efforts by President Obama and party leaders (Adams, CQ Today, 3/8).
  

Meanwhile, health insurers are still trying to defeat health reform. Timothy Noah at Slate suggests that might not be in their best interest.

• "Insuring Against Success": Noah makes the central claim that if reform fails "health insurers will likely be worse off" and gives eight reasons why insurance industry should support reform: 1.) a "guaranteed customer base" by adding 30 million more U.S. residents to the insurance market 2.) nearly all U.S. residents will be mandated to have insurance 3.) no public option 4.) the excise tax on high-cost plans has been "emasculated" and is likely to be kept out of the final legislation 5.) President Obama "isn't serious about imposing price controls on insurers" but a federal agency might be established to control premium rates "if insurers don't cut a deal" 6.) insurers have a vested interest in slowing medical inflation 7.) the system would get worse if reform fails, and lawmakers would be forced to act and are likely to propose reforms that are "less hospitable" to insurers 8.) health reform still might not pass if insurers support it and therefore they would have "at least bought some good will" (Noah, Slate, 3/9).
  

Finall, there still are a few things that need to be decided before health reform can be passed.

• "Lights, Camera, Reconcile": Health reform "is headed toward a highly unlikely endgame: a clash between parliamentary procedure attorneys," according to a Politico piece examining the "high drama" surrounding the debate. Politico looks at some of the "key decisions" that will be made during the final home stretch of the process including issues surrounding "Timing and scoring"; "Sequencing"; "Surviving a 'votorama'"; and abortion provisions (Cummings, Politico, 3/9).
  

by Julia Moss, staff writer




Read more ...

THE BLOG LINE: The Massa Imbroglio

Avert your eyes for a moment from the main spectacle in Washington, D.C. -- Democrats' continuing effort to pass health reform and Republicans' attempts to block the legislation -- to gaze upon a smaller, not entirely unrelated and, dare we say, entertaining sideshow captivating the Beltway. Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.), who recently resigned his seat as ethics issues alleging that he sexually harassed a male staffer surfaced, has leveled strong charges against Democratic leadership, accusing them of orchestrating his removal from the House because of his stance against an overhaul.

Steve Benen at Washington Monthly's "Political Animal" tracks the trajectory of the Massa saga. First, Massa "acknowledged rumors about a pending ethics investigation, but angrily denied the allegations." The following day, Massa "softened" his denials and admitted that he may have used "inappropriate language" with members of his staff. Then, two days after announcing his retirement, Massa took full responsibility for his resignation: the ethics issue in question is "my fault and mine alone. ... My difficulties are of my own making." Cut to the weekend: apparently those "difficulties were not of his own making," Benen writes. Massa alleges that Democratic leaders pushed him out of Congress because he voted against the House's reform bill (HR 3962) in 2009 because it lacked a single-payer option. "Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill," Massa said, "and this administration and this House leadership have said, quote-unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill, and now they've gotten rid of me and it will pass. You connect the dots."

House Democrats were less than thrilled with the allegations, David Herszenhorn at the New York Times' "Prescriptions" reports. “That’s completely false,” Katie Grant, a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said. “There is zero merit to that accusation.”

"Self-contradicting, borderline paranoid ramblings need not necessarily be taken seriously, even when uttered by someone who, until now, held a seat in Congress," Rick Klein of ABC News' "The Note" writes. "But the difficulty for Democrats is that Massa’s conspiracy theories take on just a whiff of believability after deals so famous that they instantly earned nicknames."

To Democrats, that whiff might be an unwelcome stink bomb. To Republicans, it's more like a bouquet of freshly cut roses. Bob Franken at The Hill's "Pundits Blog" notes that conservatives like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have expressed support for Massa's allegations against Pelosi and company and suggest that Massa take a vacation on what sounds like the least fun cruise in history: "the USS Extremist," on which he can "sail with them way off to the starboard side." Expect stormy sees on that voyage.

by Zach Swiss, staff writer




Read more ...

OBAMA: Criticizes Insurers, Cites Need for Reform in Philadelphia Speech

President Obama on Monday traveled to Arcadia University near Philadelphia for a campaign-style rally aimed at generating public support for health reform legislation and encouraging lawmakers to cast a final vote on the overhaul, the Washington Post reports (Wilson, Washington Post, 3/8).

Obama's speech -- which he is scheduled to reprise on Wednesday in St. Louis -- is a continuation of more direct efforts by the president to guide the reform process, following his bipartisan health reform summit and the release of his own overhaul proposal. Obama has set a March 18 deadline for the House to pass a Senate version of reform legislation (HR 3590), before he leaves for a trip to Asia. Congress likely will then consider a budget reconciliation bill to amend the Senate overhaul package (American Health Line, 3/8).

On Monday, Obama addressed a crowd of about 1,800 people and criticized insurance companies, citing rising premiums and lost coverage as reasons for passing health reform legislation. He said that "every year, insurance companies deny more people coverage because they have a preexisting condition," adding, "Every year, they drop more people's coverage when they're sick and need it most. Every year, they raise premiums higher and higher" (Washington Post, 3/8).

Obama also discussed large rate increases for individual policyholders in various states. Obama said, "We can't have a system that works better for the insurance companies than it does for the American people." According to the New York Times, Obama focused on provisions in his reform proposal that would protect consumers, provide U.S. residents more choice in the health insurance market, expand coverage and help control health care costs (Cooper/Herszenhorn, New York Times, 3/8).

The president also encouraged voters to lobby Congress about the need for reform. He said, "They need to hear your voices because right now the Washington echo chamber is ... as deafening as it's ever been," adding, "And as we come to that final vote, that echo chamber's telling members of Congress, 'Wait, think about the politics' instead of thinking about doing the right thing" (CongressDaily, 3/8).

Obama Cites Goldman Sachs Analysis, Conference Call

Obama during the speech also cited a new analysis by New York investment bank Goldman Sachs that recommends investors buy shares in insurers UnitedHealth Group and Cigna. The analysis notes that health premiums are increasing, while competition is decreasing (CongressDaily, 3/8). Obama said that during a conference call organized by Goldman Sachs "[a]n insurance broker told Wall Street investors that insurance companies know they will lose customers if they keep raising premiums," adding, "But since there's so little competition in the insurance industry, they're okay with people being priced out of health insurance because they'll still make more by raising premiums on the customers they have. And they will keep doing this for as long as they can get away with it" (Washington Post, 3/8).

-- Matthew Wayt




Read more ...

THE BLOG LINE: Where Do We Go From Here?

Is the House going to vote soon? Do they have the votes? How about the Senate? What are they doing right now? These and other questions have clouded the picture on the status of health reform legislation. Since there is no real clarity as to where exactly the reform process is at the moment, we figured we provide you with a sampling of some of the latest health reform-related blogs.

The Hill's "Pundit Blog" takes on the issue of deadlines. John Feehery writes, "Most people looked at the president's March 18 health care deadline and saw a totally unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky, Hail Mary pass from a guy who has set down several totally unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky, Hail Mary pass deadlines in the past." Noting that March 18 is the day after St. Patrick's Day, Feehery suggests, "Perhaps the president is hoping that either the majority of House members will still be drunk from the previous day's activities or too hung over to care" that Obama is "turning on the spending spigots." Or, Feehery suggests "perhaps the Democrats are just too drunk on power to care what the voters really think of this budget-busting bill."

David Herszenhorn over at the New York Times' "Prescriptions" tries to provide clarity. Herszenhorn provides a "sort of GPS guide to the health care finish line." In his "handy road map for the next three weeks," Herszenhorn notes the uncertainties about how many votes House Democrats need, what is in the final bill, and what the final rules are going to be concerning the use of budget reconciliation.

The Heritage Foundation's "The Foundry" looks at the controversy over budget reconciliation and abortion. Chuck Donovan writes that the notion that the Senate will use budget reconciliation to adopt a stronger ban on abortion funding if the House passes the Senate bill is a "piecrust promise" that is "flakier than most." According to Donovan, "Never before in the history of the 34-year abortion funding debate have pro-life members of Congress approved a bill containing abortion funding on the promise that a subsequent vote will fix the problem."

Meanwhile, a couple bloggers seem to be getting a kick over the recent admission by former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) that her and her family went to Canada to receive care. Igor Volsky of "The Wonk Room" writes that it "demonstrates that American medical tourism to Canada is common, despite conservatives’ claims that Canada’s health care system drives Canadians into the states." Steve Bennen of Washington Monthly's "Political Animal" writes "it is rather ironic" that Palin "now believes President Obama is trying to impose socialized medicine," which she says "would be dangerous for Americans in need of care." According to Bennen, "Palin's wrong on both counts -- the White House plan isn't socialized-medicine, and the concept couldn't be too dangerous if it helped meet her own family's needs." Bennen jokingly writes, "Universal health care: good enough for Palin's family, but not for yours?"

by Julia Moss, staff writer




Read more ...

INTERESTING READS: The Last Leg of the Race

"This really is the home stretch in the health care debate," David Herszenhorn writes in the New York Times' "Prescriptions." It really is. Seriously. He means it.

• "A Handy Road Map for the Final Weeks": "[A]fter 199 laps around the racetrack, it is hard not to feel dizzy, and even a little lost," Herszenhorn writes. To ease the confusion, "Prescriptions" offers a "road map" for the final leg. In this last stage, the House Democrats hope they can find 216 members to collectively carry the baton across the finish line by approving the Senate's reform bill (HR 3590). President Obama simultaneously will play cheerleader, making "closing arguments" around the country about the need for reform. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, prepare for their own final leg -- "a procedural fight with Republicans over the reconciliation measure" (Herszenhorn, "Prescriptions," New York Times, 3/8).
  
• "What's the Deadline for Health Reform?": Baton handoffs and crossing the finish line are only half the battle in the reform race; timing matters, too. Obama has spoken before about the importance of timelines for reaching any legislative accomplishments, but one by one, throughout the reform process, deadlines have come and gone. "So it makes sense that the White House appeared to set a deadline for completion of health care Thursday and then revise it the same day," Ben Pershing writes in the Washington Post's "44." This much is clear, the Obama administration would like reform to be completed by the end of March (Pershing, "44," Washington Post, 3/5).
  

Politics (and racing) aside, today's "Interesting Reads" also examines the effect reform overhauls would have on the young and examines wasteful medical procedures and their contribution to rising health care costs.

• "How Would Health Care Overhaul Help Young People?": The Senate bill and the White House reform proposal would allow U.S. residents younger than 30 to purchase "catastrophic" coverage: plans designed to make health insurance less of a financial burden for a presumably healthy segment of the population that might otherwise forgo coverage entirely but that carry steep deductibles -- at least $5,590 -- before benefits take effect. The plan to create these catastrophic illness plans is "igniting a fierce debate over how much young adults -- sometimes known as the 'young invincibles' because many don't believe they need insurance -- would" stand to gain under these reform proposals, Kaiser Health News/USA Today reports (Galewitz, Kaiser Health News/USA Today, 3/8).
  
• "This Won't Hurt a Bit": "When the White House and Congress were struggling last year to keep the cost of health care reform from exploding, they got most of the industry to ante up" and contribute savings to help finance reform, Newsweek reports. Notably absent from the industry groups that contributed: physicians. That stance from groups representing physicians is "ethically questionable," according to Howard Brody, a family physician at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Brody notes that doctors contribute to high health costs by ordering tests and services that may not be medically necessary. Brody recommends that each medical specialty select five procedures of dubious clinical beneficence to exclude (Begley, Newsweek, 3/5).
  

by Zach Swiss, staff writer





Read more ...

OBAMA: Heads to Philadelphia, St. Louis To Push for Reform Legislation

President Obama is scheduled to travel to Philadelphia on Monday and St. Louis on Wednesday in an effort to generate public support for health reform legislation and encourage lawmakers to cast a final vote on the overhaul, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports (Pace, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 3/8).

Obama's tour is a continuation of more direct efforts by the president to guide the reform process, following his bipartisan health reform summit and the release of his own overhaul proposal (American Health Line, 3/5). The president on Saturday during his weekly Internet and radio address said that lawmakers are "very close" to securing an overhaul (Zeleny, New York Times, 3/5). As a result, Obama has set a March 18 deadline for the House to pass a Senate version of reform legislation (HR 3590), before he leaves for a trip to Asia (AP/Washington Post, 3/7).

Members of the Obama administration believe the public is more apt to embrace the president's message if he is not in Washington, D.C. An administration official said, "There's no doubt that being on the road is better for him than being seen in some anonymous marble hallway," adding, "Washington is seen as a place of inaction."

According to observers, Obama's road lobbying might be coming at a time when the public is more receptive to the message. White House officials and Democratic pollsters said recent polls have shown an increase in support for health reform. Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster, said that recent data acquired from focus groups suggests that, "however skeptical voters are of health reform, they're now saying just go ahead and pass it just to get something done."

However, three polls from late February indicate that opposition to Democrats' health reform plans ranged from 47% to 52%, while support ranged from 41% to 44% (Thrush/Budoff Brown, Politico, 3/8).

Obama Condemns Insurer Actions

Obama also used his weekly address to criticize health insurers for failing to give "straight answers" on why they are "arbitrarily and massively" increasing their premiums. He used insurers raising rates as a primary reason for the need for reform, saying, "If we do not act, [insurers] will continue to do this" (Colvin, Reuters, 3/6). The White House recently has criticized health insurers after it was revealed that several insurers in multiple states have planned double digit premium hikes, including an up to 39% increase for some individual policyholders enrolled in California's Anthem Blue Cross, a subsidiary of WellPoint. The Obama administration has argued that its health reform efforts are necessary due to the drastically increasing premiums (American Health Line, 3/5).

Obama cited a new analysis by New York investment bank Goldman Sachs that recommends investors buy shares in insurers UnitedHealth Group and Cigna because insurance rates are increasing while competition is down. White House officials said the analysis would act as a "centerpiece" for the administration's argument for reform (Herszenhorn, New York Times, 3/6).

-- Matthew Wayt

Note: This is an abridged version of the story that appeared in American Health Line this morning. For complete access to the full version, plus all of AHL's other stories and content, subscribe to AHL.




Read more ...

INTERESTING READS: Listing the Health Reform Hang-ups

Straight and to the point, today's "Interesting Reads" gets to the heart of partisan health reform hang-ups, through lists that outline ways Democrats can vote for Obama's bill and still win in November, delineate arguments that Republicans should sweep under the rug and illustrate 10 people who might play a large factor in whether health reform legislation passes.

• "Health Care Reform: Three Ways the House May Derail Obama's Plans": The Christian Science Monitor notes that the key to passing health reform by Easter might be persuading three groups of House Democrats to jump on board. "It is possible that even with Obama’s lobbying, health care reform could meet its end on the House floor," the article notes, adding, "House leaders, for their part, say they are confident of winning but know there is much work ahead" (Grier, Christian Science Monitor, 3/4).
  
• "How To Vote for Health Care Reform and Win Reelection": Salon offers four pieces of advice to wavering Democrats about "how to vote for health care reform and survive politically." The article states that "in the end, if voting for the bill means millions of people get access to health care – but you lose your seat – that might not be the end of the world" (Madden, Politico, 3/5).
  
• "Majority Rules": Newsweek lists seven arguments Republicans should stop making "if they want anyone but diehard partisans to take them seriously." The articles states, "Republicans happen to have a case to make against relying on reconciliation to finalize health care reform. But to make it, they'd have to abandon the ludicrous talking points they're currently parroting and indulge in something called logic instead" (Romano, Newsweek, 3/4).
  
• "Ten People Who Could Decide Health Care Reform": Noting that "a yearlong health reform effort will live or die in Congress by a few votes that go one way or the other," Politico lists 10 Democrats who could make or break the vote and what issues concern them (Brown/O'Connor, Politico, 3/5).

by Cassandra Blohowiak, staff writer




Read more ...