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It's not dead yet.
Author: Raine    Date: 02/18/2010 13:36:41

In the past year, we have had some wonderful highs and awful lows in the health care reform debate. As of late, it has been largely seen as on life support, despite a February 25 bipartisan health care reform summit the President is hosting at the Blair House. The media has largely claimed that reform is dead, Republicans have claimed they'd killed it, and even some Democrats seem to be seceding defeat. Thru all of this, it still has a heartbeat.
With his sweeping healthcare overhaul effort floundering in the face of united Republican opposition and public skepticism, Obama has invited Republican leaders to the meeting on February 25, which will be nationally televised.

He promised to post his own proposal for an overhaul online before the event and asked Republicans to do the same.

"Everybody that's in Washington that works in the executive branch and the legislative branch was sent here as part of representative democracy to solve problems," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said at Tuesday's daily media briefing. "That's what this is intended to do." Source.

Not only is Health care reform not dead -- the Public Option seems to have a new life breathing in it. And this is where it gets interesting. As of yesterday night, 14 senators have signed on to a Public Option thru reconciliation. They are:

*** This list is from Update lX (see below) ***
Daniel Inouye (HI)
Debbie Stabenow (MI)
Tim Johnson (SD)
Robert Menendez (NJ)
Arlen Specter (PA)
Jeanne Shaheen (NH)
Chuck Schumer (NY)
Frank Lautenberg (NJ)
Barbara Mikulski (MD)
Bernie Sanders (VT)
Al Franken (MN)
Patrick Leahy (VT)
John Kerry (MA)
Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
Dianne Feinstein (CA)
Roland Burris (IL)
Barbara Boxer (CA)
Jack Reed (RI)
Tom Udall (NM)

The original signatories:
Michael Bennet (CO)
Sherrod Brown (OH)
Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)
Jeff Merkley (OR)


Why now? I am not sure. I suspect it has a lot to do with the summit being publicly televised. I also suspect it has even more to do with stories like this
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today will release a new report showing more dramatic health insurance premium increases are proposed in Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.

Keying off the Obama administration's recent probe into a planned 39 percent rate hike from Anthem Blue Cross in California, Sebelius will detail large increases in six other states and say that given record insurer profits, health care reform has never been more urgent.
That's right, it's just the tip of the iceberg. The longer congress procrastinates, the more companies will try to get away with this outrageous behavior.

One thing that has gotten lost in this whole Health Care reform mess is is the bill is passed as it is these astronomical rate hikes will be disallowed. It's a pale comparison to the bill the House passed last August, but passing what we have with reconcilliation is still better than nothing. Hearing new talk of a Public option is wonderful news, and hopefully it will be corrected in the next week or so. Doing nothing isn't viable anymore. From the report:
Last year, as working families struggled with rising health care costs and a recession, the five largest health insurance companies - WellPoint, UnitedHealth Group, Cigna, Aetna, and Humana - took in combined profits of $12.2 billion, up 56 percent over 2008.

These health insurance companies' profits grew even as nominal GDP decreased by 1 percent over this same time period.

And recent data show that the CEOs of America's five largest insurers were each compensated up to $24 million in 2008.
If Republicans could pass the Bush tax cuts thru reconciliation, the Dems can do this. Maybe it is because of these increases that senators are returning to the idea of a public option. The insurance companies are not even trying to hide their price gouging anymore.

Please Sign this letter, call and make your voice heard. Thank your senator if they are on the list. Sometimes they do deserve a little love... and if they aren't on the list, well you all know the drill.

Also for your moment of GOP hypocrisy... now Cantor and Boehner say they want transparency, just not at the health care summit. this in spite of the fact that Boehner ASKED C-Span to have it televised.

Neither health care reform NOR the public option are dead. The media is trying to tell you otherwise, the GOP is trying to muddy the waters with stall tactics, and the insurance lobby is pumping huge amounts of money to stop it. It's not dead yet.

And yes, I am tired of the ups and downs -- but I will not give up. Too many people are suffering. We have come farther than we ever have before and even against all odds, this reform is not dead. Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over till it's over" -- and this isn't over.

and
Raine


UPDATE: Public Option, Medicare Buy-In May Be Headed To Senate Floor
Chris Bowers, who has been counting votes based on public responses and private correspondence, counts at least 45 votes for a public option. Democrats would need to find five more, with Vice President Joe Biden breaking the tie. [...]

If a public option falls short, backers could bring up a Medicare expansion as an alternative. The Medicare buy-in, which would allow those 55 and over to purchase the government plan, was enormously popular before it was unilaterally killed by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who said he would filibuster any bill with such an expansion.

But there is no filibuster under reconciliation rules. No other Democrat had opposed the Medicare expansion, indicating that there may be as many as 58 votes for it.


UPDATE ll: MSNBC is reporting that Senate and House are close to merging the Health Care Reform Bills.

UPDATE lll: Barbara Boxer, Jack Reed and Tom Udall have signed onto the public option.

UPDATE lV: (2/19/10) Senator Schumer is number 17 -- he has signed the letter.

UPDATE V: Obama will back the public option if Harry Reid does.

UPDATE Vl: (2/19/10) Shaheen Signs Public Option Letter, Becomes No. 18

UPDATE Vll: (2/19/10) Reid Signals Support For Reconciliation Vote On Public Option.

UPDATE Vlll (2/19/10)Arlen Specter has signed the Public Option reconcilliation letter.

UPDATE lX (2/23/10) 23 Senators have now signed the list.


 

56 comments (Latest Comment: 02/20/2010 00:46:27 by Raine)
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