August 25th Legislative Update From SIIA
This is the SIIA update of August 25th on healthcare legislation. It seems clear to me that the public does not want the plan, and those numbers are growing daily. These updates from SIIA continue to be some of the best I have seen from lobbyist on the ground involved in the debate.
Public Support for Reform DwindlesWASHINGTON REPORT AUGUST 25 Polls show 6% less support in a month: Business Insurance magazine reported this week polls by the Kaiser Family Foundation indicating that public support for healthcare reform legislation has dropped to less than a majority: 45% this month compared to 51% in July. The ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of reform: BI reporter Jerry Geisel quoted Washington observers to the effect that a public option health plan is losing support in Congress and that a compromise may focus on nonprofit health care cooperatives. Predicted legislative scenarios include insurance underwriting reforms such as banning exclusions of preexisting medical conditions and a possible individual coverage mandate. Still time to contact members of Congress: As summer recess continues this week and next, SIIA members can find opportunities to visit or call their representatives. All aspects of healthcare reform remain on the table for discussion. In the House, HR 3200 has been approved by three committees but has not yet reached the floor for debate. The Senate HELP Committee has approved a bill and the Finance Committee’s version is still under construction. Those will require reconciliation before floor debate. Contribute to the debate rather than the noise: While working in their home districts, members of Congress now tend to avoid strident demonstrations against healthcare reform legislation, but that leaves plenty of room to discuss serious reform elements. If the core goal is still to provide coverage for uninsured people, tell your representative that the surest way to do this is to allow small-to-medium sized businesses to pool together in competitive employee group health plans organized regionally or nationally. As millions are employed by small businesses – many of which cannot afford employee health plans without such a cost-saving measure – this would be the quickest way to reduce the number of uninsured people without creating a top-heavy and wasteful federal bureaucracy. Sound bites on health care reform from the Wall Street Journal: “Although administration officials are eager to deny it, rationing health care is central to President Barack Obama’s health plan. The Obama strategy is to reduce health costs by rationing the services that we and future generations of patients will receive.” – Martin Feldstein, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors under President Ronald Reagan, in his WSJ commentary of August 19. “Incredibly, Congress’ proposed health care reform plan risks skimping on anesthesia. HR 3200…would reduce reimbursement for anesthesia by over 50%.” –Dr. Ronald Dworkin in his WSJ commentary of August 20. “No one is arguing that reform is unnecessary…The much-discussed public health insurance plan is all too likely to create an uneven system, undermine what works in the existing employer-provided group health insurance marketplace, and costfuture generations trillions of dollars. But a series of reforms to our existing system can reduce costs and improve outcomes for millions.” – Samuel H. Fleet, president of AmWINS Group Benefits of Rhode Island, in his WSJ commentary of August 20. “I write as if health-care reform…is already a loss, a historic botch, because it is. Even if the White House wins, they lose, because the cost in terms of public trust and faith was too high.” – Columnist Peggy Noonan, WSJ of August 22.