Progressive and Bluedog Caucuses Clash Over Health Care

[Joanne98]

On the progressive and moderate sides there are about 100 congressional dem reps each backing opposing "principles" for health care reform.

The progressive group, made up of the Progressive, Black, Hispanic and Asian-Pacific Islander caucuses, supports a public option that is immediately available.

The conservative group, consisting of the bluedog caucus and the New Democrat coalition, which some characterize as moderate, supports a public option that only kicks in if certain criteria are met. This is the same option that Republicans are pushing for.

In the senate, about 20 dems-- the more liberal, primarily-- are supporting for the full public option available immediately.


The Hill reports, "Liberals may hold the chairmanships of the key committees, but centrist Democrats are a force to be reckoned with in the lower chamber. The Blue Dogs and New Democrats combined make up a bloc of 103 votes."

Providing a bit more detail on the differences between the progressives and the "moderates," AP reports,

• The progressives say the public plan must cover all comers and must not be conditioned on private industry actions. The Blue Dogs say the public option "must adhere to the same rules and regulations as all other plans."

• The Blue Dogs say the public plan should occur only as a fallback, triggered if private insurers aren't doing a good enough job on access and costs. The progressives say "we oppose any conditions or triggers undermining and limiting the availability of the public option."

• The progressives say the public plan must be an entity operated by the federal government that "bears the risk for paying medical claims to keep administrative costs low." The Blue Dogs say claims must be covered by premiums and copayments without relying on the federal treasury.

Today, Saturday, thousands of Obama meetups will be held to discuss healthcare and mobilize supporters. This reporter has been to at least 5 health care discussions or townhalls. At each of them, single payer has received almost unanimous support, with full public option the distant fallback position. Yet single payer advocated are not excluded from the discussions being held by senate finance committee chair Max Baucus, and even among the progressives, single-payer is apparently not on the table, though progressive congressman John Conyers has HR 676 supporting single payer.

The question must be raised. Is Max Baucus simply representing the interests of moderate and conservative Democrats, or is he playing bad cop, in a good cop bad cop game, fronting for many more democratic senators afraid to admit they are protecting the health insurance industry.

At the progressive Our Future Now meeting, Ed Schultz reported that everywhere he goes, the only thing people want is single payer health care. "Where are all the supporters for these other options?" he asked to a crowd of about 100 members of the progressive media and blogosphere.

Continued>>>
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Progressive-and-Bluedog-Ca-by-Rob-Kall-090606-576.html

:argh:

[xchrom]

1. i want a socialized health care plan

but i think that between the president and blue dogs the progressives are on the losing end.

somehow -- we need more SICKO type information battling for the political will of the people.

the public option takes health care off the backs of employers, cuts waste, and frees emergency rooms to do their jobs.

[Hepburn]

2. Bought and paid for by the Health Ins Companies who...

...unfortunately had the foresight to see this coming long ago.

Fuck this shit.

[elocs]

3. On certain issues Blue Dogs + Republicans = a majority.

It's a simple math concept that those who believe that Democrats really have a majority in the Senate, much less a filibuster-proof majority.

[gizmo1979]

4. No Fu@#king Trigger!

They are going to end up worse system then we have now,only way more complicated,and insurance companies will get richer.

[nightrain]

5. I have to take issue with your contention that the progressive

group "supports a public option".

I believe that progressive support single payer, and that moveon, DFA, and other organizations have erred by supporting the public option. Why should we settle for less than what would really work better? I see no reason to support the public option when single payer is clearly the best option.

[YewNork]

6. Single payer is best, but...

They'd never get it passed right now. The insurance lobby is too powerful, and if they saw that the government was going to enact a law that would effectively put them out of business then they'd pour every extra dollar that they had in their coffers towards a campaign to fight it. The Harry and Louise ads from Clinton's attempted reform would be a drop in the bucket.

But, look at it this way - if a public option is made available and enough people join it, it may become the defacto single payer system or be able to be ultimately be changed into single payer.

Right now, single payer won't fly because the insurance companies are too strong to fight it.

[nightrain]

8. People are in favor of single payer. Health professionals are

overwhelmingly in favor of single payer. I am a healthcare practitioner who has to deal with the multitude of health insurance plans. It's a nightmare!! And a waste of money, time, energy, effort. I think a mass movement is called for, and is happening. Get behind single payer, don't waste time on the public option plan which will probably go belly up because it will mostly contain those who have major healthcare needs, the risk probably will not be evenly distributed. These greedy greedy health insurance corporations need to be eliminated for any real healthcare reform to occur.

The public plan is a sell-out idea to the health insurance corporations.

[rhett o rick]

7. Who are the 20 Senators that are supporting the public option? nm