Bacus plan is a go.

[Knife]

Link

WASHINGTON - Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe broke with her party Tuesday and voted for a Democratic health care bill, handing President Barack Obama a much-sought boost in his quest to expand access to medical coverage to all Americans.

The Senate Finance Committee voted in favor of the legislation on Tuesday afternoon, 14-9.

Snowe's decision gave the final vote a significance that transcended partisan divisions. For months, congressional Republicans have been virtually unanimous in denouncing the Democratic bills as an unwarranted expansion of government influence.

Well, the dems got unified enough for all 13 of them on that committee voted yes with one GOPer going with them. As bad as the Bacus Bill is, I hope mixing it with the other four makes it better.

[Thanas]

Good for Snowe. Especially because it means she will now have to face the GOP smear campaigns on her integrity.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

A good step but it's still unclear whether the plan will include a public option or not.

[Knife]

A good step but it's still unclear whether the plan will include a public option or not.

Four out of five plans in front of the united Congress have a Public Option. Only this one doesn't, so when they start combining bills for the debate on the floor, you are looking at a high chance of the Public Option being in there. The House bill will almost certainly have one, I can't conceive of something being passed by the House without one, even if the Senate can't.

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, any progress is welcome at this point. Though according to CNN, Snow might still back out if more changes aren't made to the bill (presumably to make it more conservative). So I wouldn't start cheering for her just yet.

[Feil]

Now that is very interesting. Snowe had always seemed to be one of those "moderates" who always lined up with the party on important cases and only voted for Dem bills when they were going to pass or fail anyway, or when they weren't important party issues. I still don't forgive her for voting in favor of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, but this at least suggests that her centrist image isn't a fraud.

[SirNitram]

A good step but it's still unclear whether the plan will include a public option or not.

If it doesn't, it dies in the House. The Progressive Causus' balls dropped, their spines grew in,and they are the most numerous caucus. No half measures here.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

A good step but it's still unclear whether the plan will include a public option or not.

If it doesn't, it dies in the House. The Progressive Causus' balls dropped, their spines grew in,and they are the most numerous caucus. No half measures here.

Well, I certainly hope you and Knife are right. It was about time we started shooting back with real bullets (Metaphorically speaking, of course).

[Karmic Knight]

Well, I certainly hope you and Knife are right. It was about time we started shooting back with real bullets (Metaphorically speaking, of course).

That seems like an awkward way of wording that, I agree with the sentiment none-the-less.

[CmdrWilkens]

Putting this in perspective:

There are two (2) bills which have made it out of committee in the Senate. The Finance (Baucus) Bill as amended and the HELP (Harkin) Bill as amended. The first thing that will happen is that Reid will convene with Baucus, Harkin, and whomever else he invites to the table and hammer out a combined bill. That bill will then be voted on by the Senate.

In the meantime there are at least three bills in the House (Commerce, Ways & Means, and Oversight & Government Reform though I may have missed one). Those bills would be reconcilled with the Senate bill (the bill the Senate bill comes to the House for a vote where it would be, likely, merged with the House bills). As with the Senate but with Pelosi in the lead to hammer out the merger which the House will then vote on.

The revised bill (Senate with House amendments) will then go to a conference committe composed of House and Senate members which will hammer out a compromise bill and vote on it before sending it back to their respective houses who will then vote on the "Conference Report" which is privledged and procedes directly to the floor so you can filibuster but there is almost never a need to file for cloture.

So anyway there is a shitload of politicking left and of the remaining bills most have a public option component.

[Simplicius]

Good for Snowe. Especially because it means she will now have to face the GOP smear campaigns on her integrity.

I probably don't have my finger right on the pulse of Maine voters, but Snowe and Collins both seem to have a solid support base here (Collins survived the '06 Massacre, for instance). The most vehement of Snowe's critics will be from out-of-state, which means the voters won't give a shit.

[CmdrWilkens]

Good for Snowe. Especially because it means she will now have to face the GOP smear campaigns on her integrity.

I probably don't have my finger right on the pulse of Maine voters, but Snowe and Collins both seem to have a solid support base here (Collins survived the '06 Massacre, for instance). The most vehement of Snowe's critics will be from out-of-state, which means the voters won't give a shit.

The public option alone is favored by a 58-29-13 margin in Maine and Snowe is down to 52-40 on her favorability ratings which serious underperforms her last election victory. In other words voting against health care reform could be a huge electroal burden as the constant hemming and hawing she has done probably isn't winning too many to her side (Independents are pro public option 67-20-13 alone). The biggest challenge would be finding a candidate who could run an effective campaing between now and 2012 (which would also have the Obama coatails).

So long story short I agree with the 538 analysis which is that she isn't doing this for any reason other than to keep herself relevant. Had she voted no then Obama would have gone on TV, thrown up his hands and said 'The Republicans aren't willing to work with us" and gone on to craft a bill that would have killed any moderate Republcian who votes against it. By voting for the committee version she does a couple things. A) She keeps alive the beltway pundit fueled idea that 'Bipartisanship" is critical to the bill's success and B) She makes HERSELF the arbiter of bipartisanship. In other words she has managed to manuever herself in to a point where she has more power over the legislative agenda that the minority leader or the whip by virtue of being the moderate in the right place.

[Singer]

Insurers Vow to Fight Health Bill Drugmakers Support (Update1)

By Alex Nussbaum and Pat Wechsler

Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. health-care overhaul that emerged yesterday from the Senate Finance Committee after a month-long debate won support from every health industry group except insurers, who said the failure to require all Americans to get coverage will drive up premiums.

The $829 billion proposal, written by Montana Democrat Max Baucus, now must be reconciled with four competing House and Senate versions, all of which include a government-run medical plan. The insurance industry’s criticism of the Baucus bill centers on reduced penalties on individuals who fail to get insurance, and taxes on so- called Cadillac health policies.

The bill extends coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans, funded partly by $121 billion in taxes on drug manufacturers, device makers and insurers. The health plans said they won’t back the legislation because it lets people buy insurance only when they need it, raising the costs for those who stay covered.

“What they came to realize is there are lots of ways they can get hurt without a public plan,” said John Sullivan, director of research at the health-care investment bank Leerink Swann & Co., in a telephone interview. “One way is to have health plans full of sick people.”

The National Coalition for Health Care, a Washington- based consumer group that includes the AFL-CIO labor federation, also attacked the Baucus measure, saying it failed to deal with rising medical costs in the private sector. Unions say premiums for their members will rise as the result of the tax on Cadillac plans, which offer generous benefits at low cost to customers.

‘Deeply Concerned’

“We remain deeply concerned about the long-term sustainability of what this plan creates,” said Ralph Neas, the coalition’s chief executive officer, in a telephone interview.

The legislation would prevent insurers from denying coverage for preexisting medical conditions or dropping customers who get sick.

While America’s Health Insurance Plans, the Washington- based trade group, voiced support for those changes, it said other measures would make insurance less affordable. The Finance Committee also voted Oct. 2 to cut penalties and expand hardship exemptions for those who don’t have coverage.

The Baucus proposal “imposes hundreds of billions of dollars in new health-care taxes and provides an incentive for people to wait until they are sick to purchase coverage,” the insurance group said in a statement. The organization represents UnitedHealth Group Inc., based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., the two largest health insurers, along with smaller providers.

Insurers Balk

“We cannot support this legislation in its current structure,” said Robert Zirkelbach, the group’s spokesman, in an e-mail.

Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine cast the lone Republican vote on the committee for Baucus’s plan. Her support may be a good sign for insurance companies, said Matt Perry, a Wachovia Capital Markets analyst in New York.

Democrats want Snowe’s vote so they can call the bill bipartisan, Perry said in a note to clients yesterday. “As long as Snowe maintains her leverage, the bill is unlikely to move to the left,” he wrote. “We’re unlikely to see a government-run public option.”

The drug industry said the legislation should be the blueprint for negotiations.

“We have no second thoughts” about backing the measure, said Ken Johnson, senior vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry trade group, based in Washington. “We continue to be very supportive of the effort.”

Drug Deal

Drugmakers including New York-based Pfizer Inc. agreed to forgo $80 billion in revenue over the next 10 years as part of an agreement with Baucus to finance the overhaul. The deal includes lowering costs for some brand-name drugs that may lead to more sales to people on Medicare, the U.S. government’s insurance plan for the elderly. Democrats in the House have said they’re not constrained by the deal and may seek more concessions.

“We are reaching out to House leaders to work toward a compromise, but the ball is in their court,” Johnson said by telephone.

The Advanced Medical Technology Association, the Washington trade group for device makers including Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic Inc., commended the finance panel’s “historic vote” even as it argued against the $39 billion tax over 10 years that its members would face.

AdvaMed Committed

“We are committed to working with Congress and the White House to advance health reform,” said Stephen J. Ubl, president and CEO of the group, called AdvaMed for short, in an e-mail. The tax “will raise the cost of care for all patients, especially those in greatest need of advanced treatments and diagnostics.”

While the finance proposal omits a public plan to compete with insurers, House Democrats have insisted on it, said Henry Aaron, a health analyst at Washington’s Brookings Institution, which does research and analysis on U.S. public policy. They’ve also argued against the Cadillac tax, because of unions’ concerns, he said by telephone.

“There are many big fights ahead including one between the Senate and House Democrats,” Aaron said. “The House and Senate conference on this bill will be the most difficult negotiation one can imagine.

‘Don’t Bet’

“I wouldn’t bet big money on this passing, or at least I would insist on very good odds,” he said.

Baucus also won praise from hospitals, which agreed to $155 billion in funding cuts for the prospect of millions of newly insured customers.

“We are confident that health reform is on track,” said Chip Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals, the Washington group for investor-owned hospitals, including those run by Tenet Healthcare Corp. of Dallas. The finance proposal is “a framework in which we can all take pride,” he said in a statement.

Hospitals, doctors and insurers will fight to prevent cuts to reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid, the program for the poor, and to protect subsidies the legislation provides for consumers to buy coverage, said Curtis Lane, founder of MTS Health Investors, a merchant bank in New York. Congress is likely to cut subsidies as it looks to pare the cost, he said by telephone.

“We’ll get down to the lowest common denominator of what can pass, which means it’ll get watered down,” Lane said. “If you have more subsidies, that’s better for industry. If you’re worried about spending too much, you water down the mandate.”

Stocks Fall

The Standard & Poor’s managed-care stock index dropped 2.4 percent yesterday. Investors may be overestimating the downside, Lane said. The legislation’s likely to change in the coming weeks, and it may be years before its impact is clear, he said.

“Once this gets behind us and people realize that we have no idea what this means for a while, I feel that people will step back and money will start flowing in again” to health- insurance stocks, Lane said.

Link.

Although I don't agree with their opposition to taxing "Cadillac" health policies, I do think they have a point about not requiring all Americans to have coverage. Yes, I know it would just be a big handout to the insurance companies, but I'm hoping that there will be a public option when all is said and done.

[Stargate Nerd]

Although I don't agree with their opposition to taxing "Cadillac" health policies, I do think they have a point about not requiring all Americans to have coverage. Yes, I know it would just be a big handout to the insurance companies, but I'm hoping that there will be a public option when all is said and done.

The whole definition of "Cadillac" health policies is flawed to begin with. As it stands those "Cadillac" policies enjoyed by Union workers, firemen etc. are the only sane Health Insurance Policies. Millions of people who already have health insurance (un-Cadillac ones) still go bankrupt due to medical bills because of insane deductibles, co-pays and yearly and lifetime limits to benefits.