Rockefeller Announces He Will Not Support Baucus’ Health Care Bill

[jefferson_dem]

Rockefeller Announces He Will Not Support Baucus’ Health Care Bill

This afternoon, on a conference call with reporters, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, announced that he would not support Chairman Max Baucus’ (D-MT) health care framework in its current form:

The way it is right now, now we have an amendment process coming up next week. I’ll have many, many, many amendments and we will see what happens on that. But now, there is no way that I can vote for the Senate package. For a lot of reasons. Obviously the lack of a public option is one of them. So that I want to be very clear about.

Listen:

Other Democrats have also expressed concerns about the bill’s affordability standards and financing mechanisms. “The flashpoint is all about affordability,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) told reporters. “Additional steps have to be taken to make health care more affordable.” Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) “also said he has concerns with the fees Baucus’ proposal would impose on some sectors of the healthcare industry. He did not specify which industries — pharmaceutical, medical device, health insurance or clinical labs — he was most concerned with.”

Meanwhile, the three Republicans participating in the so-called Gang-Of-Six negotiations are also unlikely to support the measure. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Mike Enzi (D-WY) have indicated that they favored smaller bill that does not impose fees on health insurance companies, establishes a five-year waiting period for legal immigrants to obtain coverage, and strictly prohibits “the use of federal money to pay for abortion.” Meanwhile, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) signaled Tuesday “she is unlikely to immediately support” Baucus’ bill, “but emphasized strongly that she is prepared to jump on board in the coming days.” “I’ll issue my statement tomorrow. But that’s not the end of the process, tomorrow. It’s just the beginning. So, I wouldn’t read too much into it,” Snowe told reporters.

On Sunday, during an appearance on ABC’s This Week, Rockefeller criticized the bill’s “network of cooperatives,” telling host George Stephanopoulos that the provision is not an alternative to the public option. A cooperative “really doesn’t work on health care,” Rockefeller explained. “There are fewer than 20 in the country and there are only two that really work. … So it hasn’t had a future, it goes back to the 30s and 40s, and I don’t think you can take the chance. You have to start a national thing all the way up,” he said.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/15/baucus-rockefeller/

[polichick]

1. Good for him! Why wasn't he one of the gang anyway?? nt

[democrat2thecore]

2. Thank you, Senator Rockefeller

Doing. The. Right. Thing.

[Cleita]

3. let's face it, not only do cooperatives not work, but in health care

for-profit doesn't work either. But no one seems to want to stick their neck out on that one. The only reason health care works in those countries who allow private insurers is because they insist that basic coverage be non-profit.

[AllyCat]

6. Cleita, any suggestions for learning more about that kind of system?

I like the idea that it is non-profit and wondering if that would ever fly here. But I don't know much about it.

[Cleita]

7. France and Germany allow private insurance but the basic coverage has

to be non-profit, comprehensive and follow strict guidelines set up by the government. These are systems you can study if you don't like the single payer Medicare model which operates in Canada and in our Country as Medicare for seniors. The Physicians For a National Health Plan website, whose URL is on my signature has a lot of information on all kinds of systems throughout the world although they favor single payer. You can also google different countries and they usually have some website information on their health care systems. It's all out there if you want to learn, however, the PNHP website is a good place to start because they have so much information on it.

[AllyCat]

9. Thank you! Should have through of PNHP. I'll check it out!

[sandnsea]

4. Good. Just kill this thing and vote for the HELP bill n/t

[WyLoochka]

5. Baucus shoulda' had

Rockefeller in the gang - he IS the Chairman of the Finance Health Subcommittee. Seems to me you would include that person. But he included, instead, Senator Blue Cross Conrad - the Chairman of the Budget Committee.

And he shoulda' had the same ratio of numbers in "the gang" as are in the Senate, Dems vs Repubs. But no, he started out 4 Repubs to 3 Dems (Hatch quit).

And he shoulda' had both small and large population states represented - but he had to go with the all teeny tiny states scenario.

This had better be the last I ever hear of Baucus heading anything.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

8. Wow, a Senator with nads. How refreshing! Rock rocks!

[SpartanDem]

10. Give 'em hell Rocky

[Thrill]

11. Why would any Democrat support that garbage. Man Reid just lets Baucus and Conrad

run the place. And they are both getting their pockets filled by the insurance industry. Stand up Reid.

[SpartanDem]

12. Kick