Blue Dogs came back with their tail somewhat between their legs.

[kpete]

What Does The Blue Dog Compromise On Health Care Say About The Blue Dogs?


Today, the Dogs and the Dems reached a compromise:

- Reimbursement rates for public plan should be no higher than market rates: Rather than reimbursing at five percent above Medicare rates, the new public option will now directly negotiate rates with providers.

- States can offer an insurance co-op alongside public plan: Presumably this state-based cooperative would act like any other not-for-profit insurer and will lack the market clout to drive bargains and lower costs.

- Premium cap goes from 11% of income to 12%: Loosening the affordability measures is certainly one way to bring down the cost of health reform, but it does little to help families purchase coverage.

- States must pay 7% of cost of additional Medicaid enrollments: States are already worried that the plan to expand Medicaid would leave them on the hook for financing the expansion after the five year grace period (for the first five years, the federal government funds the expansion, after that, the states would gradually assume half the cost.) This will likely stoke their concerns.

- Small business exemption for payroll up to $500,000; phases out at $750,000: The original language exempt businesses with a payroll of less than $250,000 and charged a penalty on a sliding scale.

- Cost of bill must come in at under $1 trillion: Most health reform advocates believe that is nearly impossible to provide everyone with affordable health care coverage under $1 trillion.

On the whole, these tweaks are rather minor. Most observers interpreted the hoopla surrounding the negotiations as a sign of serious trouble. If the outline above is correct, then the dogs came back with their tail somewhat between their legs.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/07/29/blue-dog-deal/

[Pirate Smile]

1. Was it all for show? I know Ross earlier said that there would be a deal and that Republicans

placing their hopes on them would be disappointed. They still screwed up the time line BIG TIME. We need to keep the pressure on them over the recess to a HUGE degree.

[Arkana]

2. Personally, I'd love to see the RNC trumpet their "victory" over Obama

over the break, only to come back and have 260 Democrats ram this down their throats in the House.

[Laelth]

3. Minor? You're kidding.

These are major. They're so bad that the Progressive Caucus is refusing to support the bill if it includes these changes.

As per the statement of Co-Chair Lynn Woolsey:

"It's unacceptable," said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. "We're not going to vote for anything that doesn't have a robust public plan."

“It has to be much stronger to get our support,” Woolsey said after a meeting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who tried to sell them on the deal.

More here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8559556

You say that the increase in the premium cap "does little to help families purchase coverage." That's disingenuous, to say the least. The increase in the premium cap makes it decidedly harder for the struggling middle class to purchase insurance, at least compared to the original terms of HB 3200.

I hope the Progressive Caucus fights this turd of a bill with all their might. At this point, doing nothing would be better for the American people.

:dem:

-Laelth