Leading Blue Dog wants to open up Medicare to uninsured

[babylonsister]

:wow:


Leading Blue Dog wants to open up Medicare to uninsured
By Mike Soraghan - 10/15/09 02:08 PM ET


Blue Dog Rep. Mike Ross, who made headlines by rejecting a compromise he'd negotiated on a public health insurance option, has suggested to Democratic leaders that the government-run Medicare program be opened to those without insurance.

Ross (D-Ark.) has made the suggestion in meetings with House Democratic leaders and brought the idea to the closed-door House Democratic Caucus meeting Thursday.

"I — speaking only on behalf of myself — suggested one possible idea could be that instead of creating an entirely new government bureaucracy to administer a public option, Medicare could be offered as a choice to compete alongside private insurers for those Americans eligible to enter the national health insurance exchange, but at a reimbursement rate much greater than current Medicare rates," Ross said in a statement to The Hill.

The position is surprising because centrist Democrats such as Ross, chairman of the Blue Dogs' healthcare task force, have resisted a public insurance option with rates tied to Medicare. Centrist Democrats who can support a public plan generally prefer that the officials who run it negotiate rates with each provider.

That has emerged as the highest-profile debate within the House Democratic Caucus right now on healthcare. Liberals support a public option with reimbursement set at "Medicare plus 5 percent." Centrists either oppose the public option or support "negotiated rates."

more...

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/63281-leading-blue-dog-suggests-opening-medicare-to-all

[librechik]

1. rep Ross, I take everything bad I ever said about you back

Welcome to the Progressive Caucus!

[daleanime]

4. Please stay with us...

while we work on fixing this....'mess':applause:

[MNDemNY]

2. That dog has turned yellow.

[dysfunctional press]

31. maybe he pissed himself when he saw the polls.

:evilgrin:

[MNDemNY]

34. maybe!

:o

[yurbud]

43. Blue Dogs Harman & Sanchez already saw the light

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CAwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Frep-jane-harman%2Fwhy-were-breaking-with-th_b_318743.html&rct=j&q=jane+harman+public+option&ei=h3jYSvl-ktq2A6Dd5IwG&usg=AFQjCNHzg53CHh9mS927GoKecy0KoAGhAw

[rhett o rick]

3. Duh! Like he thought of it himself?? Some have been saying this all along. nt

[Cirque du So-What]

6. Regardless, I consider this good news N/T

[rhett o rick]

10. I dont trust the corporatist Blue Dog traitors. nt

[Cirque du So-What]

11. I'm not a fan of them either

but I'll take it as a good sign that one of the most blue-doggy of the lot is considering it. Regardless of whether he came to this conclusion or caved in to pressure from his constituents, I still take this as good news.

[rhett o rick]

13. Yes I agree. nt

[annabanana]

5. What? Is he too dumb to know this is exactly what he's been fighting?

Or is he getting serious blowback from back home? Or what?

[CTD]

15. That was my thought. Apparently he has no idea what the PO is.

I'm betting he doesn't even see the irony.

[tularetom]

7. Guess he finally read the polls

The ones that said 60% of the voters in his own district favored the public option.

[Neecy]

8. Howard Dean has been floating this as well

HD: The best way, and only real way to debunk the Medicare myths is to use Medicare as at least part of the public option. If the Democrats want to escape 2010 reasonably unscathed they have to enroll some reasonable proportion of Americans in an insurance plan about five or six months before Election Day. Facts on the ground are the most effective way to attack misinformation.

The only way to allow people to enroll before election day is to use Medicare as the vehicle. Trying to start a new bureaucracy that fast would be a disaster from both a policy and a political point of view. I would allow people over 55 or 50, depending on the CBO score, to enroll in Medicare with an income appropriate premium. This could be part of the public option using an established system with high favorablity and familiarity that already pays over a billion claims a year. You would not have to use Medicare rates from a bureaucratic point of view (the Schumer public option). That kind of duality could be easily handled by the system. A difference in benefit package could not, so you would need to keep the Medicare benefit package.

Finally I have tried this out on a few of the leaders in the debate, and a few staff people. There is a group of folks in New York who care about this a lot who have come up with financial estimates which I have shared. I think this is a real possibility, because every one understands the politics of it, not just the policy end of it.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/15/793281/-Liveblogging-with-Gov.-Howard-Dean

[voteearlyvoteoften]

9. Somewhere over the rainbow

That would be a dream come true.

[csziggy]

12. K&R

[Ruby the Liberal]

14. I think I just heard Jame Hamsher faint.

[babylonsister]

18. Is that the thump I heard?

:rofl:

[Delphinus]

16. Now we're talking!

Good thought.

[bullwinkle428]

17. This is a CLASSIC example of what Thom Hartmann loves to bring up -

think of a building grass roots movement that is gaining momentum as a parade. Any politician with an ounce of common sense immediately wants to run out in front of it, and insist that they're "leading" that parade, just so they can claim credit!

[redqueen]

26. We need to jump all over this.

:bounce:

[Demoiselle]

19. But THAT"S THE PUBLIC OPTION!!. (Sorry for shouting. Cheesh.)

[ecstatic]

53. Sssshhhhh! What they don't know won't hurt them!

[Faryn Balyncd]

20. OPEN ENROLLMENT for both Public & Private plans - that's the ticket!

Big Insurance would knows they can skin Americans any number of ways:

They would love to have mandatory insurance & no public plan (a la Baucus).......

But they would not mind having a public plan to dump all the unprofitable higher risk patients into, while Big Insurance continues their racket of skinning the relatively healthy.

If America is going to continue to have a mixed system, and address the underlying problem of excessive costs that are destroying both our Middle Class & our industrial competitiveness, we must construct it so that it benefits Americans, not as Corporate Welfare.

That means:

- - - - OPEN ENROLLMENT of both Public & Private plans with community rating of premiums.

- - - - The Public Plan must have provider rates BASED ON MEDICARE.

Only combing the above 2 elements will force Big Insurance to either create value or allow others to offer greater value more efficiently.

Only OPEN ENROLLMENT will force Big Insurance to compete with Medicare, and not use the Public Plan as a taxpayer funded dumping ground that facilitates Big Insurance's continued racket.







It's encouraging that at least one Blue Dog realizes that Medicare-for-All is good for America.




K&R.







:kick:

[annabanana]

21. LET HIM TAKE CREDIT FOR THAT GREAT IDEA!!

I don't care how we do it or who gets the credit... Getting it should be reward enough.

[valerief]

22. Lobbyists not filling his till with enough moola? Or is light dawning on marble? nt

[babylonsister]

24. Maybe he doesn't want his background investigated, so he decided

this would take the heat off him? iirc, he got a whole lot of dough from the insurance industry for property that wasn't worth near what he got.

[valerief]

30. Ha! I knew it couldn't be empathy. nt

[Vidar]

23. Good.

[redqueen]

25. Wow.... I wish it wasn't too late to call.

I'm definitely going to call tomorrow and back this idea up.

1-800-828-0498

[southernyankeebelle]

27. That won't due - what about people who make less than $50,000 a year or lower -

their insurance costs are high why can't they buy into it to.

[mike_c]

28. HR 676....

Just sayin'.

[Kermitt Gribble]

29. Can't believe I just read that.

I can't help but be a bit skeptical, but this sounds like great news!

The comments section, as usual, is dominated by imbeciles.

[PassingFair]

36. Not so fast....

THIS is what jumped out at me:

> "...but at a reimbursement rate MUCH GREATER than current Medicare rates," Ross said in a statement to The Hill." <


WTF?

[KharmaTrain]

37. That Reform Is Very Needed...

As it stands the current Medicare system could go bankrupt in the next decade as the boomers start hitting 65 with fewer people contributing to the system to cover them. This gets exponentially worse if Medicare is expanded to handle 30 or 40 million more. A lot of this has to do with the current high costs of healthcare that weren't anticipated 40 years ago. While a far better system than those who have to deal with insurance companies, it still has a lot of holes that do need fixing and properly funding the system is at the top of the list.

The sticking point is who pays...do we raise taxes on all, just the top 1% or 5% or take money from other programs. There are many who want a revenue neutral system...and it's a chicken & egg game as without reform prices will continue to rise and force Medicare into bankruptcy in the next decade (the GOOP's ultimate dream) or reform the system, bring in competition and drive down prices for all.

[PassingFair]

41. I'm not against funding for Medicare. I wouldn't be against premiums for "Public Option Medicare"...

that's obviously NOT what that quote is talking about.

It is saying that the 5% over Medicare rates is TOO LOW,
and that this NEW OPTION will pay hospitals and pharma
"MUCH GREATER" rates than the current Medicare.

[redqueen]

49. Has he written anything? I'm not overly concerned with the details of his version.

It's the general idea that I support, and IMO it's important to show support for the general idea of using something that's already in place.

[PassingFair]

50. Not if its meaningless in driving rates DOWN from the ridiculous prices...

that the insurance companies, hospitals, doctors
and pharma's collusion have jacked them up to.

[redqueen]

52. Well then we'll just ignore this and go with the bill from reconciliation then.

Obviously not many people think this idea is worth pushing, so fuck it.

[Kermitt Gribble]

54. I would think the entire cost structure for Medicare would change

merely from the fact that young people will be signing up in droves. The younger Medicare recipients' premiums may balance out the large cost of the current 65 and older recipient's care.

As far as who pays, I believe the idea is if someone wants to sign up for Medicare, their FICA tax is increased accordingly. Everyone else's FICA taxes would stay the same.

[donheld]

32. k & R

[BrklynLiberal]

33. yessssssss

[mod mom]

35. Maybe those ads I contributed to, worked! good for him.

[eridani]

38. This would be a start

I'm really hating the idea of doing precinct walking next year and trying to explain why, in spite of a big messy health care bill, everyonee's health care is still going straight down the toilet. This proposal could help people right now.

[jeffbr]

39. DUH - This is the simplest and most sensible route

[euphoria12leo]

40. It sounds pretty damn simple to me

I wonder how he came up with this sensible idea? Wow, he's brilliant!


:sarcasm:

[AngryAmish]

42. Medicare question - do hospitals have to take it?

Say you show up in the ER with stomach pain. Turns out it is a bad ulcer and they need to operate. Do they just have to stabilize you and can send you to another hospital?

[gkhouston]

44. Good thing he came out in favor of this before that free clinic event in Little Rock.

Nice timing.

[redqueen]

46. I hope his constituents let him know how popular the idea is. (nt)

[redqueen]

45. Kick... voice your support toll free 1-800-828-0498. (nt)

:kick:

[redqueen]

47. ...

:kick:

[redqueen]

48. I really do hope people are calling to support this idea.

:kick:

[fascisthunter]

51. I'll Believe Him When I See Action to Back up His Statement (nt)

[mdmc]

55. --

[Cleita]

56. That would be a good thing to do.

Actually, Medicare should be opened up to all who want it. After all most working people pay into it. They should have a right to participate in it if they want to. They really need to update the fee schedule though so that doctors are reimbursed at a fair rate. Letting people buy into it would bring in an infusion of premium money that is being funneled to Wall Street profits and CEO bonuses right now.