madfloridian

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Mon Dec-21-09 01:25 PM
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Things that happened while "the left" was being battered by party leadership.

Things that happened while all the big guns were sent out to bring down a former governor of Vermont who tried to say these things were going on.

Head Scratchers

1. Pre-Exisiting Condition Exclusion: The legislation bars insurers immediately from denying coverage to children based on a pre-existing condition. However, they are still free to do it to adults until 2014. Besides being a blatant exception to immediate consumer protections, this one is a true head-scratcher. Except for expensive risk pools, adults in the individual insurance market with pre-existing conditions have nowhere to go until 2014. Yet the coverage mandate begins in the 2013 tax year. So what are folks supposed to do in 2013? Take out a second mortgage to pay for health plan coverage that won't cover their pre-existing conditions (the risk pool requires going bare for 6 months, activating a 12-month pre-exisiting condition coverage exclusion) or pay a fine, just because lawmakers wanted a better CBO score?

2. Botax to Tan-Tax: So, the “Botax” on cosmetic surgery is no more. But now there’s a 10% tax on those using tanning salons. It’s not clear on whether that’s just the UV type (does anyone use these anymore?), or whether spray-on tanning centers also qualify. I’d love to have been a fly on the wall for that negotiation, which spared the usual culprit: cigarettes. Does it come close to bringing in the same revenue as a cosmetic surgery tax?

3. Nebraska’s Federal Medicaid Subsidy: Nelson bargained his state out of shouldering any costs from the expanded Medicaid program. Other states’ senators are probably not going to roll over on this one, as state budgets are already strapped due to the economy and Medicaid is chronically under-funded. So did we gain one more senator just to lose a few more?

Health care plan features

The coverage mandate begins in 2013, but the pre-existing rule does not start until 2014. Most interesting. I am sure they will fix it in conference.

And the part about women really angers me.

Gut Checks

1. State Anti-Abortion Opt-In: Until now, federal money wasn’t allowed to be used for abortions except in life-threatening cases, rape, or incest. Now, in addition to that firewall, states can opt to pass a law barring abortion coverage within their insurance exchanges. So now it’s not just those who can least afford abortion services that are being denied them, it’s potentially every woman buying coverage within an exchange.

Guess what else is annoying. Barbara Boxer sent an email to her constituents which in effect did not mention the sell-out of women. But one part did say women's rights were preserved. Now that is just plain not true.

Boxer Email to Constituents Makes No Mention of Loss of Abortion Coverage

This weekend, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) sent out an update and fundraising email to her constituents underscoring the benefits of the current Senate Health Reform bill.

..."There's was only one problem: The email completely skirts the issue of insurance coverage of abortion care.

The email states:

"On Friday, I joined a 7-hour marathon negotiating session to hammer out the final details of the reform bill. By the end of the night, we had finally reached a solid compromise to insure more Americans, lower costs, and hold insurance companies accountable to deliver for the premiums we pay -- all while protecting women's health and right to choose."

In fact, as we have noted elsewhere, the Nelson language in the bill will have several deleterious effects on women's right to choose, by, among other things, limiting access to insurance policies that include abortion care (which in turn will limit the ability of women to access such care), eliminating the provision requiring at least one plan in each exchange include abortion care, and forcing policyholders to write two checks, one for the share of their premium devoted to abortion care.

Can we say these outcomes protect a woman's right to choose? Not by even the most conservative reading of the Nelson language.

And what makes the whole thing so very tragic is that Ben Nelson is not even a hero to the right wing. In fact they are trashing him far more than we are.

Ben Nelson Faces Pro-Life Rally, Backlash After Abortion-Health Care Sellout

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska faces a significant backlash after compromising his pro-life views on abortion by proposing language in the Senate health care bill that funds abortions and saying he would vote for the pro-abortion health care bill.

Since his announcement, pro-life groups have come down hard on Nelson saying his compromise just allows more abortion funding.

“I couldn't create the opportunity to be the 60th vote. It happened,” Nelson said on CNN on Sunday. “If you think it's fun having both sides on an issue mad at you when you're trying to do something in good faith, just think, it's like going home and getting bit by the family dog. So - who enjoys that?”

Let's see...was it Durbin who said the other day that they knew they had a good bill because the left and the right hated it equally?

I thought that was a pathetic thing to say. We are angry because we care about good health care and women's rights. They are angry because they don't want any health care at all.

Things that happened while "the left" was being battered by party leadership.

Kill the bill.