Baucus Health Bill Has No Public Option

Source: WSJ

WASHINGTON -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus formally unveiled a 10-year $856 billion bill that would extend health insurance to tens of millions of Americans not now covered, moving an important step forward on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

The sweeping measure is designed to steer a more moderate course on health policy than other major bills moving through Capitol Hill, and it doesn't propose to create a new government insurance plan to compete with private insurers, as proposed in rival House legislation and favored by many liberals. Instead, the Montana Democrat is proposing to expand coverage by creating a network of nonprofit health-insurance cooperatives. The cooperatives would be seeded with $6 billion in federal money, enough to cover start-up costs and meet insurance solvency requirements.

More than a year in the making, the bill would overhaul the nation's health-care system and has sparked a sharp battle between Republican leaders and the White House over the size and role of government in the nation's economy. (Read the full text of the Baucus plan.)

The bill was swiftly denounced by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who complained it would cut Medicare, which provides insurance to the elderly, and impose new tax burdens on families and small businesses....

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125310546537515699.html?mod=igoogle_wsj_gadgv1&

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Wow, hard to get it more wrong.

n/t

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/20/AR2009072003363.html

snip: "As his committee has taken center stage in the battle over health-care reform, Chairman Baucus (D-Mont.) has emerged as a leading recipient of Senate campaign contributions from the hospitals, insurers and other medical interest groups hoping to shape the legislation to their advantage. Health-related companies and their employees gave Baucus's political committees nearly $1.5 million in 2007 and 2008, when he began holding hearings and making preparations for this year's reform debate." snip

"The sector gave nearly $170 million to federal lawmakers in 2007 and 2008, with 54 percent going to Democrats, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics. The shift in parties was even more pronounced during the first three months of this year, when Democrats collected 60 percent of the $5.4 million donated by health-care companies and their employees, the data show." snip

"But Baucus, a senator from a sparsely populated and conservative Western state who is serving his sixth term, stands out for the rising tide of health-care contributions to his campaign committee, Friends of Max Baucus, and his political-action committee, Glacier PAC. Baucus collected $3 million from the health and insurance sectors from 2003 to 2008, about 20 percent of the total, data show. Less than 10 percent of the money came from Montana." snip more....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

rather than the compromise measure it was first proposed as.

:sarcasm: :rofl: :rofl:

are dumb enough not to see this. I know you don't have to be a genius to have success in US politics, but seriously, how can they not see that the Republicans want to water down the bill as much as possible so that they can vote against it and win both ways?

Flunk on the administration for allowing this idiot go run roughshod over this process.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/20/AR2009072003363.html

snip: "As his committee has taken center stage in the battle over health-care reform, Chairman Baucus (D-Mont.) has emerged as a leading recipient of Senate campaign contributions from the hospitals, insurers and other medical interest groups hoping to shape the legislation to their advantage. Health-related companies and their employees gave Baucus's political committees nearly $1.5 million in 2007 and 2008, when he began holding hearings and making preparations for this year's reform debate." snip

"The sector gave nearly $170 million to federal lawmakers in 2007 and 2008, with 54 percent going to Democrats, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics. The shift in parties was even more pronounced during the first three months of this year, when Democrats collected 60 percent of the $5.4 million donated by health-care companies and their employees, the data show." snip

"But Baucus, a senator from a sparsely populated and conservative Western state who is serving his sixth term, stands out for the rising tide of health-care contributions to his campaign committee, Friends of Max Baucus, and his political-action committee, Glacier PAC. Baucus collected $3 million from the health and insurance sectors from 2003 to 2008, about 20 percent of the total, data show. Less than 10 percent of the money came from Montana." snip more....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

and includes penalties for people who don't purchase insurance?!!!! WTF! Is this the a different, democrat's compromised version of the HR 3200, or is the REAL HR 3200 with public option still in play? I'm confused.

Baucus's bill is CORPORATE WELFARE at its worst (dressed up in the false rhetoric of "reform").

This is far worse that the giveaway to Big Pharma - - the Medicare Rx Drug fiasco that resulted in the unprecented inflation in drug prices over the last few years - - that the Bush GOP would never have gotten passed without Baucus's "leadership'.

In this video, Bullet Head is the Baucus bill, and the bare-chested guy is the public option:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po77bJk1DdI

a crap load of other bad provisions also, like less restrictions on insurance companies setting premiums based on age, etc. Much worse than all the other bills out there. The whole bill is useless.

What a failure.

And what is the mechanism that will control costs and the out of control increases in premiums and health care costs?

small businesses....

Yes, a bill so bad that Mitch McConnell is the defender of Medicare, families, and small business.

Baucus' bill is crap and I suspect he knows as much, but it won't be the final bill ... however it will help the insurance companies since it will help drive the final bill as rightward as possible.

If Repukes won't even compromise on this, they won't, period.

It's a terrible bill with no republican support.

Will other Dems on the finance committee go along with this? If the Senate bill is anything like this, we're fucked. Granted, it still has to get negotiated with the HELP committee right? Even as a starting point to compromise with the House bill, it's just BAD.

Source: WSJ

Bill Has No Public Option, Would Require People to Purchase Coverage

WASHINGTON -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus formally unveiled a 10-year, $856 billion bill that would extend health insurance to tens of millions of Americans not now covered, moving an important step forward on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

"This is a good bill. This is a balanced bill. It can pass the Senate," Mr. Baucus said at an afternoon news conference at which he provided details on the plan.

The sweeping measure is designed to steer a more moderate course on health policy than other major bills moving through Capitol Hill, and it doesn't propose to create a new government insurance plan to compete with private insurers, as proposed in rival House legislation and favored by many liberal lawmakers. Instead, the Montana Democrat is proposing to expand coverage by creating a network of nonprofit health-insurance cooperatives. The cooperatives would be seeded with $6 billion in federal money, enough to cover start-up costs and meet insurance solvency requirements.


Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125310546537515699.html

and get on with a REAL bill with a public option.

the GOP is going to have a field day on it and frankly there are tons of disgruntled Democrats who see that their party has sold out to insurance companies that will join in with them.

No public health insurance option?
No real cost controls?
Private insurance only?

Final Destination?

Seriously, Kill this bill.

It is basically a corporate giveaway.

This gang of 6 calls the biggest gift to health care corporations in history reform?

Their "reform" contains:

No mention of regulations or antitrust for the insurance industry that created the current crisis.

No punishment for creating a health care crisis because of their greed in denying coverage, denying care and kicking people out that may cost them too much profit to treat.

Let's just reward them by giving them millions of new victims.

Oh, and let's make sure the victims have no avenue of escape.


If this is reform, then let's just say NO and try again later.

How dare those insufferable pigs make legislation for the millions they don't even attempt to represent? Not one senator from California? New York? Illinois? Florida? Massachusetts?

with the enemy? This kind of bill is what you'll get every time otherwise.

n/t

They just said on NPR that he has no current Republican support for it, EVEN AMONG THE 3 REPUBS WHO HELPED DRAFT IT. Why the fuck try to pass that turd when we'll have just as much repub support trying to pass a single payer plan????