Top 10 Reasons Why Republicans Should Support The House Health Bill
Top 10 Reasons Why Republicans Should Support The House Health Bill
This morning, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) characterized the entire House health care bill as a “government run insurance 2.0.” “I mean, what we are seeing here is, you know, government-run insurance, mandates for businesses, an enormous tax increase, most of which or at least half of which will be paid for by small business owners.” But Pence and the Republicans should actually read the bill before dismissing it. For while the party may oppose the bill’s provisions to tax the top 0.3% of Americans to fund reform or the new fees imposed on the pharmaceutical industry to help close the donut hole in Medicare Part D, on the whole, the 1,990 page bill is a fairly moderate proposal that incorporates numerous conservative policies.
Here are just 10 reasons for why Republicans should support the House health bill:
1. REPUBLICANS ASKED FOR – DEFICIT NEUTRAL BILL: “Do the American people believe that this almost 2,000 page bill won’t add to the deficit?” [Rep. Eric Cantor, 10/29/2009]
HOUSE BILL – DEFICIT NEUTRAL BILL: According to the Congressional Budget Office, the House bill costs $894 billion over 10 years and actually reduces the deficit by $30 billion and continues to reduce the deficit over the second 10 years.
2. REPUBLICANS ASKED FOR – REDUCE COSTS OVER LONG TERM: “Nevertheless, House Republicans recognize the need to lower health care costs.” [Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), 9/9/09]
HOUSE BILL – REDUCES COSTS OVER LONG TERM: Encourages payment reforms that can help lower costs. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to establish specific benchmarks for expansion of the Accountable Care Organization, Payment Bundling, and Medical Home pilot programs. The bill will also slow the rate of growth of the Medicare program from 6.6% annually to 5.3%.
3. REPUBLICANS ASKED FOR – POLICIES ACROSS STATE LINES: “Interstate competition allowing people to buy insurance across state lines.” [Sen. John Thune (R-SD), 9/8/2009]
HOUSE BILL – POLICIES ACROSS STATE LINES: Allows for the creation of State Health Insurance Compacts – permits states to enter into agreements to allow for the sale of insurance across state lines.
4. REPUBLICANS ASKED FOR – MEDICAL MALPRACTICE REFORM: “Why not bring about reasonable restrictions and limits on medical malpractice claims to end the era of defensive medicine?” [Rep. Mike Pence (R-IA), 9/9/2009]
HOUSE BILL – ENCOURAGES MALPRACTICE REFORM: The bill establishes a voluntary state incentives grant program to encourage states to implement “certificate of merit” and “early offer” alternatives to traditional medical malpractice litigation.
5. REPUBLICANS ASKED FOR – HIGH RISK POOLS: “Senator McCain has a proposal sometimes called high-risk pools at the state level…These are efforts I think we can have bipartisan agreement on and deal with the question of pre-existing conditions.” [Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), 9/10/2009]
HOUSE BILL – HIGH RISK POOLS: To fill the gap before the Exchange becomes available in 2013, the bill creates an insurance program with financial assistance for those uninsured for several months or denied policy due to preexisting conditions.
6. REPUBLICANS ASKED FOR – ALLOW YOUNG PEOPLE TO STAY ON PARENTS’ POLICIES: “Recognizes that not all high school and college graduates are able to find a job that offers health care coverage after graduation. By allowing dependents to remain on their parents’ health policies up to the age of 25, the number of uninsured Americans could be reduced by up to 7 million.” [Republican Health Solutions Group]
HOUSE BILL – ALLOW YOUNG PEOPLE TO STAY ON PARENTS’ POLICIES: The bill requires health plans to allow young people to remain on their parents’ insurance policy until they turn 27.
7. REPUBLICANS ASKED FOR – NO PUBLIC MONEY FOR ABORTION: “The American people will not stand for government-run insurance that uses taxpayer money to fund abortions in this country.” [Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), 10/16/2009]
HOUSE BILL – NO PUBLIC MONEY FOR ABORTION: The bill prohibits abortion services from being made part of essential benefits package and prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortion (except in cases of rape, incest, and to save life of the woman).
8. REPUBLICANS ASKED FOR – PROTECT SMALL BUSINESSES: “Helps employers offer health care coverage to their workers by reducing their administrative costs through a new small business tax credit.” [Republican Health Solutions Group]
HOUSE BILL – PROTECTS SMALL BUSINESSES: The bill exempts 86% of businesses from the requirement to provide coverage. Businesses with payrolls below $500,000 are exempt while firms with payrolls between $500,000 and $750,000 would pay a graduated penalty. Small businesses would also receive a tax credit that helps cover 50% of their health care expenses.
9. REPUBLICANS ASKED FOR – PROMOTE JOB WELLNESS PROGRAMS: “Promotes prevention and wellness by giving employers and insurers greater flexibility to financially reward employees who seek to achieve or maintain a healthy weight, quit smoking, and manage chronic illnesses like diabetes.” [Republican Health Solutions Group]
HOUSE BILL – PROMOTE JOB WELLNESS PROGRAMS: The bill establishes a grant program to help small employers create or strengthen workplace wellness programs.
10. REPUBLICANS ASKED FOR – DELIVERY SYSTEM REFORM: “Uses new and innovative treatment programs to better coordinate care between health
care providers, ensuring that those with chronic disease receive the care they need and do not continue to fall through the cracks.” [Republican Health Solutions Group]
HOUSE BILL – DELIVERY SYSTEM REFORM: The bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to establish specific benchmarks for the expansion of the Accountable Care Organization, Payment Bundling, and Medical Home pilot programs.
HOUSE BILL – HELPS AMERICANS 55-64:: Creates a reinsurance program to help cover expensive health claims for employers that provide coverage to Americans 55-64.
11 Responses to “Top 10 Reasons Why Republicans Should Support The House Health Bill”
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#2 Accountable Care Organizations, Bundled Payments = Repackaged Managed Care, Capitation, and Provider “Incentives,” as healers aren’t intrinsically motivated.
The prior round was widely hated by providers and patients. The highest quality providers pay their doctors a good salary and focus their attention on quality. (Not in the Obama plan or this bill.)
#5 Help comes in 2013. Flies against the urgency push by President Obama.
#9 Rewards for Wellness. They likely will work as well as the Pizza Hut reading programs for kids. Overall, America has obese kids who hate to read.
#10 Back to health system deform, repackaged managed care, capitation, rewards for doctors who are surely as smart as incented Wall Street execs.
October 29th, 2009 at 1:42 pm#11 I knew the Senate Finance Committee committed to backstopping reinsurance losses on individual plans in the public exchange. I didn’t know the government planned on taking on more employer health insurance responsibility.
How many employers will keep coverage? CAP projections show 54 million falling from employer health insurance rolls.
October 29th, 2009 at 5:04 pmStateofthedivision, most of your talking points have more to do with partisan politics than health care. This is especially obvious in your response to #5 ” Help comes in 2013. Flies against the urgency push by President Obama”. This statement has nothing to do with actual health care. It is purely partisan politics about your personal dislike for President Obama. One of the toughest parts of helping our country are folks who put politics before truth, who would rather have their political party win, then admit that another party has a good solution to a grave national threat. Its really time for us to stop playing politics with peoples health.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:00 pm#3. Republican’s don’t care about peoples health. They represent corporations, not people (and that goes for shareholders v. corporations, too).
October 29th, 2009 at 7:10 pmPolitics?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/10/22/word-white-house-health-care-status-quo-unsustainable
Even for people with health care, all it takes is one stroke of bad luck to become uninsured.
* Every day that goes by, 14,000 people lose their health insurance
President Obama’s Plan
* President Obama’s health insurance reform plan addresses three basic goals:
o If you don’t have insurance it will give you quality, affordable options.
in 2013
October 29th, 2009 at 11:36 pmI suspect that even with all the consessions to the right wing, the republicans still will not vote for this or any other health insurance reform bill, with or without a public option. I have no confidence that any reform bill will get passed.
October 30th, 2009 at 11:20 amSimpleTruth, I made my points about the bill. You slung buckshot at 30,000 feet. Write when you’re ready to talk health care.
As for President Obama, when he asks a question I try to help:
http://stateofthedivision.blogspot.com/2009/09/answering-president-obama.html
October 30th, 2009 at 11:49 amStateofthedivision,
The 2013 is set for the insurance exchanges. In the meantime, insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage due to pre-existing conditions. That will happen immediately. There will then be federal subsidies available to those who need it to help cover costs associated with currently available plans.
October 30th, 2009 at 7:00 pmIf it takes till 2013 to allow people the ability to get affordable insurance, and done correctly, who cares?
Without legislation it would NEVER happen.
Stop crying
October 30th, 2009 at 9:06 pmI realize we’re still not down to one bill. The Senate Finance Committee version does establish a high risk pool for people to buy health insurance:
The high-risk pool will exist until 2013 and $5 billion in funding will be provided to subsidize premiums in the pool.
Subsidies come in 2013:
For purposes of the tax credit, state exchange participants must provide information from their prior year tax return during the fall enrollment period for coverage during the next calendar year (e.g., tax return data on income in 2011 when applying in the fall of 2012 for subsidies to be received in 2013).
Beginning in 2013, tax credits would be available on a sliding scale basis for individuals and families between 134-300 percent of FPL to help offset the cost of private health insurance premiums. Beginning in 2014, the credits are also available to individuals and families between 100-133 percent of FPL. However, individuals subject to a five-year waiting period under Medicaid or CHIP are eligible for the tax credit beginning in 2013.
http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/legislation.htm
October 31st, 2009 at 11:30 am
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:16 am1) What I need is for anyone to show me in the Constitution where the Federal government has any RIGHT to meddle in health care. 2) just where is the money coming from to provide all this bullshit. 3) If you like the Canadian and British type socialist government then there is one simple solution. MOVE THERE. 4) Why is it that all you on the left are afraid to publish your names.