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Are Industry Lobbyists Raising Our Health Care Premiums?
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While the Senate Finance Committee is slogging through more than 530 amendments to Sen. Max Baucus’ flawed health care reform bill, more than 2,700 lobbyists are working overtime to protect the private health insurance industry and other health care corporations.
Protecting their health industry clients means blocking a public health insurance plan option, derailing strong health care cost controls and gutting tough new health care rules that would put people before profits.
In trying to kill the public option, insurance industry lobbyists are thumbing their nose at the American public, who strongly support a public option. A New York Times/CBS poll released today found that 65 percent of respondents want a public health care option, while only 26 percent oppose such a plan.
Yesterday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called for an investigation into the connection between the millions of dollars that health insurance companies are spending on lobbying expenses to kill health care reform and soaring premiums. Today, Bloomberg News reports that more than half of the health care industry’s hired-gun lobbyists are former congressional staffers, White House employees or government agency veterans—55 are former members of Congress.
Government veterans give clients such as Amgen Inc.—the world’s biggest biotechnology company, represented by 35 former congressional employees—an advantage over public-interest organizations and groups with different health care priorities. Former lawmakers or committee aides have an easier time getting through to erstwhile colleagues and know which arguments are persuasive, said Representative Maurice Hinchey.
“It gives them a leg up in terms of being able to talk to people more easily,” said Hinchey, a New York Democrat and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which supports creating a government-run health plan to compete with private insurers. “Their names are familiar. They’ve had conversations before with the people they now want to influence.”
Richard Kirsch, a national campaign manager of Health Care for America Now (HCAN), says the health care industry’s deep pockets and massive, well-connected lobbying army puts working family and consumer-oriented organizations at a disadvantage in getting the ears of lawmakers.
Groups that represent citizens and consumers are going to be totally outgunned on Capitol Hill. Not only are we going to be outnumbered, but the other side is going to be speaking with people they have longstanding relationships with.
Yesterday, Trumka urged the insurance commissioners in four states to investigate several major insurance companies and the connection between their lobbying expenses to block health care reform and the rising premium rates they charge consumers.
In a letter to the insurance commissioners in Connecticut, Indiana, New York and Pennsylvania, Trumka wrote:
The health care industry’s lobbying expenditures have clearly impacted consumers’ health care costs. We believe that health insurance providers’ lobbying expenditures have led to excessive rate hikes.
In the past 10 years, premiums for employer-based health insurance rose 120 percent, even as the health care industry spent more than $3.5 billion on lobbying activities.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote Tuesday on amendments to the Baucus bill adding a public health insurance option. The vote had been expected today, but the huge number of amendments—most offered by Republicans as a delaying tactic—made that impossible.
Earlier this week in New Orleans, union and health care activists rallied in support of health care reform and a public option. In front of a cheering crowd of 100 on the steps of the federal building, Robert “Tiger” Hammond, president of the Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO, said:
Someone you know needs health insurance. Now we stand strong with President Obama to get health care for everyone.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va..) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) each plan to offer a public option amendment next week. Says Rockefeller:
A health-care plan without a public option is a much weaker health plan because insurance companies continue to rule. [A public option] is going to force other companies to bring down costs over time.
All 10 committee Republicans will oppose the amendments and it may not win enough of the 13 Democratic votes. If it fails in committee, Schumer says he will take the fight to the floor when the full Senate votes.
The health care reform bill approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and health care reform legislation in the U.S. House both include a public option.
In other health care news, a Daily Kos post by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) says, “the elephant in the room” that everyone is ignoring is that the Senate health care legislation “will fall far short in reining in out of control health care costs.”
It notes that over the past decade, family premiums have risen 138 percent to an average of $13,375, and could rise to more than $30,000 in the next decade. Most people now also have unsightly co-pays on office visits and other transactions, deductibles you must pay before your insurance pays anything and co-insurance, such as a 20 percent charge on lab tests, outpatient procedures and other medical services.
Click here to read the column.
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4 Comments
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“…Senate health care legislation “will fall far short in reining in out of control health care costs.” ANY “public option”, that is a minor part of the parasitic “for profit” so called “health care reform” will inevitably fail the needs of working people for universal affordable health care.as. The “Public Option” will be designed by the the bribed corporate politicians to fail and will not in any way be able to “compete”.
Once again, there is no mention of these basic facts on any of the AFL-CIO “health care reform” stories. Where is the announcement by Mr. Trumka of the press release posted by the California Nurses Association. THE AFL-CIO CONVENTION PASSED A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF SINGLE-PAYER MEDICARE FOR ALL.
Why doesn’t Mr. Trumka get on national television in support of SINGLE-PAYER? Something is profoundly wrong here. Read the full
text below, and see it for yourself by following the ink below.
http://www.calnurses.org/media-center/press-releases/2009/september/afl-cio-convention-endorses-single-payer.html
=========================================================
For Immediate Release
September 15, 2009
AFL-CIO Convention Endorses Single-Payer
Unanimous Vote for Medicare-for-All Reform
PITTSBURGH – In a historic vote that adds the nation’s leading voice of American workers to a broad national campaign, the AFL-CIO voted unanimously at its national convention here today to endorse the enactment of single-payer, universal healthcare for all Americans.
The resolution was sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and the Alameda County (California) Central Labor Council.
In urging its support, CNA/NNOC Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro, an AFL-CIO National Vice-President, noted the recent death of Crystal Lee Sutton, the real-life union organizer from the film Norma Rae who died last week after a long battle with cancer, exacerbated by her own three-year fight with her insurance company.
“No one should spend the last days of their life fighting with their insurance company,” said DeMoro. “We should not make choices of who gets healthcare based on their ethnicity, gender, or economic status. But I am addressing the labor movement, not Wall Street. And we all know what is the right thing – the moral thing – single-payer healthcare.”
It marks the first time in perhaps two decades that the AFL-CIO has been formally on record in support of single-payer, which would essentially expand and improve Medicare to cover all Americans. Labor unions around the country have been in the forefront of grassroots actions around the nation in support of single-payer and many labor bodies submitted resolutions to the national convention in support of an endorsement.
The resolution notes that “the experience of Medicare (and of nearly every other industrialized country) shows the most cost-effective and equitable way to provide quality healthcare is through a single-payer system. Our nation should provide a single high standard of comprehensive care for all.” It also sites specific single-payer bills, including HR 676, which has 86 cosponsors in Congress.
The vote came shortly after the convention was addressed by President Obama who repeated his call for comprehensive healthcare reform, and will accompany another AFL-CIO resolution supporting other Congressional efforts to pass comprehensive reform.
It also followed a reception hosted by CNA/NNOC and other unions Monday night featuring filmmaker Michael Moore whose previous film SiCKO presaged the current national debate with its indictment of the healthcare industry, and was on hand to premiere his latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story to the AFL-CIO convention.
In his speech Moore recalled that 65 years ago President Franklin Roosevelt proposed a second bill of rights which called for a right to universal medical care, a fight that continues. He noted that every day the healthcare industry spends over $1 million to block reform while thousands of Americans continue to lose coverage, and urged labor and community activists to keep up the fight.
Regardless of the outcome of the current healthcare legislative action, said United Steel Workers President Leo Gerard, “we’re going to continue the fight for single-payer. I’m not in favor of universal insurance, I’m in favor of universal healthcare. We are going to fight to make sure every single American gets high quality healthcare.”
“We know the patient care crisis, we see it every day,” said CNA/NNOC co-president Zenei Cortez, RN at the reception. “We will not rest until we get rid of the private insurance companies that profit off of suffering.”
Greg Junemann, president of International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and chair of the HR 676 Labor Caucus, which has won similar endorsements from hundreds of international and local unions and state and local labor federations, noted to the convention the unity of labor in fighting for real reform. He also cited the ongoing fight of workers every day to protect the health coverage many have now.
“The labor movement needs to set our flag on the top of the mountain, and that we will not rest until we have single-payer healthcare for all,” said Junemann.
DeMoro welcomed the many international guests in the convention, and noted how most of them represent industrial nations where no one dies from lack of health coverage or goes bankrupt or loses homes due to un-payable medical bills.
“The reason? Because they have single-payer or other national healthcare systems, and because your labor movement led the fight for healthcare. Here insurance companies are at the apex of power, controlling our lives. It is not the public option we should be questioning, it is the private option and its horrendous power over our families,” DeMoro said.
“When we meet again in four years, perhaps if we adopt single-payer, we will be like all our international brothers and sisters in this room, and no longer be the richest nation in the world but just 37th in healthcare,” DeMoro said.
JerryWells is completely wrong on this, with a Public Option there would be no corporate types drawing multi-millions in salaries and bonuses. A Single Payer Government run Health Care Plan would be run by government officials, just like Medicare. As a retired government employee (State Gov), I have never heard of any government official being payed multi-millions let alone bonuses!
So with a Public Option there would be no high salaries or bonuses
and advertisement would be minimal, most money would go into actual healthcare purposes. Misinformation only serves to hurt chances for a Public Option, so everyone should study what Public Option actually is. 75% of doctors across America support a Public Option, 51% of Business Leaders across America support a Public Option, 65% of Ameican voters support a Public Option, 47% of Republican voters support a Public Option and 51% of Republican voters oppose Health Care Reform WITHOUT a Public Option.
tHE SIMPLE TRUTH IS THAT THE ENERGY BILL CAN BE STRUCTURED TO PAY FOR A SINGLE-PAYER OPTION.
THERE DOES NOT HAVE TO ANY “HEALTH TAX” OR “ENERGY TAX.”
ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS MANDATE THAT THE BART (BEST AVAIBLE RETROFIT TECHNOLOGY) BE USED WHEREVER POSSIBLE AND THERE WILL BE A “SURPLUS.”
BUT, THAT’S TOO SIMPLE, ISN’T IT?
If I had my druthers, I’d rather have universal single-payer medical care for everyone in this country. HR 676 would be a fairly good start on that – but it’s never allowed to get near the floor for a vote.
Since I can’t have my druthers, insurance reform with an option to allow anyone who so chooses to enrol in Medicare would be nice.
Since what would be nice isn’t going to happen, I’d like to see Max Baucus slid into the background of the netherculture of the Senate where he’s spent most of his career. We need to get Mad Max out of the spotlight and have the media shut up about him. He’s obviously starstruck and has gone Diva on the Senate and this country.
I’d really like to have the media shut up about the stupid Finance Committee Bill and bring forward the HELP Committee Bill which was favored by Ted Kennedy. The HELP Committe has written the best of the compromised bills, with a public option. It isn’t what I really, really want, but without a rock steady White House pushing for better, it’s the best I think we can get.
Did I mention the HELP cost would be $683 Million as opposed to Mad Max and his $900 Million piece of crap.