Pollack on passing health care reform, cont'd

Pollack follows up his open letter to congressional Democrats with this post:

If the House and Senate bills are abandoned, we may (eventually) win Medicaid expansions for people who need help, expanded tax credits for people who cannot afford coverage, and other measures to cover the uninsured. We may even see more stringent regulation of health underwriting and other toxic practices in the insurance industry.

We will not soon see serious delivery reforms or cost-control measures. Whether the issue is high-cost insurance plans, bundled payments, comparative effectiveness research, overpayments to medical device makers, drug companies, specialists, and Medicare Advantage plans, there will be very limited political will to match what is in the current bills.

We will not be able to get these things because we will fracture the political coalition required to enact these painful measures, because the operative lesson of last summer will be that death panel demagoguery trumps real policy argument, and because there are fewer policy levers and fewer political incentives to address these difficulties outside a comprehensive bill.

Last Friday, I and others pled with anxious House members to step up in passing comprehensive reform. Senators: Now I am pleading with you.

President Obama: Now is the time for you to step up, too. Some in your administration are starting to send good signals. Others remain unduly tentative. Fight for this thing as if your legacy is on the line--because it is. I believe you have about 48 hours to fix this up. [emphasis is mine]

In its entirety. Not sure I agree 100% here, but close enough. PTFB.

Breaking down the health care breakdown

Although health care reform is not dead,* there is clear panic in the Democratic ranks, crowing in Republican circles, and annoyance at politics as usual from enlightened independents.

Over at The Hill, Jeffrey Young provides an excellent, concise breakdown of the 10 reasons why health care reform is a toxic political asset for the Democrats. He cites poor leadership (Obama), stonewalling (GOP), poor messaging (Dems), extrinsic factors (the economy, stupid), distasteful backroom deals (the so-called Cornhusker Kickback and Louisiana Purchase) and general Democratic soilage on timing, legislation, and politics.

*I would add a big, fat #11: political will (cojones). Growing a pair is the only way for the Dems to salvage HCR.

What year is this?

An Open Letter to Pelosi et al. from Pollack et al.

Over at The Treatment, Harold Pollack posts an open letter to House Democratic leaders, signed by 47 health policy experts, entreating them to pass the Senate health care bill:*

The House of Representatives faces a stark choice. It can enact the Senate bill, and realize the century-old dream of health care reform. By doing so, it can achieve a historic milestone while freeing itself to address other national problems such as joblessness and mortgage foreclosure that affect millions of Americans. Differences between the House and Senate bill can be negotiated through the reconciliation process.

Alternatively, Congress can abandon this effort at this critical moment, leaving millions more Americans to become uninsured in the coming years as health care becomes ever less affordable. Abandoning health care reform—the signature political issue of this administration—would send a message that Democrats are incapable of governing and lead to massive losses in the 2010 election, possibly even in 2012. Such a retreat would also abandon the chance to achieve reforms that millions of Americans across the political spectrum desperately need in these difficult times. Now is the moment for calm and resolute leadership, pressing on toward the goal now within sight.

PTFB.

*The best option for the Dems right now, as I argue in this post on Scott Brown's election and health care reform.

What does Brown's victory in MA mean for health care reform?

The reaction from the left to Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts special election has been nothing short of pathetic. Immediate retreat by several legislators as well as President Barack Obama . . . more

Gather Weekly: Super Earth, Hellenic hijinks, fix-it bills and more

This week's Gather articles (12/12-12/19):

Finance

• Has Obama sold out to Wall Street? Matt Taibbi thinks so
• Turn-back-the-clock financial reform: McCain-Cantwell Senate bill would reinstate Glass-Steagall Act
• Risky business: Will Moody's downgrade of Greece's credit rating result in EU economic collapse?

Politics

• Corruption in the Commonwealth: Lawrence, MA's Lantigua to be both Mayor and State Rep
• Why stop at mere medical usage? Marijuana legalization referendum to be on 2010 California ballot

Social Media

• Social media in business: Twitter beta testing contributor feature
• Social media shockers: 10 amazing Facebook tales
• Most popular topics on Twitter in 2009

Unemployment

• Xmas comes early: Senate passes bill approving unemployment benefits and COBRA extensions
• Senate passes cloture vote on war funding, unemployment benefits extension bill; final vote tomorrow morning
• House approves two-month unemployment extension in war funding bill
• Season of hope: House to vote on jobs, unemployment benefits extension bills this week
• Clock is ticking on new unemployment extension legislation

Science

• Astronomers discover water-rich Earth-like planet GJ 1214b

Humor

• Holiday humor: SNL's "Schweddy Balls" sketch (video)

Health Care Reform

• Finish line in sight: Reid announces final Senate health care bill

Mary Landrieu wins $100 million concession to entice vote on Senate health care reform bill

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) of Louisiana has apparently secured $100 million in federal aid for Medicaid to help low-income people in her state. Landrieu has been pushing for extra aid since Hurricane . . . more

Reid announces Senate health care reform bill: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Yesterday afternoon Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced his chamber's version of a long-anticipated (and dreaded) health care reform bill . The bill was the result of a merger between . . . more

Americans concerned over cost of health care bill

	A recent Associated Press poll says that 43% of those polled oppose the health care reform plans being discussed in Congress, with 41% in support and 15% neutral or undecided. This sentiment is basically . . . more

Reid, Senate Democrats working on public option Plan B for health care reform bill

	Because of reports that certain moderates in the Senate will not vote for a health care reform bill if it contains a public option, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has tapped Sen. Thomas . . . more

Senate may begin debate on health care bill as early as Tuesday

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has filed a motion for a cloture vote to proceed to debate on the Senate health care bill. Discussion of the bill could come as early as Tuesday of next week . . . more

House health care bill HR 3962 may face stiff opposition in Senate

Yesterday's passage by the House of bill HR 3962 is considered a victory for many, especially liberal Democrats, despite widespread criticism from both conservatives and moderates. It was a historic . . . more

US House of Representatives passes health care bill HR 3962 by vote of 220-215

In a vote late last night the US House of Representatives passed landmark health care reform bill HR 3962 (The Affordable Health Care for America Act) by a close vote of 220 to 215. The vote was entirely . . . more

Health care reform: public option still on the table

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced this week that he was submitting a health care reform bill merged with a public option including an "opt-out" option for the individual states. The . . . more

Opt-outs (CANSPAM-compliant)

I'm a fan of Sunstein & Thaler's theory of behavioral economics. Opting out on the state level, as applied to the public option health care debate:

But what’s encouraging [is] how the debate seems to have shifted from whether or not a public plan will be included, to what the public plan will actually look like. Perhaps it’s just because the “public plan” under discussion has transformed from its original, Jacob Hacker-designed incarnation to the host of watered-down compromises that are now on the table. But the fact that we’ve moved from discussing the viability of having a bill at all to trying to hammer out the details is a promising sign overall.

Interesting. I thought the public option was dead at this point. Apparently not.

I'm not fully convinced either way, but I will tell you that the more I hear, read, and learn about it, the more I think that a public option is a remarkably good thing to have.

But, hate it or love it, the public option is still a-kickin'.

Health care reform a fait accompli?

Interesting under-the-radar tidbit from Chait over at The Treatment, channeling a Roll Call piece:

A month ago I wrote that it’s nearly impossible to see health care reform failing because it would entail a Democrat voting to filibuster the central progressive goal of the last sixty years. That proposition was looking shaky for a while because there were some Democratic Senators who acted as if they actually wanted to kill health care reform. (Hi, Senator Conrad.) But they’re all now pretty clearly acting like they really want to pass something.

It’s very strange. We’ve had months of sturm and drang, and massive attention focused on the question, Whither health care reform? It’s just quietly turned into a fait accompli.

I was beginning to wonder if the Dems were aware they have a 60-senator majority.

(Incidentally, fait accompli was my favorite italicized phrase to insert in history papers in college. Hotfoot, you know what I'm talking about. The A, of course, was always a fait accompli.)

Don't Ruin American Healthcare!

"I do not want the government sayin' 'Here, this medicine will treat your disease. Take it! We'll even pay for it.'" - Phil, Uninsured

Via The Treatment.

Health Care Reform PSA Video with Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, and others

Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, Donald Faison, and other actors have teamed up with the folks over at MoveOn.org and Funny or Die to put together . . . more

Bad Policy?

Breaking down the Baucus health care bill, from James Kwak over at Baseline Scenario:

One reason the Baucus bill is "cheaper" than the House bill is that it has lower subsidies. For illustration, let's assume that the whole $140 billion difference is due to lower subsidies. Relative to the House bill, then, the Baucus bill costs the government $140 billion less; but it costs middle-income people exactly $140 billion more, since they have to buy health insurance. The difference is that in the House bill, the money comes from taxes on the very rich; in the Baucus bill, it comes out of the pockets of the middle-class people who are getting smaller subsidies. Put another way, the Baucus bill is the House bill, plus a $140 billion tax on people making around $40-80,000 per year. That' s not only stupid policy; it's stupid politics.

Via Planet Money.

Joe Wilson Resolution of Disapproval: House votes to admonish unruly "You lie!" GOP Rep.

The House voted 240-179 mostly along partisan lines to admonish South Carolina Republican Representative Joe Wilson in a resolution . . . more

Pithy Commentary

The best line about the Tea Party march on Washington that I've read thus far comes from Nate:

Kibbe wasn't "in error", as Malkin gently puts it. He lied. He did the equivalent of telling people that his penis is 53 inches long.

Simply phallacious.