countdowntohealthcare.com

Just after 7 AM this morning, the Senate helped health care reform take another major step forward when it passed its health care bill on a 60-39 vote.

Not a single Republican supported the bill. Ultimately, it was Democrats who were standing up to an unsustainble and nation-bankrupting status quo.

With bills now passed in the House and the Senate, we’ve made historic progress on health care reform. But this is not yet the bill that we want. The Senate erred in not including the cost control that comes with the public option.

And while there’s work to be done, the differences between us seem narrow compared to the differences we have with Republicans, who – to a person – fought for months to defend the health insurance industry.

But this process is far from over. Now a conference committee will negotiate and put the House and Senate bills together. I’m going to work hard for a final bill that improves on what the Senate passed today.

The public option has been left for dead before. I’m committed to fighting for the House position and restoring this vital tool.

We took a great leap today, but there is still work to be done to achieve the reform we need.

Anthony

I am deeply disappointed with the lost opportunities and capitulation in the health care bill the Senate will vote on later this week.  And I know we are all upset with the Senate proposal.

I believe that we have a real chance to curb health care costs and provide affordable coverage to everyone.  And we’re all frustrated that the Senate has chosen not to act boldly, but to instead bend to the will of a small minority who do not want to see real reform.

As I wrote you last week, it’s important to me to hear directly from you during this frustrating time.  Please join me for a live online chat on Tuesday, December 22nd, at 7:00 PM EST at countdowntohealthcare.com/chat/.

We can discuss what’s happening in the Senate and talk about what the rest of the process will look like, from a full Senate vote, to the conference committee that will reconcile the House and Senate bills.

I want to answer your questions, but I also want to know how you feel.  I still believe that we should remain at the table until this process is over, but it’s important to me to hear what you think.

I know that many of us are upset that just a few senators have managed to stand in the way of real progress on health care.  But now is a time for us to talk, keep the conversation alive, and figure out what we can do to help advance the cause of quality, affordable health care in America.

I look forward to chatting with you on  Tuesday, December 22nd at 7:00 PM EST at countdowntohealthcare.com/chat/.

Thanks,

Anthony

This has been a frustrating week for all of us who have fought so hard for the public option and for real reform that will bring down health care costs.  As I wrote earlier on countdowntohealthcare.com, some of us have begun to feel as though we’ve compromised our compromised compromise.

I’m not ready to leave the table yet. I believe it’s too important and there’s still time to help improve the result.

But I want you to guide this effort.  I want to hear your concerns and get your guidance.  That’s why, on TUESDAY, December 22nd, at 7:00 PM EST, I’LL BE HOSTING AN ONLINE CHAT AT countdowntohealthcare.com/chat/.

There’s a lot to discuss.  Some have said that progressives shouldn’t support the current Senate proposal.  Without the public option, they say, there’s not enough to provide genuine competition to insurers.

Others have said that we should focus our energies on how to improve whatever emerges from the Senate.  Once the Senate passes a bill, it will go to a conference committee to be reconciled with the House bill.  That process could be a real opportunity to move the Senate bill closer to the one we passed in the House.

I want to hear what you think and where you come down.  There’s a lot of noise out there–much of it heated.  Now is a time for all of us to have a conversation about what we need to achieve and how we’re going to get there.  Please join me on  TUESDAY, December 22nd at 7:00 PM EST at countdowntohealthcare.com/chat/.

Anthony

This afternoon The New York Times and other news outlets reported that Senator Lieberman was backing away from his own health care proposal, in part because I liked it.

If this wasn’t so sad, it would be amazing. Here you have the most important legislation for millions of Americans’ health and welfare, and apparently Senator Lieberman backs away from his own proposal. Why? Because I and a professor at Yale like it.

All I can say charitably is I hope Senator Lieberman looks into his heart and does the right thing. This is not the time for anyone to act for politics, but to do the right thing. Let’s be clear, this is an idea Senator Lieberman has proposed, repeatedly. That others embrace it should not be the criteria for leaders to make decisions. It would be tragic if this is what it appears, a decision based on hurting proponents of reform not helping the millions who need affordable health care coverage.

Some may say reformers should never have praised this measure. But that suggests we all agree to live in an Alice in Wonderland world of saying the opposite of what we mean. Now is the time to talk and act on the merits of an issue. Now is the time for leaders to make the right choices, not political calculations.

Anthony

Snowe? Stupak? Lieberman? Who left these folks in charge?

Here’s an idea: how about we fight for a Democratic bill?

It’s time for the president to get his hands dirty. Some of us have compromised our compromised compromise. We need the president to stand up for the values our party shares. We must stop letting the tail wag the dog of this debate.

Anthony

The Senate is on the cusp of some potentially important steps in our nation’s health care future.  Their current compromise calls for a “Medicare buy-in,” which would open Medicare to Americans 55-64, and a plan to allow the uninsured to take advantage of the Federal Employees Benefit Plan—the same system that federal employees and Members of Congress receive.

I believe that Medicare is a great place to start when it comes to health care reform, but I don’t think there should be a “buy-in.” Instead, we should simply expand this successful single-payer program to include people 55 and over.

For those under 55, we still need a public option.  Using the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan to provide coverage to the uninsured is an intelligent start because it provides federal employees with a range of options and will give people choices that they can afford.

Unfortunately, the usual suspects are threatening to stand in the way of progress.  Independent Senator Joe Lieberman, who previously threatened to filibuster the public option, has now said that he can’t support Medicare buy-in.  Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Ben Nelson calls the plan a “forerunner of single payer.”

Nelson is right.  The Medicare buy-in proposal is a first step in expanding our nation’s single-payer system to include all Americans. Many don’t realize that we already pay 47% of all medical bills through single-payer systems (including Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans Administration, the Department of Defense and the Bureau of Indian Affairs).

These plans aren’t perfect.  But they are a good starting place.  Now that the debate is finally moving in the right direction, let’s not allow a few Senators to cut it off before it begins.

Anthony

Last night, my Democratic colleagues in the Senate struck a deal that will help us move health care reform forward in the Senate.  The details are still sketchy, but there is one remarkable element of the emerging plan: the expansion of the smart single-payer health care plan that serves over 43 million Americans—Medicare.  For months, many of us have been scratching our heads over why so many in Congress seem to be fighting to protect the profits and high overhead that come with the insurance industry when there is already a system that works. Medicare provides health care to all Americans over 65 and has an overhead of barely 1 percent.

Here on CountdowntoHealthCare.com I’ve posted a clip in which I ask why we restrict Medicare only to those over 65.  In fact, in this clip, MSNBC’s Maria Bartiromo asks if I would want Medicare.  The answer is yes—I want Medicare for all Americans.

Extending this successful program to those between 55 and 64 would be the largest expansion of Medicare in 44 years and would help us expand the single-payer model.  In a debate that hasn’t focused enough on how to genuinely contain costs and deliver affordable health care, this is
one idea I like a lot.

Anthony