General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Presidents should be questioned and confronted, not idolized [View all]nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)and there was quite a bit of resistance from then Leader Boehner, now current Speaker. At the time Leader Boehner was serving the same group of lobbyists from K Street his party protects. This is the reason that under Speaker Hastert, the Federal Government was also forbidden from negotiating that formulary for senior citizens. That was a major critique that later was partially dealt with with the filling of the donut hole, but it was not a complete fix. The Feds are still prevented from negotiating directly with pharma, and instead this is the status quo with the Pharmaceutical companies negotiating with insurance companies that are the final service aspect of Part D, as Part D is not strictly part of Social Security, and was hailed as a great cost saver by the then Administration of President George W Bush, and his health and Human Services secretary, as well as the House and Senate leadership.
But that is an issue that will have to be dealt with at the legislative level, for both, if we are to achieve critical cost saving targets.
Mr. Ibaurri asked for an actual policy critique, I gave her a clear one that emerged from those discussions, as well as the five major versions of the ACA and several minor reviews before the final vote, and ultimate passage. She asked, she received. I do not expect her to answer either.
And yes, I will maintain a policy level discussion now, including the boring policy language.
I read it often, so why not? And speaking of that. Climate Change Plans are all kinds of fun. I got coffee, and a long night.