Top Dem: No comprehensive health reform this year

[biopowertoday]

Source: The Hill



By Bob Cusack
Posted: 01/25/09 04:05 PM


........"I would much rather see it done that way, incrementally, than to go out and just bite something you can't chew. We've been down that road. I still remember 1994."

Clyburn was referring to President Clinton and Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan, which failed to pass the Democratic Congress and helped Republicans gain control of Congress after the 1994 elections.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who is
Top Dem: No comprehensive health reform this year battling brain cancer, has made it clear that he favors a comprehensive healthcare bill. When he gave up his seat on the Judiciary Committee late last year, Kennedy issued a statement that stressed his commitment to pass a universal coverage bill soon: "As chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, I expected to lead a very full agenda in the <111th> Congress, including working with President Obama to guarantee affordable health care, at long last, for every American. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I intend to make the most of it."

Obama has not detailed his timetable for healthcare reform, but has emphasized that the recession will not stop him from launching his effort to revamp the healthcare system. The president has vowed to enact major healthcare reforms by the end of his first term............

Read more: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/citing-1994-clyburn-embraces-incremental-health-reform-2009-01-25.html

---

This is NOT good. Health care is a top priority for many of us.
And look at all the jobs lost lately and more to come.

[OhioChick]

1. I didn't expect reform any time soon. n/t

[More Than A Feeling]

2. Hopefully, he's just spouting on his own, and will get reined in.

[Thrill]

3. I wouldn't read much into his comments. He doesn't know what Obama is going to do

[biopowertoday]

20. That may be true. But his pessimistic attitude is NOT helpful.

[Freddie Stubbs]

41. But he may know what Congress is going to do

There is only so much the President can do so much without Congress.

[Xipe Totec]

4. If not this Congress, who? If not now, when?

Who do we need to replace you with, Clyburn?

[OhioChick]

5. Dems hedge on healthcare: Schumer "...not sure that we're ready for a major national healthcare

Dems hedge on healthcare: Schumer "...not sure that we're ready for a major national healthcare

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=3200695

[Robbien]

26. They have to pass a few more tax cut bills first

and any other bills that the GOP demands.

Then maybe, sometime in the far distant future they will think about perhaps making some time to begin the thought process about setting up some time to strategize about how and when to begin getting a committee together to examine the issue.

[mbperrin]

28. Meanwhile, keeping the powder dry and the table cleared.

People DIE without adequate health care.

How MANY Americans must DIE before we get it?

Oh, wait, gotta buy a bank a jet, first!

[avaistheone1]

30. ...but no end to the dollars available to Wall Street

:wtf:

[Delphinus]

31. Remember

that almost every job lost is usually a new uninsured person as they can't afford COBRA. I guess we must really let the entire economy tank before we wake up and realize that Universal Single Payer Health Care is the only viable solution.

[stillcool]

6. I think Senator Kennedy...

might disagree. I so hope he gets a health care reform bill passed.

[walkaway]

7. If Health care is put on the back burner...

then the Democrats are as useless as the repugs say. It would be an outrage. Thousands of Americans are dying without medical care.

[WCGreen]

8. That is why, the loss of jobs, that we can't have the portal to

Health Care only opened if you are employeed...

[Muttocracy]

22. exactly! nt

[bemildred]

9. He begs the question he presumes to answer.

If it can pass, there is no question of "chewing" it. He is assuming it cannot pass, and therefore says we ought not try to pass it. Let's threaten these fuckers jobs and see what they can pass then.

[curious one]

10. When Dems learn to be positive and not negative.

[MannyGoldstein]

11. The Brave Sir Robin Democrats Strike Again!

Saving money and getting better health care, and for everyone, is off the table.

[Critters2]

18. LOL! Brave Sir Robin ran away! Bravely ran away away! nt

[antigop]

12. Aw, geez, I hope this isn't true. Too many people are counting on this. n/t

[NYC_SKP]

13. It may be more likely to happen SOONER, due to the economic meltdown.

With millions losing their jobs far more families are going to suffering without any health care and will have to use emergency rooms for treatment the way others without doctors and medical plans do.

In this sense, we can't afford to NOT establish a large chunk of what will become universal health coverage.

I think the administration might use this tragic time to it's advantage.

Hope that makes sense, I've got a killer stomach ache.

[Muttocracy]

23. yes - and guess what - there are jobs in healthcare! nt

[mmonk]

14. No willpower.

[biopowertoday]

15. BINGO

[Cleita]

16. We are going to have to make it happen ourselves.

That means telephoning, write ins, protests and sit-ins if need be. Pester your Congress critters to get HR676 out of committee and on the floor for debate. I just figured out that the stimulus package could fund an improved Medicare for everyone as a starter program for a year and still have plenty left over for corporate welfare. Once the program is in place the change over in funding from insurance to Medicare should go smoothly except for the insurance companies who will whine a lot but really, the only people who are going to be out of work will be overpaid executives.

[aquart]

17. This individual needs to rethink. Hard.

[demodonkey]

19. The most expensive thing we can do about healthcare is to DO NOTHING.

He needs to step up to the plate and pass SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE FOR ALL -- OR STEP DOWN. Get the job done or get the hell out and let somebody have the seat who will do the job.

We can't compete globally anymore because of this lack of healthcare and the drag it puts on our economy.

Single payer healthcare for all. We can't afford NOT to do this.

[Lorien]

21. Agreed. Medical debt is causing 40% or more of the bankrupcies in this

country. Poor public health is losing America billions in productivity every year. Repugs don't value lives-they only value profits. But this IS a huge economic issue! Continuing to ensure huge profits for insurance CEOs and stockholders is not a worthwhile trade off.

[EndElectoral]

24. That's a shame, because this would function as a giant stimuls if we had Nat. Health Care

[Abq_Sarah]

27. It would be an exceptionally

Effective stimulus by alleviating the pressure on workers trying to get by now by putting more money in their pockets and it would also help businesses by freeing up a huge chunk of money for higher wages, more hiring or business expansion. It is the 500lb gorilla hanging over both workers and most small businesses.

[Delphinus]

32. I knew I had seen that analogy just recently

(gorilla)
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090105/EDIT05/901050305

Replace for-profit insurance with Medicare for all

Dr. Robert Stone

The largest gorilla recorded weighed 600 pounds and lived in a zoo. In the wild they don’t get that big. An 800-pound gorilla exists only in our imaginations.

When debating how to fix our ailing health care system, someone always says, “There’s an 800-pound gorilla in the room, and it’s the insurance industry. No matter how we want to reform health care, they are so powerful they are going to call the shots.”

Let’s examine the industry today. The big five health insurers remain huge, but they are beginning to stumble. While the overall stock market fell 40 percent as of last week, heavyweights such as Anthem/WellPoint, United Health and Humana have seen their stock prices plunge 60 percent – $82 billion of value, gone.

(snip) more at link

It's a very good article.

[area51]

25. K&R for this life and death issue. (n/t)

[Zhade]

29. Hell, Clinton's plan was InsuranceCare anyway. Not nearly good enough.

And you're saying we can't even get THAT pathetic idea passed?

WORK HARDER. That's why we fucking pay you.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

33. Mission Accomplished

[serrano2008]

34. Stimulus Bill contains Digital Health Information funds

Which is a step in the right direction.

They can't just wake up one day and give everyone Nationalized Health Care. Whether you believe Nationalized or private is the way to go, there are many Health Care problems that need to be addressed before a major Health Care Reform will ever happen. If these issues aren't addressed, then the system will still be broken no matter who pays the bills.

[Oak2004]

35. No

Digital health information is not the inefficiency bringing down US healthcare.

Insurance companies are.

Do you by any chance work for one? Or the Republicans? Or the DLC? Or the blue dogs?

[serrano2008]

37. Um...no, I just actually understand how things work.

Saying that insurance companies alone are the problem with the Health Care system, and in turn always going back to eliminating insurance companies will solve everyone's problems with Health Care in America...

...is just as dumb as when the Republican's say "Lower taxes" to everything financial related, thinking that's a one size fits all solution to a much more complex issue.

My point is that digital health information is one of many steps in the right direction to fixing the Health Care system, without bugging my eyes out and drooling and shouting "Errrr...Nationalized Health Care...rrrrrgggggg" as the be-all, end-all of the conversation.

You don't think some of the errors in this story could be reduced/eliminated with digital records, therefore lowering health costs?

Drug errors injure more than 1.5 million a year

Thurs., July. 20, 2006
WASHINGTON - More than 1.5 million Americans are injured every year by drug errors in hospitals, nursing homes and doctor’s offices, a count that doesn’t even estimate patients’ own medication mix-ups, says a report that calls for major steps to increase patient safety.

Topping that list: All prescriptions should be written electronically by 2010, the Institute of Medicine said. At least a quarter of all medication-related injuries are preventable, the institute concluded in the report it released Thursday.

Perhaps the most stunning finding of the report was that, on average, a hospitalized patient is subject to at least one medication error per day, despite intense efforts to improve hospital care in the six years since the institute began focusing attention on medical mistakes of all kinds.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13954142/

[melm00se]

36. Tax revenue is a finite commodity

and there is a stimulus bill out there for $800 billion (that we already don't have). Where is the money going to come from to fund universal health care?

Choices have to be made: "fixing" the economy or universal health care?

IMO, the former will allow the latter to happen down the road, the latter won't help drive the former.

[area51]

38. One thing is,

it's more expensive to keep our current fragmented and inefficient healthcare system than to transition to single-payer healthcare. If you have money concerns, I suggest you read up at PNHP.

Also, one obvious place to get immediate funding for a transition would be to end the wars of choice in Afghanistan and Iraq.

[hedgehog]

39. Apparently you didn't get the memo that says we need to go to universal

health care because the economy can no longer support the bass-ackwards way we finance health care now.

This is the same argument that appeared late in the campaign, that the failing economy would keep Obama from pushing through his proposals. The stimulus is just to get us through the next few weeks and months while his proposals go into place to make some permanent fixes to keep us out of these messes.

[cosmicdot]

40. Clyburn's top political contributors

fwiw

James E. Clyburn

Top Contributors, 2007-2008

Blackstone Group $29,900 * private equity co.; per wiki, one BG investment is with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HealthMarkets

Norfolk Southern $29,300
General Electric $25,000 * http://www.gehealthcare.com/worldwide.html
Fluor Corp $20,500
Washington Group International $15,500 (was acquired by URS Corporation of San Francisco in November 2007 - URS is affiliated with Dianne Feinstein's husband http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_C._Blum)
Fulbright & Jaworski $15,350
Seafarers International Union $14,000
Nelson, Mullins et al $13,500
Wachovia Corp $13,500
American Express $12,000
Patton Boggs LLP $12,000 - another lobbyist represented in this list ~ medical/health groups have retained Patton Boggs for lobbying
http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?lname=Patton+Boggs+LLP&year=2008
AT&T Inc $11,500
General Motors $11,500
Abbott Laboratories $11,000 (Global Health Care & Medical Research)
Bank of America $11,000
Holcim $11,000
JPMorgan Chase & Co $11,000
Silver Companies $11,000
Time Warner $11,000
Akin, Gump et al $10,500
Altria Group $10,500
Fannie Mae $10,500
Federation of American Hospitals $10,500 *
International Longshoremens Assn $10,500
Lockheed Martin $10,500

Top Industries, 2007-2008

Lawyers/Law Firms $203,009
Securities & Investment $176,501
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $150,246 *
Electric Utilities $135,765
Real Estate $109,000
Health Professionals $105,150 *
Commercial Banks $98,850
Insurance $96,750 *
Lobbyists $87,823
Transportation Unions $83,000
Hospitals/Nursing Homes $81,050 *
Public Sector Unions $77,000
TV/Movies/Music $69,100
Building Trade Unions $64,500
Railroads $57,300
Computers/Internet $52,655
Crop Production & Basic Processing $48,750
Misc Manufacturing & Distributing $48,250
General Contractors $48,000
Defense Aerospace $48,000

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00002408&cycle=2008