Trial for the "Baucus 13"

[SHRED]

It is Senator Baucus who should be on trial instead for corruption of Congress.

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“Sixty Americans die every day from lack of health insurance,” Mokhiber said. “Only single payer will save hundreds of billions of dollars in overhead, waste, profits and fraud needed to insure every person in this country. President Obama, Senator Baucus and the corporate Democrats are engaged in the futility of piecemeal tinkering while Americans die. We need to put an end to the private health insurance industry so that the American people can get the health care they deserve.”

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/05/27-4

[bluestateguy]

1. You have got to be kidding me

I'm not a fan of heckling as a form of protest, but to charge them with a crime is preposterous---and a waste of money.

[rdobbs2010]

2. The Baucus Health Care Proposal. We Waited Three Months for This!

Montana Senator Max Baucus reveled his health care reform proposal and is already drawing fire from both sides of the aisle. The plan has no government run health care option, it requires individuals to buy health insurance or pay a fine ($3,800), prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, prohibits insurance companies from imposing caps on payouts, provides tax credits to help low- and middle-income families purchase insurance, and creates a Web-based insurance exchange making purchasing insurance and comparing plans. The price tag is estimated to be $856 billion over 10 years and the Congressional Budget Office estimates the plan to cost $774 billion over 10 years and a savings of $49 billion to the deficit over ten years.

The plan does not include a "public option" and the plan would be paid for by $507 billion in reductions to existing government health programs and $349 billion in new taxes and fees. The White House being desperate for some sort of health care reform package, Blue Dog Democrats, and moderate Republicans seem to support the plan as a compromise. However, it doesn't take much investigating to see why Senator Baucus may have capitulated to the Health Care Industry. When reviewing where the Senator gets his donations, Senator Max Baucus has received almost $2 million from the Health Care Industry.

So what are the issues with the Baucus Plan:

•No Public Option-The Baucus Plan has no public option and instead proposes $6 billion in start-up funds to non-profit health insurance cooperatives. Progressive Senators Jay Rockefeller, Russ Feingold, and Roland Burris have stated their disapproval with the Baucus Plan not including a "public option" and that the idea of health care cooperatives being an untested and unproven solution. Furthermore, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, states she supports a bill with the "public option" and would put forward such a plan in the House.

•New Taxes on Insurance Companies-The Baucus Plan implements a new tax on "high-value insurance plans", those worth $21,000 for a family and $8,000 for an individual. This new tax is feared to attack the middle class, union workers who have fought hard for generous health plans, and would hurt American workers who have coverage. Some Democrats want to capture only the super-expensive plans of the wealthy, rather than a tax on the middle class insurance plans.

•Free Rider Provision-The Baucus Plan implements a "free rider" provision that is meant to ensure that employers don't forgo their responsibility to help employees purchase health insurance. This accomplished by imposing a tax on employers to assist employees, to purchase insurance, who qualify for federal insurance subsidies. The problem with the "free rider" provision is that employers may discourage employers without health insurance coverage from hiring employees who are low to moderate income.

So what is wrong with Senator Baucus' proposal? To begin, it did not reach the objectives of President Obama's reforms and may cost millions of Americans more for their health care. Under the Baucus proposal, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden states, "a family earning three times the poverty level -- $66,150 for a family of four -- would have to pay up to 13 percent of their income for health insurance." This is clearly outside of the objectives of the President, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate Majority Leader.

So we waited 3 months to get a proposal that will not help everyday Americans get the coverage and health care the so deserve and need. It is also clear that Senator Baucus capitulated to the Health Care Industry and truly did a disservice to the American people.