Baucus:It's not going to happen in America in my view. So I’m not going to waste my time pushing it

[Emit]

Speaking about single payer.

Edited to add, with Democrats like Baucus spearheading health care insurance reform, who needs Republicans?

From: Day 2 - February 3rd, 2009 at the 2009 National Health Policy Conference 2/2/2009
Academy Health and Health Affairs - Washington, DC

Baucus: "...this is not the
time to push for single payer. It may come later. It’s not
going to happen in America in my view. So I’m not going to
waste my time pushing on something that isn’t going to happen."

~snip~

MALE SPEAKER #1: Yes. Senator, I’m sure that I join,
with everyone in this room and perhaps everyone in America in
congratulating you on recognizing and enunciating that
fundamental health care is a government responsibility and a
duty of our system to provide.

I know that in the Helena Independent Record, you were
quoted as saying that single payer health care is off the
table. I’d like to know your reasons for putting single payer
health care off the table and intending instead to mandatory
insurance purchase by Americans, which is an inefficient way of
guaranteeing health care to everyone.

REP. SENATOR BAUCUS (D-MONT.): Well I just have to make
a judgment. I think, at this time in this country, single payer
is not going to get even to first base in the Congress. I do
believe we should have universal coverage. There are ways to
get universal coverage. The inefficiencies, which you allude
to, I think can be addressed as well in various ways. What are
they? One is through delivery system reform. We could cut down
a lot of costs and dramatically improve quality.
Another is through, at least in a single individual
market as opposed to small group markets, first, significant
health insurance reform so you get rid of pre-existing
conditions and other ways in which insurance companies
discriminate, certainly in individual market. That’s all part
of our plan here. You talk to larger insurance companies; many
large insurance companies’ CEOs are on board. They want to
change their business model. They see it coming.
The business model of change from the current one where
they can discriminate to one where there are 46 million people
getting health insurance. So as they pick it up on volume, they
may lose in the current model.

We are a big country. We’re a battleship. We’re an
ocean liner. We’re not a PT boat. We’re not a speedboat. It
takes time to turn those big, big ships. You just can just turn
them overnight. The United States of America, we’re a different
country. We’re constituted differently than European countries
than Canada and other countries. We’re a younger country.
There’s more of an entrepreneurial sense in America than those
other countries. It’s kind of go west young man in America and
so forth. So we’ve got to come up with our uniquely American
result. A uniquely American result will be a combination of
public and private insurance but one which everyone is covered
and just my judgment and every member of Congress agrees with
me I think at least those I've spoken with that this is not the
time to push for single payer. It may come later. It’s not
going to happen in America in my view. So I’m not going to
waste my time pushing on something that isn’t going to happen.

MALE SPEAKER #1: Thank you for your candor.

From: Day 2 - February 3rd, 2009 at the 2009 National Health Policy Conference 2/2/2009
Academy Health and Health Affairs - Washington, DC

Full Video and transcripts here:

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/hcast_index.cfm?display=detail&hc=3108




On a related note, this Kos diary offers a clip of Baucus (from this same presentation) discussing why the insurance companies will like his plan:

Flashback: Baucus on why his plan is popular with insurance CEOs Hotlist

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) in DC on February 3, 2009, explaining that insurance CEOs like his health care plan because Americans would be required to buy their product:

video clip at link

You talk to large insurance companies, many large insurance companies' CEOs are on board. They want to change their business model. They see it coming. The business model will change from the current one where they can discriminate, to one where there are, you know, 46 more million people getting health insurance, so it's they pick it up in volume, what they lose in the current model.

Basically, Baucus is saying that health insurance companies like his reform plan because they think it will make them a lot more money.

~snip~

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/19/768932/-Flashback:-Baucus-on-why-his-plan-is-popular-with-insurance-CEOs

[damntexdem]

1. No one's asking you to "push" it, just don't stand in its way.

And that applies to a vigorous public option in addition to single-payer.

[roguevalley]

9. he's a complete bastard. people need to collect stories of people

dying without health care and send them to him, telling him to enjoy what his work has wrought.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

2. Someone has to create an ad showing how much money he gets from the insurance industry. He has to be

exposed.

I'm not talking about cable news either, most people get their tv news from their local networks.

[Hawkeye-X]

3. Fine. I pledge $100 for any progressive to challenge Baucus

and I'm in Colorado. I don't like the man because he's bought and paid for.

I also want ALL monies OUT of the coffers. I want public funding of ALL election campaigns. Senators may not serve no more than 3 terms (18 years), before they are limited. I don't like the "Senator for Life" shit - Alaskans finally threw out Ted "I'm SUPPOSED to be a Senator for Life" Stevens after a long and costly battle with Begich.

Hawkeye-X

[Emit]

6. Here, try this link:Carrots, not Sticks: THANK our Public Option Supporters! Hotlist

~snip~

Piggybacking and expanding on that idea is an ActBlue page created by Howie Klein called Take the Pledge to financially reward those 64 representatives who are doing the right thing. This is part of an effort being put together by Jane Hamsher, Howie Klein, Darcy Burner, my brother Dante Atkins (hekebolos), myself and others that I am dubbing the Carrots, Not Sticks Initiative to help generate fundraising, blogosphere attention and broader media attention for members of the Progressive Caucus and for likeminded Senators. If the insurance industry and other big GOP donors are going to help reward those who dance to their tune, the least we can do is to help reward those who do what we want in whatever way we can, through the power of small-dollar fundraising.

~snip~

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/18/768373/-Carrots,-not-Sticks:-THANK-our-Public-Option-Supporters

[me b zola]

4. Wednesday morning. Time to call Senator Baucus!

---Again...

[Gormy Cuss]

5. Any plan that makes the insurance company CEOs happy is a bad plan.

Period.

The recent credit reform act made the credit card companies happy because it gave them a year to jack up rates and play other games.


Check 21, the plan to modernize and streamline check handling, made the banks happy because now they saved money on processing and can access the money almost instantaneously, but customers got squat.

[Birthmark]

7. A uniquely American approach would be...

...pragmatic and efficient. In this case that means single-payer or socialized medicine since both work extremely well in the rest of the industrialized world --and a fraction of the cost that we spend.

Apparently, Baucus thinks that "uniquely American" means stupid, expensive, failure. You know, something like the system we have now.

[blindpig]

8. What a bucket of zebra puke.

with a fetid dash of American Exceptionalism thrown in to boot.

The fix is in, note should be taken of the contempt these bought fools have for the people.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. You mean a UNIQUELY MEXICAN solution... this hybrid system ye are creating

A uniquely American result will be a combination of
public and private insurance but one which everyone is covered
and just my judgment and every member of Congress agrees with
me I think at least those I've spoken with that this is not the
time to push for single payer. It may come later. It’s not
going to happen in America in my view. So I’m not going to
waste my time pushing on something that isn’t going to happen.

---------------

Thankfully most people in the US have only heard of Canada, so they can be hoodwinked.

[WI_DEM]

11. whose talking about single payer, don't stop a government option.

[jtrockville]

12. Baucus is part of the PROBLEM.

Yet, we must rely on him for a solution. How utterly sad.

[gratuitous]

13. Dear Mr. Baucus

Don't use your lack of imagination or vision as an excuse to not do your job.

Thank you.

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