Photo: Fox Nation
President Obama this afternoon wrote a letter to Congressional leadership detailing four areas where he thinks Republican ideas can be included in a final health care compromise and pledging to drop the Medicaid deals for Nebraska and Florida from what he proposes tomorrow.
The White House released the letter which Obama wrote to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner summing up his take from the health care summit last week. Obama said he came away from the meeting feeling the group agreed the cost of health care is a massive problem that must be solved.
"I also left convinced that the Republican and Democratic approaches to health care have
more in common than most people think," Obama wrote.
"No matter how we move forward, there are at least four policy priorities identified by Republican Members at the meeting that I am exploring. I said throughout this process that I'd continue to draw on the best ideas from both parties, and I'm open to these proposals in that spirit," Obama wrote.
Those areas are as follows:
1. Although the proposal I released last week included a comprehensive set of initiatives to combat fraud, waste, and abuse, Senator Coburn had an interesting suggestion that we engage medical professionals to conduct random undercover investigations of health care providers that receive reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid, and other Federal programs.He also drops the special deal made for Sen. Ben Nelson in Nebraska that had the federal government covering the cost of the state's Medicaid burden and a similar provision in Florida that he and Sen. John McCain discussed during the summit.
2. My proposal also included a provision from the Senate health reform bill that authorizes funding to states for demonstrations of alternatives to resolving medical malpractice disputes, including health courts. Last Thursday, we discussed the provision in the bills cosponsored by Senators Coburn and Burr and Representatives Ryan and Nunes (S. 1099) that provides a similar program of grants to states for demonstration projects. Senator Enzi offered a similar proposal in a health insurance reform bill he sponsored in the last Congress. As we discussed, my Administration is already moving forward in funding demonstration projects through the Department of Health and Human Services, and Secretary Sebelius will be awarding $23 million for these grants in the near future. However, in order to advance our shared interest in incentivizing states to explore what works in this arena, I am open to including an appropriation of $50 million in my proposal for additional grants. Currently there is only an authorization, which does not guarantee that the grants will be funded.
3. At the meeting, Senator Grassley raised a concern, shared by many Democrats, that Medicaid reimbursements to doctors are inadequate in many states, and that if Medicaid is expanded to cover more people, we should consider increasing doctor reimbursement. I'm open to exploring ways to address this issue in a fiscally responsible manner.
4. Senator Barrasso raised a suggestion that we expand Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). I know many Republicans believe that HSAs, when used in conjunction with high-
deductible health plans, are a good vehicle to encourage more cost-consciousness in consumers' use of health care services. I believe that high-deductible health plans could be offered in the exchange under my proposal, and I'm open to including language to ensure that is clear. This could help to encourage more people to take advantage of HSAs.
"My ideas have been informed by discussions with Republicans and Democrats, doctors and nurses, health care experts, and everyday Americans - not just last Thursday, but over the course of a yearlong dialogue. Both parties agree that the health care status quo is unsustainable. And both should agree that it's just not an option to walk away from the millions of American families and business owners counting on reform," Obama wrote.
Read the full letter here. (TPMDC)
Where do we start???
1. Too little too late – Obama is giving the GOP just enough in an attempt to convince at a few Republicans to vote his way so he and he and the his cronies, Pelosi and Reid, can call it a bipartisan bill and blame take the blame off of the Progressive Dems.
2. No Meat – the 4 points Obama outlines in his compromise have no teeth or power to really make a difference.
3. No Compromise or Major Retractions from the Dems – The only thing Obama concedes is the two absolutely crazy buy-offs for Nebraska and Florida that even their constituents didn’t want.
4. Ideological Focus – None of the objectionable measures in the bills like oversite panels for care; centralization of medical records by GE with full access by govt; ultimate link to social security, bank accounts etc to those records by the govt; eventual RFID chipping for access to those records; exemption of union and govt Cadillac HC plans from the rules and taxes the rest of us will have to follow and pay; and the list goes on. Did you know that 2/3 of the HC Bill Passed Already! Hidden in the Stimulus Package that No One in Congress Read… Done Deal!!! unless we stop the passing of this portion of the bill.
5. Power Grab Instead of Overhaul of HC - We have the best HC in the world and serious tort reform, serious focused fraud, waste, and abuse reform, inter-state purchasing and sale of health insurance, and a some tweaking is all we need to reform our system. And, everyone that can do basic math and has been paying attention knows this bill gives the government power over our lives and purses that nobody except those who follow the progressive vision want.
6. Huge Tax and Cost Increases for Worse Coverage – Every expert and anyone that has done the math knows that the taxes are going up and that the real cost of this bill is double if not triple of what they are telling us and unsustainable for our children and grandchildren.
Americans do not want this bill or any of the ObamaCare bills and they do not want this bill passed using Reconciliation that Obama is now calling an up or down vote. The majority of Americans know that when there is more shit than shinola… that it is time to grab a shovel. The average American knows that this whole process cannot pass the smell test. They want everything having to do with so-called HC Reform scrapped… and taken off the table until after the 2010 or even the 2012 election and then real bipartisan discussion and work to begin.
The underhanded tricks and methods have soured the American people and the more they know what is in the bill, the more they are against it. The bill will immediately be challenged in the courts for its constitutionality, if it passes, which will cost every American money and may of the programs that will have begun will be almost impossible to reverse. Please help stop this bill now! The Dems cannot get this passed in the right way and might not even have the votes for Reconciliation.
If Obamacare passes it will provide (list from Dick Morris, author of Catastrophe
):• A $500 billion cut in Medicare
• 30 million new patients with no new doctors
• Health care rationing
• Protocols of care to deny costly treatments based on how many "Quality Adjusted Life Years" remain
• Require the uninsured to pay $8500 to buy policies
• Fine them 2.5% of their income if they don't
• And send them to jail if they don't pay
• Tax medical devices like pacemakers and automated wheelchairs
• Force up premiums for all Americans by $2,000 a year
• Add $500 billion to the federal deficit (by 2024)
• Raise income taxes 2.5%
• Raise capital gains taxes 2.5%
• Cut reimbursement to doctors who order too many tests for patients
Please call, fax and write your congressman and Senators today and tell them: Vote NO on ObamaCare or we will vote you out!!
PHONE NUMBERS FOR SWING VOTE CONGRESSMEN:
| PLEASE CALL! | DC OFFICE | LOCAL OFFICE |
| Harry Mitchell | (202) 225-2190 | (480) 946-2411 |
| Gabrielle Giffords | (202) 225-2542 | (520) 881-3588 |
| Ann Kirkpatrick | (202) 225-2315 | (928) 226-6914 |
| Jerry McNerney | (202) 225-1947 | 925-833-0643 |
| John Salazar | 202-225-4761 | 970-245-7107 |
| Jim Hines | (202) 225-5541 | (866) 453-0028 |
| Alan Grayson | (202) 225-2176 | (407) 841-1757 |
| Bill Foster | (202) 225-2976 | 630-406-1145 |
| Baron Hill | 202 225 5315 | 812 288 3999 |
| Mark Schauer | (202) 225-6276 | (517) 780-9075 |
| Gary Peters | (202) 225-5802 | (248) 273-4227 |
| Dina Titus | (202) 225-3252 | 702-256-DINA (3462) |
| Carol Shea-Porter | (202) 225-5456 | (603) 743-4813 |
| Tim Bishop | (202) 225-3826 | (631) 696-6500 |
| John Hall | (202) 225-5441 | (845) 225-3641 x49371 |
| Bill Owens | (202) 225-4611 | (315) 782-3150 |
| Mike Arcuri | (202)225-3665 | (315)793-8146 |
| Dan Maffei | (202) 225-3701 | (315) 423-5657 |
| Earl Pomneroy | (202) 225-2611 | (701) 224-0355 |
| Steven Driehaus | (202) 225-2216 | (513) 684-2723 |
| Mary Jo Kilroy | (202) 225-2015 | (614) 294-2196 |
| Zach Space | (202) 225-6265 | (330) 364-4300 |
| Kathy Dahlkemper | (202) 225-5406 | (814) 456-2038 |
| Patrick Murphy | (202) 225-4276 | (215) 826-1963 |
| Christopher Carney | (202) 225-3731 | (570) 585-9988 |
| Paul Kanjorski | (202) 225-6511 | (570) 825-2200 |
| John Spratt | (202) 225-5501 | (803)327-1114 |
| Tom Perriello | (202) 225-4711 | (276) 656-2291 |
| Alan Mollohan | (202) 225-4172 | (304) 623-4422 |
| Nick Rahall | (202) 225-3452 | (304) 252-5000 |
| Steve Kagen | (202) 225-5665 | (920) 437-1954 |
1-202-224-3121- Congressional Switchboard
1-202-225-3121- Congressional Switchboard
(202) 225-0100 - Speaker of the House Pelosi
The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care
The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care
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