Max Baucus

Senator Baucus (D-MT) finally unleashed his bill which is mostly a giveaway to the healthcare industry.  Re-releasing this post to remind everyone what’s in the bill.

  1. The plan has no Public Option with possible co-ops or triggers in it’s place.  The bad fact is this is not the worst part of the “gang of six” plan.
  2. Instead of direct subsidies like the other legislation passed in Congress Baucus’ plan has tax credits and ungenerous tax credits to help families pay premiums.  Instead of families up to $88,000 in income paying 10% maximum on healthcare premiums in the other bills in congress, Baucus would have families pay 13%.  Meanwhile people who get their income through unemployment insurance or disability would not even get a subsidy under Baucus’ plan.
  3. Buying healthcare insurance would be mandatory.  For universal healthcare you need some mandates but the fines Baucus is discussing are three fold larger (up to $3,800/year) than in other bills where fines are more or less an incentive to buy insurance.
  4. Instead of taxing the rich the “gang of six” wants to tax and fine healthcare insurers and providers.  Sure some of the revenue should come from those sources but other plans rightly tax the rich.
  5. 60 year olds would be charged 5 times more than 20 year olds.  While you would not let a population that is inherently younger and healthier  pay more than an older population that statistically has more health problems that factor is ridiculous.
  6. Baucus even water down the concept of an “insurance exchange”.  Instead of people automatically paying group rates only some uninsured people will get to pay similar rates to group rates.  The whole individual and small business premium rate cartel is one of the huge injustices in our system.

So far who have spoken have panned the bill.  Senator Rockefeller (D-WV) who is on the Finance Committee has already said he would not vote for the bill in it’s present form.

“I have sat besides Max Baucus for 22 years on the Finance Committee. …I’m probably one of his best friend among Democrats. But I cannot agree with him on this bill. … There is no way in present form I will vote for it. Therefore, I will not vote for it unless it changes during the amendment process by vast amounts.”

Read more at “Fines proposed for going without health insurance”.

Read the summary of the Baucus bill here “Framework for Comprehensive Healthcare Reform”.

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nellie
Member

At this point, the bill just needs to get out of committee, for crying out loud. It seems clear now that the HELP bill will be the blueprint for the Senate Bill. They just need Baucus to get off the dime. Enough stalling already — because that’s all this is.

AdLib
Admin

This bill is DOA anyway. The Repubs aren’t on board even though it reflects what they want. Dems don’t like it…except the ones paid off by the industry…aka…Blue Dogs.

Who’s going to touch this drowned rat of a bill when there are four others that have a public plan and are far more mainstream Dem bills.

This was another waste of time Pres. Obama allowed to occur because of his admirable but unrealistic priority of bipartisanship and not having a bill presented to Congress at the start which clearly reflected what he wanted.

That said, with it now 100% clear the Repubs won’t be on board no matter how much they corrupt the bill, I think Pres. Obama will get behind the Dems passing the public plan through budget reconciliation and we can finally get health care reformed in this country…and move on to other pressing issues.

Kalima
Admin

Why were they elected to such a huge task is something I ask myself evert day and who elected this group in the first place?

Your touchy/feely President needs to step back and above his advisors to remember his own mother’s lack of HC, which ultimately led to her early death. Please continue to email your own stories about yourself or people that you know to the WH. KQ, once was not enough it seems, repeat it and any other story you see on the net, surely there is someone with a heart before it reaches the President, surely?

Kalima
Admin

“every” maybe, even?

AdLib
Admin

Kalima, try the new “Edit” icon on your comment to fix the spelling…

nellie
Member

We have so many different polls and no idea what the questions are — how they’re worded. The latest poll from Rasmussen, I believe, shows 77% of respondents in favor of a public option. So I don’t know.

All I know is that the Baucus bill seems to be designed to sabotage Madicare. By putting low-income people on Medicare, it is adding a group of people with more health issues, and not spreading the risk by adding people who are healthier. Again, the insurance companies get to cherry pick the most healthy people, and Medicare is left to support the population with the most health issues — without any cost controls.

The Baucus bill is a non starter. But I hope they get it out of committee as soon as they can, so the Senate can vote it down.