TRNS Bureau Chief Ellen Ratner speaks with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) about where things stand with the senate healthcare bill. Levin says he is hopeful that a final bill in the Senate will come to the floor by the end of the week. Calling it a “long, complicated bill,” Levin explains that folks have some time to read the full legislation online. Finally, Levin, one of the more liberal members of the Senate, says it is essential for the Senate’s version to contain a public option plan. Click on the audio icon below to listen to the entire conversation. (5:02)

 

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Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) says that the fact that the national unemployment rate is now at 10.2% shows that President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, passed earlier this year, is still not working to create jobs. (:17)

 

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By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) denounced reports that said she did not have enough votes for a “robust” public option Friday, saying the vote count has not been finalized and that any speculation about it is premature.

Pelosi’s comments came in response to an article published by Politico Friday morning in which Mike Allen reported that the Speaker had counted the votes and come up short on votes for a plan that included the plan.

“By no means is the count complete or has any decision been made,” Pelosi said in response during a press conference Friday.

The speaker did say that a robust public option is not the only way the bill could go and that conversations about the public option have begun to include discussions of a weaker version.

“At the end of the day we will have a public option in our legislation,” Pelosi said.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said that there has not been a count as to which version of the public option will be in the bill, but noted that developments in the Senate to possibly include a public option has given the House more flexibility.

“We are trying to inform our members of what we are trying to do, and we are trying to find out which one of these approaches will best suit the most people,” Clyburn said.

By Laura Smith, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Rep. Mark Schauer (D-Mich.) and Jim Williams, the CEO of Easter Seals, a non-profit that helps disabled youth, held a briefing today to talk about the importance of health care reform for children with pre-existing conditions.

“Every family in America is one phone call, one accident, one diagnosis away from needing what we have in our bill,” Pelosi said.

A mother, Roxanne, and her daughter, Shannon, who has cerebral palsy, were also present at the meeting.

Roxanne said that Shannon has dreams and that she’s been fortunate to have had Medicaid almost all of her life, and she’s progressed very well with having Medicaid. Shannon she had a surgery recently and also needed therapy to fully recovery, and Medicaid will not pay for it.

“These aren’t just the services she needs now, this is services she needs all her life. Cerebral palsy doesn’t just go away,” Roxanne said.

She said she really wanted her daughter to get the therapy she needs so she can live a very full and independent life, like her.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the health care bill is about making sure no American is left without the health care they need. He also said the health care bill is about “whether or not the nation can say ‘yes we can’ today.’”

Hoyer also introduced a young woman named Jessica, who at 21 months old was in a horrible car accident with her mother. She made a recovery, but her insurance company saw the accident as a pre-existing condition.

He mentioned how she was planning on getting married this month, but when she does, she will have to find different health insurance that she can afford and that will also accept her pre-existing condition.

“She ought not have to choose between her health insurance and getting married,” Hoyer said.

Jessica said the organization Easter Seals has always been there for her. She said that her insurance wouldn’t pay for her Easter Seals when she turned 21, and that one of her biggest expenses is a dietary supplement that she’s paying for out of her pocket.

Pelosi said, “These girls demonstrate so clearly that, in our society, we must respect people for what they can do, rather than judge them for what they can not do.”

By Laura Smith, University Of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Monday that a significant step was taken last week when the Senate Finance Committee approved the America’s Healthy Future Act.

“Our bill lowers federal deficit, ends insurance discrimination, expands coverage … improves quality, and also guarantees [that] in our country, finally, nobody will ever go broke just because they get sick,” Baucus said during a teleconference with reporters.

The Montana Democrat went on to comment that he thinks one of the biggest travesties in America is how many people go bankrupt because of high medical bills.

Baucus, who chairs the Finance Commitee, said the bill will help with lowering costs, be deficit neutral in approximately 10 years and will protect Americans from harmful insurance industry practices. Baucus also stressed that the legislation will stop companies from denying coverage to those who have pre-existing conditions and to those who become ill while insured.

“It’s going to be reform that will provide real, quality, affordable health insurance for millions more Americans,” Baucus said. “It’s also a reform measure that can pass.”

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) says he is confident that there will be a meaningful healthcare reform bill on the Senate floor that will lower costs, be deficit neutral over 10 years, protect Americans from harmful insurance industry practices, keep companies from denying coverage to those who have pre-existing conditions and will prevent companies from dropping coverage for Americans who get sick. (0:46)

 

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By Ravi Bhatia, Talk Radio News Service

Kent Masterson Brown, lead attorney for plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the Department of Health and Human Services, warned Tuesday that seniors who attempt to leave their Medicare policies may face financial repercussions.

“[The three internal rules of the Social Security Administration] allow you to get out of Medicare Part A, but if you do, you lose all your social security retirement benefits, and you are required to repay every benefit that had been paid to you,” Brown said. “They won’t let you out until all the money has been collected.”

The lawsuit, Hall V. Sebelius, seeks to prohibit the Social Security Administration and the Dept. of Health and Human Services from requiring seniors to take part Medicare A through policies which Masterson contends were improperly implemented.

“The frightening thing about a case like this is an agency that’s just doing anything it wants,” Brown said. “Keeping agencies in tow, making them do only what Congress has dictated is fundamentally essential to the republic.”

Government lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case in May on the grounds that the plaintiffs have not been harmed by the policies and hence have no standing to sue. In addition, the lawyers argued that the plaintiffs have not exhausted all of the administrative remedies available to them before suing.

John DuBois, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

A number of House Republicans argued Wednesday that cutting medicare funding will put both the program and its recipients in danger.

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said that the belief that the U.S. will be able to cut medicare funding without negative consequences is “the biggest fallacy in this new plan as we move forward.”

Blunt said he was also concerned that the cuts would take money away from senior citizens who already have pre-paid into Medicare, a move Blunt says “will damage the system.”

“It’s inappropriate to reduce the foundation of medicare in order to pay for a new government health plan,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) added.

John DuBois, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Representatives from the organiztion Maryland Black Mayors appeared on Capitol Hill Tuesday to show their support for health care reform, citing the need for cancer screenings, increased diabetes testing and funding for health care outcome research that takes race into account.

“The impact of not having an affordable health care option negatively impacts the community, and threatens the economic recovery of the municipalities in our state,” said Seat Pleasant Mayor Eugene Grant.

The mayors were joined by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

“Health care is a necessity…..we need health care that’s affordable and accessible,” said Hoyer. “That’s what this legislation is about and that’s why these Mayors are here today.”

Speeking at the Maryland Black Mayors press conference held in the U.S. Capitol today, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) stated that health insurance is not an option.

“I think health care is a necessity,” Hoyer said. (0:32)

 

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