By Marianna Levyash – Talk Radio News Service

During a Senate Finance Committee hearing Tuesday, Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) stated that he supports climate change legislation, but holds some qualms over the Kerry-Boxer bill.

“I want our children and grandchildren to be able to enjoy the outdoors the way that we can today. So I’m going to work to pass climate-change legislation that is both meaningful and can muster enough votes to become law,” he said.

While Baucus did make clear that it is important for Congress to to act now on preserving the environment, he noted that the unemployment rate has reached an incredibly high level and therefore lawmakers must also work to create jobs in today’s economy.

Regardless of his reassuring statements, Baucus was the only Democrat to vote against The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act – otherwise known as the Kerry-Boxer bill – a vote that signaled his discontent with certain parts of the bill.

“While we must always be mindful of the cost of legislation, that’s particularly true in today’s economy. Our unemployment rate remains far too high. And we must be diligent to create jobs, including in the energy sector,” Baucus said.

Regarding climate change legislation and job creation, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) says on Tuesday that “our unemployment rate remains far too high…and we must be diligent to create jobs, including in the energy sector.” (0:12)

 

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By Meagan Wiseley – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to exclude a provision that exempts insurance companies from tort claims from the proposed health care bills in the House and the Senate.

Section 514 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) states, among other things, that if an insurance company improperly denies benefits to an individual, it cannot be sued for any resulting injury or wrongful death, regardless of whether it acted in bad faith in denying benefits.

“Why does a health care reform bill continue immunity to insurance companies so they can injure and kill people?” Shadegg asked during a press conference Wednesday.

The intent of the ERISA provision is to prevent the misuse and loss of pension funds to protect American retirees. Section 514 of ERISA contains a preemption that does not allow civil courts to sue insurance companies for injury or wrongful death, because 514 is a federal statute.

Standing alongside Shadegg was Florence Corcoran, who suffered the loss of her unborn baby in 1989. Corcoran took to the podium and explained that she was diagnosed with Toxemia during her 36th week of pregnancy. Her doctor had requested that she be admitted to the hospital for further monitoring of her unborn child, but her insurance company, United Health Care Inc., maintained that she would be adequately cared for while on bed rest at home. Corcoran left the hospital, and the next week her baby went into distress and died.

“Insurance companies, all they look out for is money. That’s all, it’s not the patients health that they are concerned about,” said Corcoran.

Shadegg offered an amendment to strip the immunity in section 514 in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but said the amendment was rejected by Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) The Arizona Republican said that he will offer an amendment to remove this language in the House Rules Committee.

“I hope…that the American people will rise up and demand that Nancy Pelosi fix this bill before it’s voted on in the House…or that in the conference committee it be fixed.”

The Senate Finance Committee voted no today to an amendment introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) which states that “federal tax payer dollars will not be used to pay for subsidized abortions or the new plans and programs created in this bill.”

The amendment failed by a 10-13 vote.

Prior to the introduction of the amendment, the America’s Healthy Future Act stated “federal funds continue to be prohibited from being used to pay for abortions unless the pregnancy is due to rape, incest or the life of the mother is in danger.”

In its current state, the bill requires insurance companies to segregate private money, which comes from premiums, and federal money to ensure public funds are not being used to pay for abortions.

Sen. Hatch’s amendment also stated that women would have the choice to purchase a separate policy that includes abortion coverage.

Prior to the Committee’s vote, Chairman Baucus said, “Basically this is a health care bill, this is not an abortion bill. We are not changing current law.”

During the fifth day of markup for the America’s Healthy Future act Tuesday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) explains that the Senate Finance Committee’s bill will be the corner stone to fixing the health care system. He also explained that having a public option in this bill would jeopardize the bill’s effectiveness. (1:47)

 

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Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Friday morning brought the fourth day of the Senate Finance committee’s markup of the America’s Healthy Future Act. A large portion of Friday’s talks consisted of concerns over health care czars, keeping transparency within the bill and blocking age discrimination for premiums.

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) proposed an amendment evoking the advise and consent clause, stating that any czar associated with health care should face a Senate confirmation process similar to those required for cabinet secretaries.

Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) was once again quick to deny the Republican amendments.

“The job title czar does not exist,” he countered. “Having a czar confirmed by the Senate and the chance to testify would be a waste of time.”

The amendment ultimately failed with 10-13 vote.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) offered a bill that would stop age discrimination, but after more than an hour of debate on whether the amendment was germane, Kerry ultimately withdrew his amendment upon the request of Chairman Baucus.

Friday’s session recessed at noon. It will return Tuesday, September 29 at 9:30

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) discusses the “Gang of Six” and its effort to employ bipartisanship in forming a health care reform strategy. (0:29)

 

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Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) suggested Monday that the “Gang of Six” will reach the end of the health care discussion process in “coming weeks.” (0:24)

 

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By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

According to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), health care reform legislation that includes the public option can pass through the Senate, although what form the public option will take remains to be seen.

“The public option is in the eye of the beholder. There are different types of public option. We’re going to look at all of them,” Reid stated during a press conference with Senate Democratic leaders Thursday.

The Senate Finance Committee is pursuing a non profit insurance co-op as an alternative to a public option styled after Medicare, a plan the Majority Leader finds acceptable.

“If we can come up with a [co-op] that… makes more competition and makes insurance companies honest, I think it will fill the bill,” said Reid.

The Majority Leader said he would like to have health care reform legislation reach the floor by the Thanksgiving recess, if not earlier.

By Mariko Lamb-Talk Radio News Service

In a hearing with the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday, John Stephenson, Director of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Environmental Protection Issues, Natural Resources and Environmental Team, outlined three options for the distribution of emission allowances for companies under a cap-and-trade program: auctioning revenue allowances, allocating free allowances to covered entities, or a combination of the two.

According to a preliminary report by the GAO, auctioning revenue allowances would enable the government to collect substantial revenues, create incentives for companies to lower emissions before the program starts, and level the playing field for covered entities. However, “auctioning does not by itself offer compensation to covered entities that could feel the greatest economic impact of the program,” Stephenson said.

The second option, allocating free allowances to covered entities, could “help build support for the program and ease the transition,” he said, but added that it may also potentially dampen incentives to decrease electricity use by businesses and households.

The third option, a combination of auctioning and free allocation, “may help compensate energy intensive industries,” noted Stephenson. A study by the Congressional Budget Office suggests that a 6% and 21% free allocation of allowances would fully compensate these industries.

According to the American Clean Energy and Security Act, passed by the House in June, 85% of emission allowances would be allocated by the government for free. Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Max Baucus said, “whatever the approach, we need to devise a system that both meets environmental goals and passes political muster. That won’t be easy. The close vote in the House tells us that.”

“Let’s see if we can figure out how to distribute emission allowances in a way that one might call ‘just.’ Let’s see if we can figure out how to give all Americans what they deserve,” Chairman Baucus said.

The GAO will release a final report to the Senate Finance Committee later this year in preparation for a markup on a climate change bill later this year.