Maybe the three Republican members of Senator Baucus' "Gang of Six" have done us a favor by not going along with a health care bill. Because it would have been even worse than this one that seems to be pleasing nobody --- except . . . those who we shouldn't be trying to please: drug companies and insurance companies.
I'm not bothering to read the fine print on any of these bills, because they're going to change. But just going by the headlines, Baucus' bill is not the answer.
A couple of days ago, there was a headline on Huffington Post quoting a former insurance company spokesman saying that the Baucus bill was a complete give-away to the insurance companies.
Today, the headline from the New York Times is: "Baucus Plan Pleases Drug Makers, But Few Others.
So why have we been waiting for the Senate Finance Committee to write the bill, when the Senate Health Committee turned in a creditable bill months ago, and the House combined three committees' plans and passed a bill months ago?
Who anointed Baucus? Besides the health care industry itself, of course, with their generous campaign contributions.
Ralph
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The Sunlight Foundation, a non-partisan project to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to average citizens, reports:
ReplyDelete"The overall health and insurance sectors haven’t just been kind to Baucus’ staffers, but they’ve also aided his campaigns handsomely over the years, especially in his barely contested 2008 reelection campaign. In 2008, Baucus received $1,148,775 from the health sector and $285,850 from the insurance sector. For his career he has received $2,797,381 from the health sector and $1,170,313 from the insurance sector."
Reminds me of Enron financing [and writing] Phil Gramm's Commodity Futures Modernization Act in 2000 - legislation for sale to the highest bidder...
ReplyDeleteRalph, love your blog. It makes me feel at least a little bit better knowing some sane people are left in this country.
ReplyDeleteThis bill however, is one of the most disturbing and depressing things I've seen for a long time. I had high hopes for this; what a let down.