Special Interests and the Healthcare Debate

Questionable Blue Cross Blue Shield encourages N.C. residents to oppose reform

mmorris10 — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:11:12 +0000

According to the News & Record and TPM Muckraker, recent robocalls to North Carolinians from the Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance company (which owns 97 percent of the market in this state) that promote citizen resistance against the recent health care legislation are resulting in a government investigation. State officials are now looking to Attorney General Roy Cooper and the N.C. insurance commissioner to investigate if it is legal to use insurance premiums to promote a political agenda. This News & Record blog post points out the different perspectives on this issue and that customers may be unhappy when they discover an increase in premiums along with this expensive and controversial campaign. A similar TPM Muckraker commentary furthers this point saying that constituents are complaining about this recent initiative instead of protesting against the health care legislation in Congress.

Here’s a video of the message left that encourages N.C. citizens to write to their representitive against this recent health care legislation:

House Speaker Pelosi’s poll references on public opinion may be misleading

mmorris10 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:59:05 +0000

After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office released “Fact Sheets” that featured polls from the Associated Press and the Washington Post on the American opinions of health care, USA Today blogger John Fritze pointed out in a post that these satistics were misrepresented in the press release. Even though there was a significant amount of support for changing the health care system, support for the current legislation backed by democrats is quite divided among Americans.

The AP video below offers some further insight into how ordinary Americans view the health care system based on their own experiences:

Americans for Quality and Affordable Healthcare Surrounded by Secrecy

mmorris10 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:33:16 +0000

On Sunday the Associated Press reported that an organization called Americans for Quality and Affordable Healthcare (AQAH) that is run by Moore & Van Allen law firm in Charlotte , N.C. is secretly supporting independent groups around the country that oppose the recent health care legislation proposed by democrats in Congress. Despite attempting to arouse a strong public reaction against this attempted health care solution, AQAH offers very little clues towards determining who is behind the initiative. This organization has two goals: prevent a public option from being offered and support legislation that requires all Americans to buy insurance. Since the insurance industry has opposed this legislation for these two main reasons, some speculate that they are in fact behind this mysterious organization.

Even though the Moore & Van Allen law firm will not openly say which health related companies they represent this statement gives vague clues: “…some of America’s foremost hospitals, multi-institutional health care systems, physician groups, specialty providers, lenders and insurers.”

To find out how this organization is shaping the health care debate in key states and be better able to determine what information is actually coming from independent American groups, read this Associated Press article.

Former President Clinton Urges Democrats to Reform

mmorris10 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:30:21 +0000

“The worst thing to do is nothing…

It’s not important to be perfect here. It’s important to act.”

- Former President Bill Clinton

On Tuesday, former President Clinton asked democrats in the Senate to overcome their opposing viewpoints and come together to pass this new health care legislation as swiftly as possible in order to avoid failure. As the Los Angles Times points out in a recent article, 15 years ago the former president lost this battle and the democrats suffered huge political losses in Congress. Even though Clinton is stressing that democrats in the Senate overcome their differences, some representatives from this party are already upset over the parts of the plan that restrict abortion coverage and provide a public health care option. This battle for a 60 to 100 majority in the Senate will not be easily achieved and special interests will continue to divide the democratic party if they do not unite in a common effort.

"Clinton is accompanied by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) as he heads into the Senate Democratic Caucus luncheon. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)" - LA Times Caption

Democrat’s Healthcare Bill Passes in the U.S. House

mmorris10 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:12:16 +0000

The recent health care legislation backed by democrats that has been entrenched in controversy passed in the U.S. House of Representatives today. With the recent amendment preventing abortions from being paid for by taxpayers, the bill just barely passed by five votes. Rep. Bart Stupak believes the success of this legislation came from this recent amendment to the legislation. During debate in Congress, Rep. John Dingell said that this bill, if passed into law, would give 96 percent of all Americans health coverage. To see more on this issue and what this legislation would mean for Americans if passed into law, see the videos featured bellow:

Click here for another video from the Washington Post

Seniors, doctors groups throw their support behind House healthcare bill — latimes.com

mmorris10 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:32:03 +0000

Seniors, doctors groups throw their support behind House healthcare bill — latimes.com

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AARP and American Medical Assn. support Democrats health care legislation

mmorris10 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:23:07 +0000

Democrats in support of the current health care legislation bill in both houses of Congress are one step closer today towards implementing a comprehensive overhaul of the system. Both the AARP and American Medical Association have now openly announced their support for the current health care proposal made by democrats. These announcements come directly after the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network announced on Tuesday that is also supporting this piece of legislation. President Obama made a surprise visit to the White House Briefing room today to thank both of these large organizations for declaring their support. The video featured bellow shows President Obama discussing the significant impact their support could have on this legislation being passed into law. Also, the Los Angeles Times gives more context to the situation through showing certain groups of doctors like the American Society of General surgeons that belong to the American Medical Association that do not agree with the organization’s recent announcement of support.

Abortion language in new health care proposal creates Catholic dissension

mmorris10 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:15:48 +0000

Even though the Catholic church supports revamping the American health care system, there is extreme discomfort over the wording used to describe Abortion policy in current legislation being proposed in the Senate and House of Representatives. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced that this language must change in order for the church to announce support for either pieces of legislation in Congress. This, however, is not the consensus in the Catholic church. Catholics for Choice say that American Catholics have consistently shown to be in support of abortion coverage through a public option even in cases of health risk for women and when the fetus is abnormal. To get more details on the debate within the church and how this is affecting the national debate, listen to NPR’s story featured bellow.

Abortion Language Creates Snag For Health Bill

Insurers say legislation will increase premium costs

mmorris10 — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:24:08 +0000

Results from the Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield cost analysis.

Through this article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the insurance industry claims that prices for health coverage will rise if the new legislation backed by democrats is implemented. More specifically, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is the most recent company to provide evidence backing this argument widely supported by the industry. Others backing the public option say these numbers are in fact a scare tactic used by the insurance industry to prevent the bill from being passed by Congress. In fact, these individuals claim that prices will most likely rise more without the public option being a viable alternative. This article gives two interesting perspectives on an important aspect of this debate and data is explained, which is always helpful in deciding what interests are best for you.

Link: HEALTH CARE REFORM: Insurers issue warnings

Wall Street Journal: Republicans question AARP’s support of health care legislation

mmorris10 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:30:04 +0000

In a recent letter from three Republicans in the House Ways and Means Committee, AARP was questioned about the monetary benefits they would receive from supporting the new health care legislation in Congress at the expense of the seniors that belong to the organization. AARP has insurance plans under United Health Group, Inc. involve about 3.6 million people. Recent legislation backed by democrats in Congress has proposed spending on traditional medicare be cut, which some critics of AARP argue gives this organization more profits because these individuals will be buying up additional plans no longer covered by medicare. Sixty percent of AARP’s profits are from licensing deals with organizations like United Health Group, Inc., which makes this argument quite plausible. AARP has denied these claims saying that they do not endorse any specific legislation in Congress at this time. This, however, does not change the fact that democrats are utilizing their support.

Link: Republicans Target AARP’s Ties to Health-Insurance Industry