Dems ease impact of health bill, big advance nears

[GinaMaria]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON – Fearing a backlash, Democrats smoothed the impact of sweeping health care legislation on working-class families Thursday night and steered President Barack Obama's top domestic priority toward a crucial Senate advance. The most far-reaching overhaul in decades aims to protect millions who have unreliable coverage or none at all.

Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee attacked the bill as riddled with tax increases that violated Obama's campaign promises, but failed to remove any of them.

After marathon public debate, agreement by the committee is all but certain for the legislation, although no final vote was expected until next week. That formality — Democrats hold a 13-10 majority on the panel — will clear the way for the full Senate to begin work on the measure at mid-month.

The legislation, like a companion bill under construction in the House, would bar insurance companies from denying coverage or charging higher premiums on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. It also includes federal subsidies to make insurance available to millions who lack it, and it takes steps to slow the skyrocketing growth in health care costs nationwide.
snip

Senate Democrats coalesced behind two of their own that could alter the legislation in significant ways.
snip

One, backed by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., would allow states to negotiate with insurers to arrange coverage for people with incomes slightly higher than the cutoff for Medicaid, the government health care program for the poor.

The second, which passed on a 22-1 vote, would exempt millions of people from a requirement to purchase insurance that is currently in the bill and reduce the penalties on millions more who defy the mandate.
snip
Originally, the bill required individuals and families to buy coverage as long as it cost no more than 10 percent of their income. Under the change, that would be lowered to 8 percent.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., acknowledged the result would be an estimated 2 million additional individuals and families staying uninsured in comparison with the original bill.

But he noted that the amendment overall was designed to shield "people solidly in the middle class" from an undue burden.




Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091002/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_overhaul

---

looks like they're heading in the right direction, but no mandate to purchase from the Insurance Company monsters should be what we end up with. The article talks about backlash from burdening the middle class during this economic crisis. I agree. That could have consequences if the middle class gets screwed in this deal when what they really need is some relief.

[tomm2thumbs]

1. now if they can get these folks who hide their money in the Cayman Islands, we might have something

I can haz change now?

[Hubert Flottz]

2. K&R

[SandWalker1984]

3. The harsh, cold facts & my conclusions regarding health care reform.

Before we can have any meaningful reform of the health care industry (and it has become too big of a business), we must face the harsh, cold facts of what we are up against.

PROFITS - the focus of these companies is PROFITS, not people and not health care. What kind of profits? Huge, excessive profits, achieved by rationing health care.


HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY PROFITS IN 2007:

1. UnitedHealth Group—$ 4.654 BILLION. UnitedHealth Group owns Oxford, PacifiCare, IBA, AmeriChoice, Evercare, Ovations, MAMSI and Ingenix, a healthcare data company

2. WellPoint—$ 3.345 BILLION. Wellpoint owns BLUES across the US, including Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin, Empire HealthChoice Assurance, Healthy Alliance, and many others

3. Aetna Inc.—$ 1.831 BILLION

4. CIGNA Corp—$ 1.115 BILLION

5. Humana Inc.—$ 834 million

6. Coventry Health Care—$626 million. Coventry owns Altius, Carelink, Group Health Plan, HealthAmerica, OmniCare, WellPath, others

7. Health Net—$ 194 million

****************

EXCESSIVE SALARIES AND COMPENSATION - the CEO's that run these corporations are compensated well for denying and rationing YOUR health care. How much do they make?

(from dailykos.com)
2008 Salaries & Compensation - the top 10 in Health Care

Ron Williams - Aetna
Total Compensation: $24,300,112
Details: Williams earned $24,300,112 in total compensation for 2008, with more than half of that ($13,537,365) coming from option awards. He also received an additional $6,456,630 in stock awards to go along with his base salary of $1,091,764.
Personal use of a corporate aircraft and vehicle, as well as financial planning and 401(k) company matches added up to $101,487 for Williams.


H. Edward Hanway - CIGNA
Total Compensation: $12,236,740
Details: Hanway took a significant pay cut from 2007 to 2008, due mainly to a drop off of more than $11 million in his non-equity incentive plan compensation. Still, his base salary of $1,142,885 surpasses that of Aetna's Williams, and is supplemented by just over $3.6 million in option awards, and just over $820,000 in non-qualified deferred compensation earnings.
Also, nearly $21,800 in "other compensation" included the use of a company car with a driver, in-office meals, and emergency assistance services relating to medical exams.


Angela Braly - WellPoint
Total Compensation: $9,844,212
Details: Braly, like Williams, earned more money in 2008 ($9,844,212) than in 2007 (9,094,271), increasing her option rewards by nearly $1.5 million, and also receiving a $200,000-plus bump in base salary, from $922,269 to $1,135,538. Braly's stock awards dropped from $2,160,159 to $1,750,015 because, according to the SEC, "performance-based restricted stock units awarded in 2008 were cancelled because our ROE target for 2008 was not met."
Braly's "other compensation" comprised use of a private jet for her and her family on business trips, just under $10,000 for legal services relating to her employment agreement and cash credits.


Dale Wolf - Coventry Health Care
Total Compensation: $9,047,469
Details: Wolf is the only CEO on this list who is no longer employed with his associated health plan; he retired from his position on Jan. 30 of this year after serving in that role since Jan. 1, 2005, and was replaced by former CEO Allen Wise.
Wolf, whose total compensation dipped quite a bit from 2007 ($14,869,823) to 2008 ($9,047,469), was pleased with the direction the company was headed in at the time of his departure.

"I am proud of what a talented group of people have accomplished over the past 13 years of my association with the company," Wolf said, "and I am confident that the fundamentals which are in place today will carry the company forward to continued success."

Wolf carried a base salary of $965,000 in 2008, and earned just over $1.9 million in stock awards. His "other compensation," which amounted to $486,447, included transportation on the company's airplane, a company match retirement savings plan and a company match 401(k) plan.


Michael Neidorff - Centene
Total Compensation: $8,774,483
Details: Neidorff, who's base salary remained at $1 million, received increases in both his bonus ($1.25 million, up from $1 million) and his stock awards ($4.7 million, from $3.98 million) in 2008. According to the SEC, "Neidorff's agreement was amended twice in the past twelve months; (1) to eliminate the non-compete and non-solicitation requirements if there was a ‘hostile change in control' as defined in his agreement and (2) to add language to the agreement to make it compliant with Internal Revenue Section 409A."
Neidorff's "other compensation" of just over $418,000 comprised of use of the company airplane "for all travel," life insurance benefits, security services, and tax preparation services, among other things.


James Carlson - AMERIGROUP
Total Compensation: $5,292,546
Details: Despite a lawsuit regarding Medicaid fraud that cost the Illinois plan $225 million, Carlson himself earned roughly $2 million more than he did in 2007. All aspects of his compensation increased in 2008, from his base salary (up from $608,000 to just over $761,000) to his non-equity incentive plan compensation (up to about $2.8 million from $1.98 million a year ago). Carlson's bonus also grew quite a bit, going from $225,000 in 2007 to $520,312 in 2008; much of that amount was based on long term incentive program goals being met.
Carlson's "other compensation," which nearly tripled (going from about $7,000 to just over $20,000), included his employer 401(k) contribution, life insurance premiums, an executive health screening, flight services and a medical insurance stipend.


Michael McCallister - Humana
Total Compensation: $4,764,309
Details: Despite its pick ups of two smaller health plans (OSF Health Plans of Peoria, IL and Cos/Cariten Healthcare of Knoxville, TN), Humana's McCallister earned roughly $5.5 million less in 2008 than in 2007. While his base salary ($1,017,308), option awards ($3,078,897) and "other compensation" ($668,104) all increased, his non-equity incentive plan compensation and his nonqualified deferred compensation earnings totaled zero dollars. The latter represents a discontinuation of the Officers' Target Retirement Plan, according to the SEC.

McCallister's "other compensation" included personal use of the company aircraft for him, and sometimes his family; company contributions to the Supplemental Executive Retirement & Savings Plan and the Humana Retirement & Savings Plan; a once-a-year physical, financial planning assistance, and more.


Jay Gellert - Health Net
Total Compensation: $4,425,355
Details: Gellert, whose company is considering selling off divisions in at least four states, earned nearly $740,000 in additional compensation for 2008. His overall base salary increased to a little more than $1.2 million from about $1.18 million in 2007, and his stock awards also rose (from about $1.4 million to more than $1.8 million).
Gellert's "other compensation," which totaled $131,526, included, but were not limited to, a $53,000 housing allowance, a corporate car and tax reimbursements of nearly $41,000.


Richard Barasch - Universal American
Total Compensation: $3,503,702
Details: After taking a pay cut from 2006 to 2007, Barasch more than doubled his total compensation for 2008, jumping up from $1,564,293 in 2007. Barasch's base salary jumped up to $857,851 from $798,340 in 2007; his stock and option awards also increased, as did his "other compensation," which reflected a car allowance, relocation benefits and a matching contribution to his 401(k).
Also of note for Barasch was the fact that his non-equity incentive plan compensation earnings totaled $1,195,147; in 2007, he did not receive any money in 2007 for such compensation, but took home $1.1 million in 2006.


Stephen Hemsley - UnitedHealth Group
Total Compensation: $3,241,042
Details: An $895 million class-action lawsuit over stock-option back dating aside, Hemsley still manages to make the cut for this list at No. 10. The UHG CEO's base salary was $1.3 million in 2008, to go along with a non-equity incentive plan compensation worth just over $1.8 million and "other compensation" amounting to slightly more than $119,000.

Hemsley's other compensation was a combination of the company matching his contributions under the 401(k) plan and the company matching contributions under his executive savings plan. According to the SEC, "in May 2006, the amount of Hemsley's supplemental retirement benefit was frozen based on his current age and average base salary and converted into a lump sum of $10,703,229." Because of this, "there was no increase in the benefit payable to Mr. Hemsley under his supplemental retirement benefit" in 2008.

***********

I've reached the following conclusions regarding Congress & health care reform:

(1) The profits are too large, the pay scales too excessive for the health care industry to willingly allow meaningful reform that benefits us, the people.

(2) Many, if not most, members of Congress, along with Obama, are recipients of large donations from these health industry corporations. Donations they do not wish to see stopped or given to opponents in the next election cycle.

(3) Therefore, Congress is attempting to make the so called health care reform into token reform to try to appease us, the voters, while in reality they are planning the biggest giveaway (500 billion dollars or more, according to Jay Rockefeller) to that industry ever. They also plan to mandate we purchase private, overpriced and under delivering insurance from this industry to keep their donations rolling in.

(4) No meaningful regulation of the health care industry will take place as long as the industry is calling the shots with Congress. Most of the Baucus bill was written by lobbyists from WellPoint.

Unless some more Democrats suddenly get religion regarding true health care reform, it is better to defeat the Democrats and this sham legislation. It is better to defeat it now rather than hand the health care industry more customers, more money, more power so they can buy even more members of Congress.

NO legislation is better than bad legislation.

Better to end this battle now and fight again later than to surrender our well being to these mega, profit generating, out of control machines.


No wonder the Republicans have been sitting this one out - do the math, it's far more advantageous politically for them to let the Democrats hang themselves on this corporate giveaway of a bill.

[groundloop]

7. Well hell, my insurance CEO is only # 10 on the money list

I'd have figured he'd be a lot higher than that, especially after seeing how artfully they've managed to deny care to my wife for nearly a year.

[Cass]

8. Great post. Good info about their obscene profits and salaries.

You should make this an OP if you haven't already.

[GinaMaria]

10. This should be a thread all its own

Those numbers are breath-taking.

[John Q. Citizen]

4. The insurance companies love it. If that's what you mean by the right direction.

I think it's a corporatist sell out, myself. Why keep leaches in the mix? money is why. Payoffs. Bribes.

If payoffs and bribes are the right direction, then what's the wrong direction?

[GinaMaria]

11. I think you misunderstood my post

right direction as in less of our money going to ins cos... hopefully ending at no money going to them. The leaches, payoffs and bribes are what will cause the backlash from the middle class. Forcing us to buy health insurance is not healthcare reform and we know it. 8% of my income is too much to go to the leaches, but they are pushing that number down and my hope is that it will reach zero. There is a backlash brewing and it could cost the dems years in terms of re-election.

[John Q. Citizen]

12. I will vote for anyone over Baucus, should he run again in 2014. I will even

cast my vote for any Republican challenger he may have in the general should he run and win the primary. And that will be a first for me.

In 2008, i didn't vote in his Senate race, I just skipped it. Next time i will actively vote against that corrupt whore, even if it's for a different corrupt whore for the other party.

I've had it.

[GinaMaria]

13. As your post demonstrates, the backlash

has already started for some Dems. The change coming might be a change in democratic voters and what they will and won't tolerate. Middle class voters are about to vote with their middle finger! There's a line drawn in the sand. Hope those in Washington take the time to see it.

[John Q. Citizen]

14. After Baucus crossed the aisle to vote for the rip off Medicare part D I took an

oath to never vote for him again.

I've enlarged that oath to now always vote against him, no matter who his challenger is.

I've had it with that criminal conspiracy called a Senator.

[Iowa]

15. We need a lot more of this. I'm with you 100% and will do the same.

Most politicians have no conscience; retribution is the only thing they understand.

[boppers]

5. From a 10% "tax" to 8%?

It's still going to be a nightmare to try and enforce.

[dipsydoodle]

6. would bar insurance companies .........

will simply cause insurance companies to increase the premiums of ALL policies to cover the overall cost. In that way it becomes easy for them to comply with not "denying coverage or charging higher premiums on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions."

[natrat]

9. change you can believe in