"Sen. Mitch McConnell: Approving health bill would be historic mistake"

[TomCADem]

The ironic thing is that no one in the media will ask Mitch McConnell and Jim Demint why they did not lift a finger to try to help approve an effective health care reform bill, rather than trying to make health care reform President Obama's Waterloo. No one will ask why the Republicans should not be held accountable for holding political gamesmanship above the development of a solution to a crisis that has been brewing for decades. Instead, the Republicans will get to freely complain about the lack of bi-partisan support for the bill.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20091219/OPINION01/912190306/1008/opinion01/Sen.-Mitch-McConnell--Approving-health-bill-would-be-historic-mistake

Sen. Mitch McConnell: Approving health bill would be historic mistake

Sen. Mitch McConnell

When Senate Democrats huddled at the White House for a presidential pep talk on health care this week, most of the pundits focused in on a handful of intransigent Democrats. But the problem Democratic leaders are having in passing the Obama administration's signature domestic issue is with the American people, who overwhelmingly oppose the Democrat plan.

It's easy to see why. In early September, Obama came to Capitol Hill and made a dramatic plea for health care reform that would "slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government." Three months later, Democrat leaders unveiled a $2.5 trillion 2,074-page bill that fails the president's own first principles of reform. Incredibly, they still want to pass it.

This would be a terrible mistake. Americans are outraged that lawmakers who promised to lighten the financial burden of rising health care costs are now poised to pass a bill that would make these burdens even greater. That's the primary reason why a recent CNN poll shows that 61 percent of Americans oppose this bill. People feel like they've been taken for a ride in this debate, and they're not happy.

[leftstreet]

1. Don't beat me up, but McConnell's making a populist point

Holy political trainwrecks!

$2.5 trillion for what?

:shrug:

[TomCADem]

3. Here you go...

This is just a summary:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5BI21720091219

COST ESTIMATES

* The Congressional Budget Office said the legislation, with the proposed changes that are being offered as an amendment to the bill, would cost about $871 billion over the first 10 years. Those costs would be more than offset by $483 billion in spending savings and $498 billion in revenues over the period. CBO said the bill would reduce the deficit by about $132 billion between 2010 and 2019.

* * *

SMALL BUSINESS TAX CREDITS

* The small business tax credit for healthcare coverage would be sweetened so that more firms would qualify. The tax credits would be available in 2010, a year earlier than originally proposed. The income threshold would be increased so that they will be available on a sliding scale to firms with fewer than 25 workers and an average wages of less than $50,000. Employers with 10 or fewer workers and average wages of less than $25,000 can get the full credit.

MEDICAL LOSS RATIO AND INSURANCE COVERAGE

* Insurers' profits and administrative expenses would be capped by a requirement that they pay a minimum amount of annual premium income on medical benefits. Insurance plans for large groups would have to spend at least 85 cents out of every dollar on medical costs. Small group and individual plans would have to spend at least 80 cents on the dollar for care.

* Insurers would immediately be prohibited from excluding health coverage for children due to pre-existing conditions.

INDUSTRY FEES AND PAYROLL TAXES

* The amendment calls for a slightly higher Medicare payroll tax for high-income people than the underlying bill. Instead of a 0.5 percent increase in the tax for individuals earning $200,000 and couples earning $250,000 or more, the amendment calls for a 0.9 percent increase in the tax.

* A proposed tax on elective cosmetic surgery and treatments would be dropped. Instead a 10 percent tax would be imposed on indoor tanning beds, which health experts say can cause cancer.

* Proposed new taxes on insurers and medical device makers would be delayed by one year under the amendment. But they would be ramped up over time. The bill originally proposed a $6.7 billion a year tax on the health insurance industry. Now the new tax would start in 2011 and gradually increase to $10 billion in 2017. Medical device industry will pay $2 billion a year starting in 2011 and $3 billion after 2017

[gravity]

2. Blah, Blah, Blah

What did you expect from the party of no?

[eridani]

4. Stopped clocks are right twice a day

This useless parasite of course has no alternatives whatsoever.

[TomCADem]

5. He's The Senate Minority Leader, He Could Fix Whatever He Believes Is Wrong

It is one thing for someone on DU to bitch about the bill, but Mitch McConnell is the Senate minority leader for goodness sakes. He could easily engage in the process and improve the bill.