Tag: Mike Rogers (page 4)

A Reading Guide to the Senate Bill's Backroom Deals

"I think the health care debate as it unfolded legitimately raised concerns not just among my opponents, but also amongst supporters that we just don't know what's going on.  And it's an ugly process and it looks like there are a bunch of back room deals."

-- President Obama, interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, January 25, 2010[i]

The White House recently released its own health care proposal[ii] in the form of changes to the 2,733 page legislation (H.R. 3590) that passed the Senate in December.[iii]  While the proposal purports to remove the "Nebraska FMAP provision" that saw 49 other states funding Nebraska's Medicaid largesse (known as the "Cornhusker Kickback"), it does not address other deals negotiated by Democrats in the Senate legislation.  Many other backroom agreements are included in the Senate bill, which the White House has now endorsed as the platform for Democrats to enact "health reform" into law:

Page 428--Section 2006, known as the "Louisiana Purchase," provides an extra $300 million in Medicaid funding to Louisiana.[iv]

Page 878--Section 3201(g), known  as the "Gator Aid" provision, shields certain Florida residents from Medicare Advantage cuts.  In December, 57 Senate Democrats voted not to extend this special deal to all Medicare beneficiaries.[v]

Page 2132--Section 10201(e)(1) provides an increase in Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments for Hawaii, meaning 49 other states will pay more in taxes so that Hawaii can receive this special benefit.

Page 2222--Section 10323 makes certain individuals exposed to environmental hazards eligible for Medicare coverage.  The definition used in the bill ensures the only individuals eligible will be those living in Libby, Montana.

Page 2237--Section 10324 increases Medicare payments by $2 billion in "frontier states."[vi]

Page 2354-- Section 10502 spends $100 million on "debt service of, or direct construction of, a health care facility," language which the sponsors intended to benefit Connecticut.[vii]

Page 2394--Section 10905(c) includes language exempting Nebraska Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Michigan Blue Cross/Blue Shield from the new tax on health insurance companies, despite an Administration-released report calling Michigan Blue Cross/Blue Shield's 2009 rate increases "disturbing."[viii]

Page 2395--Section 10905(d) exempts Medigap supplemental insurance plans sold by Mutual of Omaha, headquartered in Nebraska, from the new tax on health insurance companies.

These specific agreements and provisions also do not display the full scope of the White House's legislative deal-making.  For instance, the head of the pharmaceutical industry said the Administration approached him to negotiate a secret arrangement with his industry: "We were assured, `We need somebody to come in first.  If you come in first, you will have a rock-solid deal.'"[ix]  And former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean publicly admitted at a town hall forum that "The reason that tort reform is not in the [health care] bill is because the [Democrat Members] who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers."[x]

For some perspective, the entire budget for the State of Michigan in one year is about $45 billion.  That is money for things like public education, prisons, and roads.  

In Washington, DC though that is chump change.

First, in January of this year Congress passed a $787 billion "stimulus" bill.  That bill spent money we don't have on everything from ant research to new toilets and on thousands of checks to dead people and convicted felons.

Then, Congress passed President Obama's budget which calls for $9 trillion in NEW debt over ten years.  That's a doubling of the already staggering $12 trillion national debt accumulated since America's founding.  According to this budget, by 2020, each man, woman and child would owe $150,000 in debt.

Governors of Alaska, Alabama and Arizona
Governors of California and Florida
Governors of Idaho, Indiana and Louisiana
Governors of Mississippi and Nebraska
Governors of North Dakota, Nevada and Rhode Island
Governors of South Carolina and Texas
Governor of Utah

Proposals in both the House and Senate would dramatically expand the Medicaid program, putting states on the hook for $35 billion in new budget liabilities - all at a time when states are struggling to balance their budgets.  This expansion would also severely handcuff states' ability to run their own programs and preempt state authority to manage Medicaid eligibility and benefits.  Here's what some of the governors had to say:

"All these mandates limit state control and flexibility to control the Medicaid program."
-Governor Sean Parnell of Alaska

"The current rush to overhaul the system will ultimately do more damage than good and create far more problems than it solves.  And unfortunately, Indiana would bear the brunt of many of the reckless policies being proposed."
-Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana

"Nevadans cannot afford more taxes. Now is not the time to place unfunded Medicaid or other mandates on the states."
-Governor Jim Gibbons of Nevada

"Mississippi, like so many states, simply can't afford to pick up the tab for another unfunded mandate passed by Congress."
-Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi

"Democrats in Congress have been busy tinkering with a Washington takeover of the health-care system, but perhaps they should look instead to the states for models of market-driven, patient-centered and quality-focused reform."
-Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota