Lincoln Non-Committal On Reid Plan For Public Option With Opt-Out
Now that Senator Harry Reid appears likely to announce today that the final Senate bill will include a public option with an opt-out — a bold gamble that assumes it’ll have the support of 60 Senators in the end — it’s time to figure out which moderate Dem Senators are holding out and refusing to indicate they’ll support it.
Here’s one: Senator Blanche Lincoln. Her spokesperson confirms to me that she is not committing to it.
The key is to ask moderate Dems whether they’re willing to vote Yes on the initial, procedural vote, which requires 60 to bring the legislation to the floor. I asked Lincoln spokesperson Katie Laning Niebaum if Lincoln had indicated to Reid whether she’d vote Yes on cloture.
“Senator Lincoln has not committed her vote to anyone,” Niebaum emailed, adding that “she will have to see the legislative language and cost first and will evaluate it based on its impact on Arkansans.”
Reid has been working the phones for days lining up Senate support, and Senate brinkmanship being what it is, it’s possible that Senators maintaining a noncommital public posture have privately signaled that they’ll be there in the end.
Many in D.C. appear convinced that Reid is a handful of votes away from getting 60. If true, Reid’s apparent decision to go public with his plan could ratchet up the pressure on the holdouts, lest they be cast as the final obstacles to allowing the majority party stage a vote on legislation containing a provision (the public option) supported by the majority of Americans.
We’ll be tracking this today.
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“Reid has been working the phones for days lining up Senate support,”
All the pressure on Obama – SMH – this is Reid’s effing job and finally – finally – he’s doing it.
Finally.
Careful, Greg! Your readers are not big fans of “what if” scenarios.
“It’s possible that Senators maintaining a noncommital public posture….”
“If true, Reid’s apparent decision to go public with his plan could ratchet up the pressure…”
“Careful, Greg! Your readers are not big fans of “what if” scenarios.”
As if you don’t get it, sbj – it’s not anyone else’s “what ifs” that anyone objects to – it’s YOURS because it’s frakking constant. Just like everything else you seize on – it’s constant.
Will we always depend on the kindness of Blanche!
@tena: It’s great to have you back – with your made-up words and odd acronyms.
Oh, and your logic…
And consistency…
BTW: Good reporting, Greg.
(the public option) supported by the majority of Americans.
Please be more specific here and please speak the truth, the majority of Americans do not support this, how is it that the truth is no longer printed in todays news?
sbj, are you really Maxine Aronson, by any chance? I went to law school with Maxine and she wasted all our time in every class coming up with the most outre hypotheticals (what ifs, in case you don’t get the comparison.) When we were talking about the Rule in Shelley’s Case: life in being + 21 years – when we were discussing the presumption that that 21 years contains – ie that the person who is the “life in being” could have progeny that would live 21 years – she popped up with “What if she’s a nun?”
oy.
Take away this cow’s AG chairmanship if she doesn’t vote for cloture.
@tena: I can’t follow a word of what you’ve written. Isn’t outre French for egg?
Hey Kris – way to go – calling a woman a cow!
sbj – I’m sorry I’m over your head.
ahem.
Healthcare system wastes up to $800 billion a year
Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:53am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. healthcare system is just as wasteful as President Barack Obama says it is, and proposed reforms could be paid for by fixing some of the most obvious inefficiencies, preventing mistakes and fighting fraud, according to a Thomson Reuters report released on Monday.
The U.S. healthcare system wastes between $505 billion and $850 billion every year, the report from Robert Kelley, vice president of healthcare analytics at Thomson Reuters, found.
“America’s healthcare system is indeed hemorrhaging billions of dollars, and the opportunities to slow the fiscal bleeding are substantial,” the report reads.
“The bad news is that an estimated $700 billion is wasted annually. That’s one-third of the nation’s healthcare bill,” Kelley said in a statement.
“The good news is that by attacking waste we can reduce healthcare costs without adversely affecting the quality of care or access to care.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59P0L320091026
Mr. Sargent:
Meanwhile…a POLL!
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
Uh-oh…Obama at -12, he’s dropped three points on the index.
same article continued:
One example — a paper-based system that discourages sharing of medical records accounts for 6 percent of annual overspending.
“It is waste when caregivers duplicate tests because results recorded in a patient’s record with one provider are not available to another or when medical staff provides inappropriate treatment because relevant history of previous treatment cannot be accessed,” the report reads.
Some other findings in the report from Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters:
* Unnecessary care such as the overuse of antibiotics and lab tests to protect against malpractice exposure makes up 37 percent of healthcare waste or $200 to $300 billion a year.
* Fraud makes up 22 percent of healthcare waste, or up to $200 billion a year in fraudulent Medicare claims, kickbacks for referrals for unnecessary services and other scams.
* Administrative inefficiency and redundant paperwork account for 18 percent of healthcare waste.
* Medical mistakes account for $50 billion to $100 billion in unnecessary spending each year, or 11 percent of the total.
* Preventable conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes cost $30 billion to $50 billion a year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59P0L320091026
Then fix that first!
@ethan: We can assume you now support medical malpractice reform and want to see it included in h/c reform?
Why are we asking Senator Lincoln what her vote will be, and not the other 99 Senators.
I am not convinced that it would be smart for Senator Lincoln to tell this blog how she plans on voting. All it would do would be opening herself up to a lot of public pressure to change her mind, regardless of which way she revealed she was going to vote?
Let the Democratic Caucus put private pressure on her, and any other possible hold outs.
If Senator Lincoln really votes with the Republicans to kill Health Care Reform, then we can take action to defeat her. Then Blanche can go back to relying on the kindness of Strangers.
” Medical mistakes account for $50 billion to $100 billion in unnecessary spending each year, or 11 percent of the total.”
Bingo.
“Unnecessary care such as the overuse of antibiotics and lab tests to protect against malpractice exposure makes up 37 percent of healthcare waste or $200 to $300 billion a year.”
If they’d quit spending all their time outraged over medical malpractice suits and practicing good medicine instead, the instance of the filing of those suits would dramatically go down.
But they refuse to look at the problem right way up – they refuse to admit it’s their fault for practicing crappy medicine. Instead they believe their malpractice carriers, who tell them it isn’t their fault, it’s the lawyers. The lawyers wouldn’t have anything to do if the doctors would quit killing and maiming patients.
Tell me who the bad Doctors are, so I can avoid them, then I will support Tort Reform. As long as Doctors and Hospitals protect the bad practitioners, then they deserve to get their Cover-Up Arses sued.
I still do not get how doctors get to be a “special class” of Americans who get special government protection when they frak up.
I never will get it – it’s fraking ridiculous and the founders would plotz.
“Meanwhile…a POLL!”
A Rasmussen poll. LOL
Tena – From a policy standpoint, the question is how best to prevent medical errors, and malpractice suits are a very poor system. They fail to address many errors, and they unfairly punish doctors who practiced good medicine but had a poor outcome.
Of course, doctors would like to replace a poor system with no system, which would be even worse.
“Unnecessary care such as the overuse of antibiotics and lab tests to protect against malpractice exposure makes up 37 percent of healthcare waste or $200 to $300 billion a year.”
Yes, let’s not do anything at all about the 800 lb gorilla in the room!
An Important Public Message From AHIP
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Why let an organized group of sick malcontents ruin it for all you healthy people?
Healthy People, who never run up any medical bills, are in good hands with AHIP. Do not let a bunch of sickos ruin it for all of you.
Remember: As long as you Stay Healthy, AHIP Will Stay With You!
AHIP HIP HOORAY FOR HEALTHY PEOPLE. THEY MAKE FOR HEALTHY PROFITS.
Rachel -” and they unfairly punish doctors who practiced good medicine but had a poor outcome.”
That’s a myth.
I don’t necessarily consider malpractice the way to address errors – I consider it the way for people to address the wrongs done to them, fairly, which is something that is a big deal. Without torts, most people could never afford to bring the person who wronged them into court.
It’s a fundamental party of the 3d branch of our government – the last place someone without money can get heard.
party – no. Part.
Tort cases and class actions are the two most democratic functions our judicial system performs and the GOP hates both.
Quel surprise!
“Unnecessary care such as the overuse of antibiotics and lab tests to protect against malpractice exposure makes up 37 percent of healthcare waste or $200 to $300 billion a year.”
That is a fascinating story – thanks Ethan. I’m not so sure it bolster’s Pelosi’s version of healthcare reform. I see this amount of waste and think “Let’s fix this first then. We can save $800 billion right now and lower premiums for everybody.” I see this amount of waste caused by fear of malpractice exposure and wonder why the h/c bills don’t include tort reform.
@Greg
Again, this is another “no comment” comment by the Sen. Lincoln. You still haven’t shown a single instance of a ConservaDem who said they will NOT vote for cloture for any version of the public option. This story is no exception.
I’m not dissing this reporting – this is definately newsworthy. But “not committing” is far from saying she will filibuster. If the CBO scores this about as well as the House bills with POs did, then I imagine it will certainly get the 60 it needs.
What if sbj were really Greg playing devils advocate on every single blog entry he posts?
Apply this way of treating Malpractice, across the entire country, and the problem becomes easy to manage, and Insurance and settlement costs will be reduced dramatically. The University Of Michigan Hospital System has already demonstrated how to get it done.
Go to the link, and read about how they accomplished it, and also use the links on their site, to get even more details about how they solved their Malpractice crisis.
http://www.med.umich.edu/news/newsroom/mm.htm
Here’s the new ad running in Maine asking Obama to fight for the Public Option, even though Snowe doesn’t like it.
http://www.actblue.com/page/obamafight
“mike from Arlington | October 26th, 2009 at 02:06 pm
What if sbj were really Greg playing devils advocate on every single blog entry he posts?”
LOL!
What if sbj is really Ann Althouse? Somewhat similar style -
Rachel -” and they unfairly punish doctors who practiced good medicine but had a poor outcome.”
Tena – That’s a myth.
I don’t think so. Why is malpractice insurance so high for OBs and other specialists who do high-risk procedures?
Here’s a questions I’ve got.
Does anyone here remember who voted for cloture on what say a year ago?
Are they often used as campaign tools to target your competition?
I wonder if 75% of the public knows wtf a cloture vote is. Blanche should poll her constituents on it. I would assume she could easily vote up/down and nobody would remember that up vote nor would her competition try and explain the difference to the voters on why her up/down vote was a bad thing.
I mean, all Blanche has to do is say, I voted no on the health care bill. Maybe I’m looking at this too simply.
@mike: Good point. Politico also points out that we are talking about the first cloture vote – the one that allows the bill to be considered. There will be another cloture vote later that would allow debate to end.
I think Blanche’s problem is that she will be blamed if the liberal agenda is enacted – whether she votes no or not, on cloture or the final bill. That’s the problem for conservative Dems in general, it’s not their particular votes – it’s being associated with very liberal policies. They won their seats because they are supposed to be moderates.
speaking of that, trigger still very much alive…
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/the-trigger-lives-trigger-still-has-more-votes-than-opt-out-in-senate/
Good lord. It is high because they perform high risk procedures. The answer is self evident in the question.
The higher the risk, the more Insurance is going to cost, no matter what is being covered, be it a Doctor or a Spear Catcher. That is not unfair punishment. It is an actuarial reality
60 Democrats vote for Cloture. Only 51 need vote to pass the bill. The other nine can say that they did not vote to pass the bill.
“That’s the problem for conservative Dems in general, it’s not their particular votes – it’s being associated with very liberal policies”
That’s a grand excuse to perpetuate the unsustainable status quo indefinitely. /sarcasm
Republican framing: Not the status quo = very liberal policies
That’s how you can tell they are intellectually bankrupt. Use semantics and gotcha games to maintain the status quo at all costs. It’s truly sad and pathetic.
Liam – Quite. The point is that the procedures (such as birth!) should be done, that they are sued when poor outcomes are not their fault, and that even doctors in those specialties who have never been sued pay more than those in specialties that bear less risk – even though we absolutely need physicians practicing those specialties.
From an actuarial standpoint it makes perfect sense. From a policy standpoint it doesn’t.
“Only 51 need vote to pass the bill. The other nine can say that they did not vote to pass the bill.”
Yes, that’ll work:
“I didn’t vote for it.”
“But the rest of the Dems did!”
“Um, so re-elect me?”
Again,
Lawsuits are just the symptom and not the disease. When the Medical Profession wants to then can find ways to reduce mistakes and Insurance costs. The also need to expose the habitually bad doctors, and let patients avoid being treated by them.
Read this article on how Malpractices cases can be reduced greatly, and Insurance costs also greatly reduced. It has already been done.
Apply this way of treating Malpractice, across the entire country, and the problem becomes easy to manage, and Insurance and settlement costs will be reduced dramatically. The University Of Michigan Hospital System has already demonstrated how to get it done.
Go to the link, and read about how they accomplished it, and also use the links on their site, to get even more details about how they solved their Malpractice crisis.
http://www.med.umich.edu/news/newsroom/mm.htm
Yes SBJ, Officials run for re-election on their voting records, and opponents run against them, because of their voting records. I know that you need the weirdest reasons to even go vote, but almost all rational voters, cast their votes for congress or senate races, based on the records of the people that they can actually vote for.
I actually think that a lot of people vote for someone based on what party they belong to.
sbj, you don’t give a damn about re-electing moderate Dems to the senate. So just stfu about cloture.
So lame that you make those of us in the reality-based community sift through your pollution in order to have a substantive dialog. You remind me of a cat with diarrhea. Plastering the walls with your cr@p.
SBJ,
How would you know. You said that the only reason you even bothered to vote last year, was because you wanted to keep a black man out of the White House. You were not going to vote, if both candidates were White.
I thought cats were supposed to be neat?
@Liam: Can I just say, once again, brilliant!
Senator Lincoln is going to be a national disgrace if she votes the the Republican regressives against helping the sick and poor in our poor state. Blanche there is no option but the public option. It’s not worth going to work for a consulting firm or corporate Republican lobby shop. As Dylan says, “Everybody’s got to serve somebody.” Who’s it going to be Blanche?