NewsRack: newstrust/Health-Care/Individual-Mandate

Joke of the Day - The Atlantic - Matthew Ygblesias

myglesias — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Julie Mason “reporting” for the Washington Examiner got me to do an actual spit-take: “If they pull off this crazy scenario they are putting together, they are going to destroy a lot of the comity in the House,” said Brian Darling, a congressional expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Every day needs some comic relief.

Et tu, Mitt? - Red State

() — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Bob Bennett, as you know, is the TARP-backing, Bridge-to-Nowhere-supporting, health-care-takeover-proposing RINO running for his life to win re-nomination in Utah for a fourth term. Bob Bennett’s health care proposal – it’s called the Wyden-Bennett bill, remember – includes an individual mandate, forces taxpayers to subsidize abortions, supports “domestic partner” benefits, and would cost more than $1 trillion. He is an unrepentant earmarker, whom Senator Jim DeMint has conspicuously declined to endorse for re-election. Conservatives in Utah are rallying around Bennett’s challengers, and the Club for Growth is actively working to defeat him at the May nominating convention. So who does Bennett call on to save his career? Mitt ...

PETER SUDERMAN: The White House Kindly Requests You Do Not Refer to Its Health Care Budget Gimmicks… - Instapundit

Glenn Reynolds — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

PETER SUDERMAN: The White House Kindly Requests You Do Not Refer to Its Health Care Budget Gimmicks as “Gimmicks”. “When early drafts of health care reform rang up at around $1.6 trillion, Washington underwent a massive freakout; it became clear that passing a bill that kind of price tag was almost certainly impossible. [...]

Insurance Mandate May Need Strict Penalties - NPR News

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The health care plans before Congress require individuals to purchase insurance. But the penalty for violating the individual mandate may be so low that healthy people might be tempted to pay it instead of buying insurance. That would leave insurers with less healthy customers, prompting companies to raise their rates, prompting more people to drop out, and so forth.

Howard Dean: Reconciliation Should Include Medicare Buy-In or Restore House Version - Crooks Liars

Heather — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Chris Hayes filling in for Rachel Maddow talks to Howard Dean about the protests held outside of the Ritz-Carlton "where the insurance companies were having their conference and plotting to kill health reform". Dean also weighed in on what he thinks should happen if the bill does pass -- the Senate should either include a Medicare buy-in or restore the House version which has a public option. He also thinks they should get rid of the individual mandate and that might make it a decent bill. I guess we'll find out if anyone's listening to Dean shortly if the bill does make it through the House. ...

Mitt Romney Won’t Say if the Foundation of Romneycare is Unconstitutional - The Atlantic - Matthew Ygblesias

myglesias — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Barack Obama’s health insurance reform plan involves an individual mandate. So does the plan that Mitt Romney signed as Governor of Massachusetts. At the time Romney signed the plan, he was a moderate Republican and CommonwealthCare was considered a sober-minded centrist plan. Now Romney is a conservative, and conservatives have decided that ObamaCare is a [...]

Mitt Romney Refuses To Say If The Foundation Of The Massachusetts Health System Is Constitutional - Think Progres

Lee Fang — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

In recent days, former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) has tried to simultaneously tear down President Obama’s proposals to reform healthcare, while defending his own legacy of reforming healthcare in Massachusetts. Romney’s health plan includes an expansion of Medicaid using $385 million in annual Federal money, as well as an individual mandate and a sliding scale [...]

Irony in Three Parts - The Moderate Voice

PETE ABEL, Managing Editor — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The Republican-controlled Missouri House has officially voiced opposition to an individual mandate to purchase health insurance. Last weekend, Missouri Republicans lauded retiring U.S. Senator Kit Bond. One of the speakers heaping praise on Bond was Catherine Hanaway, who once served as an aide to the Senator and subsequently as Speaker of the State [...]

The Opt-Out Safety Valve -

mgoozner — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Princeton sociologist Paul Starr in today's New York Times suggests the Democrats add an opt-out provision to the individual mandate to buy health insurance included in the reform bills. This is a timely reworking of his column in the American Prospect last December, which I endorsed here . In brief, his proposal would allow Americans who don't want to buy insurance and don't want to pay penalties to avoid those obligations simply by signing a waiver of their right to buy subsidized coverage through the national exchange -- which must be open to all comers no matter what their previous health status -- for at least five years. In other words, Starr writes, they could opt-out and face the same market the uninsured face today when they get very ...

Insurers vs Insurance Reform - The Atlantic - Matthew Ygblesias

myglesias — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The Obama administration has structured its health insurance reform plan, from the beginning, in a way that’s more favorable to the interests of the insurance industry than a lot of alternative schemes would be. When the robust public option got watered-down to a level playing field public option, that became even more true. And with [...]

Bob Bennett Must Go: The Individual Mandate - NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

I don’t know about you, but I think when proposing such bold initiatives, our senators should actually ask, “Is it constitutional?” But it is clear Bob Bennett does not respect the constitution. [N]ot every member of the GOP opposes an individual mandate. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, backed an individual mandate as part of a bipartisan health reform bill he pushed with Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden. Their bill had a handful of other Republican sponsors as well. The Senate is not seriously considering the “Healthy Americans Act” at this time. Bennett said this week that the constitutional issues never came up as they crafted their health care fix. He said he looked at the individual mandate in health care ...

Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner on individual mandates at White House health summit - Washington Post: Politics

washingtonpost.com — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Bob Bennett Must Go - Red State

() — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The Club for Growth notes that Senator Bob Bennett sponsors and supports the so-called “Healthy Americans Act,” a trillion-dollar government takeover of healthcare that rivals ObamaCare for being a massive big government proposal. It would increase job-killing taxes, impose an individual mandate, increase health care costs, and would give Washington the authority to regulate every health care plan in the country. The legislation, S. 391, is considered by pro-life groups and even the Heritage Foundation to be as bad or worse than the Democrats’ proposal. ...

The Strange Death of the Public Option - The Atlantic - Matthew Ygblesias

myglesias — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

I don’t agree with his take on the policy issue, but Glenn Greenwald has an excellent piece on the strange death of the public option in which it’s clear that if we get a health care bill: 1. It won’t include a public option. 2. The public option won’t have been traded away for GOP cover. 3. The [...]

More of the Same, Only More Expensive - The Health Care Blog

Matthew — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

By SARAH PALIN The President has wrestled control of the health care debate away from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid by finally introducing his own plan. Unfortunately, the White House’s proposal includes everything we found untenable about the old Senate...

Doctors' Group: Obama Plan Leaves Millions Uninsured, Boosts Private Insurers - Common Dreams: Headlines

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

by Physicians for National Health Program

WASHINGTON - President Obama's health care proposal, preserving as it does a central role for the for-profit, private health insurance industry, is incapable of achieving the kind of universal, comprehensive and affordable reform the country needs, a spokesman for a national doctors' group said Wednesday.

Still on the Table? - FactCheck

Lori Robertson — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

So, what about those Republican health care plans? Contrary to claims made by some Democratic detractors, detailed GOP proposals, and a bipartisan bill with several GOP cosponsors, do exist. And they're scheduled to get attention at a half-day, televised "summit" meeting at Blair House on Feb. 25, with ...

Behind the Numbers: The public's take on Obama's health proposal - Washington Post: Politics

Jon Cohen — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Determined to push ahead on major reform of the country's health-care system, the White House today stitched together a series of proposals that have broad, but often malleable, public support. Of course, many of these ideas were in the House and Senate packages that have divided Americans since ...

Conservatives for 2010 - Red State

() — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Jed Babbin has the top story at Human Events today and previews a number of races around the country. I’ve got to take issue with one though. Jed writes: “Retired Navy pilot Mike Lee is challenging Sen. Bob Bennett for the Republican nomination this year. Lee seems like a great guy and some day may be a great candidate. But Bennett’s conservative credentials — though imperfect (he’s an earmark lover) are pretty solid.” Mike isn’t a retired Navy pilot and in my mind Bennett has few conservative credentials to stand on. Bennett is in favor of federal same sex marriage benefit laws, in favor of government funding of abortion, in favor of massive earmarks, in favor of an individual mandate for health care, in ...

Still on the Table? - FactCheck

Lori Robertson — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

How the White House Health Plan Compares - The Atlantic - Matthew Ygblesias

myglesias — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Here’s a table I poached from Igor Volsky: Provision Obama’ Bill House Bill Senate Bill Affordability Improves the Senate bill’s subsidies for lower income Americans. Families below $44,000 and above $66,000 would pay less in premiums. Also raises the percent of health costs that are paid by insurers from the Senate proposal. Families earning below $55,000 would still receive more subsidies [...]

The Obama HCR Proposal - NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed

mcjoan — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The White House healthcare reform proposal was released early this morning. In a conference call with reporters this morning, White House staff walked through the top lines of the proposal, which uses the Senate as a base bill and makes some nods to issues raised by the House. Most of the new provisions are devised to pass through a reconciliation package. Dan Pfeiffer, on the call, stressed a couple of times that the "American people deserve and up or down vote" on healthcare reform, and said that the White House specifically designed this package to work through reconciliation. While they "hope Republicans will come together" behind their own proposal and make it available before Thursday, it wold seem the White House isn't holding their ...

Most States Oppose Federal Insurance Mandate - NPR News

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Even if Democrats can manage to agree on a health care bill, there's widespread rebellion from the states. More than 30 states are moving to block the federal government from imposing a central feature of the bill: the individual mandate requiring that everyone buy insurance. Legal scholars generally agree that the measure is constitutional. Still, Virginia's pre-emptive law is on the governor's desk.

Bob Bennett Is Really Worried. Senate Staffers Begin Assault on RedState Criticisms. - NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Bob Bennett must be really worried. In the past couple of weeks, a few people have come to RedState to defend Bob Bennett against our pointed criticisms of just how bad he is. And if this is a defense of Bennett, Bennett is not defendable. A Senate staffer (or Senator?) using the name ecfinder writes: Erickson, sometimes you make good points. But this one is not one of them. Why are you so against Bennett from Utah? Have you even ever been to Utah? Why do you have so much interest in a state you don’t even reside? I suggest before you actually make such ignorant comments, you actually come and check out the state itself. Utah is the state it is today because of Bennett. He has helped get funding for so many projects and improvements, that ...

Americans Support Health Reform, Reject Policies to Make Health Reform Workable - The Atlantic - Matthew Ygblesias

myglesias — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

I think Jeff Young led with the wrong poll result in his writeup of a recent survey of public opinion on health reform. That the public thinks congress should “start over” on health care has, I think, basically no real meaning or content. The real issue is further down in the piece: Despite their misgivings about [...]