Featured Columnists
Follow the Healthcare Money
by Les Robbins
It is looking more and more like congress will finally address, seriously, the issue of health care. Perhaps it took the threat of reconciliation to get the ball moving but whatever has happened things seem to be progressing. Reconciliation, which is a legal maneuver that allows legislation to be passed with a simple majority instead of the super majority of 60 votes is long overdue especially with the Party of No continuing to use the filibuster at an outrageous rate.
I just love how the republicans piss and moan about reconciliation too. They seem to have very short memories when it comes to reconciliation because they used it four times during the Bush-Cheney reign and it seemed to be OK when they wanted to use it to pass their Iraq War stuff.
“Do as I say not as I do” is something that they can really relate to along with the fact that their memories are very short. All of the banter about how President Obama is putting this country at risk with the war on terrorism is a big bunch of nonsense. Amazing when the policies of the Bush Administration are virtually identical with those of the current administration yet today we are at more risk because we are doing things the exact same way as were done during the eight years that Bush & Cheney were running the show.
Furthermore the rhetoric about prosecuting terrorists in military courts versus federal courts is another classic example of the “do as I say” mentality. All of a sudden it is a horrible thing to prosecute these folks in federal court, in the city where the crimes were committed and unless we are prosecuting them in a military style tribunal we are somehow endangering all Americans. What a bunch of nonsense and yet another example of “do as I say…” as the Bush Administration prosecuted every single terrorist in office in federal court.
I love it when the republicans talk about how committed they are to fixing health care. Well, what did they do for eight years, six of which where they had control of both the legislative and executive branches of government? Where was all of the health care legislation during that time period introduced by Republicans? The answer is simple, with one exception, there was none!
The fact is that during their time in power they did nothing to address all of the issues that currently plague the industry, not the least of which is an out-of-control inflationary spiral that defies our laws of economics. They resorted to reconciliation four times to ram through war legislation but did nothing to address the single biggest domestic economic issue in this country: health care!
They did support one social program in 2003, which was the single largest entitlement program in history next to Medicare.
Interesting how the “party of no tax increases” supported the implementation of Medicare Part D, otherwise known as the prescription drug benefit. Forty-one republican senators voted for this, many of whom are the same ones today who rail about Medicare insisting on wanting to privatize it, maligning any kind of “government run health plan,” and who spend nearly all of their collective waking moments trying to convince the American people that they are the only ones out there who care about the middle class!
Medicare Part D was a long-awaited addition to the Medicare System but what the republicans did with this legislation was the real key here. I know what some of you are thinking: How can Robbins criticize the republicans for not supporting social programs when they passed Medicare Part D? Well as someone who works in the health care industry and who lives in this world I know that if you follow the money here you would know why they passed Part D. Between the “donut hole” and the fact that as written Medicare had no ability whatsoever to negotiate with the drug companies when it came to the price of those drugs offered as well as what drugs would be covered.
In short, they helped the pharmaceutical industry make record profits in the tens of billions. They gave seniors a bite of the apple but gave the apple to the pharmaceuticals. Interesting that the drug costs in Part D are in some instances dozens of times more costly than what the VA pays for the exact same drugs!
One last thing on the issue of health insurance companies: I don’t know how many companies there are throughout this country but I do know that as long as Congress continues to exempt the insurance industry from anti-trust laws you will not see open competition. California has only about a half dozen major insurance companies and the reason for this is because the big dogs ate all of the little ones in this state.
Competition is not free or fair, so all of the garbage about letting the free market work is just plain not going to happen. Follow the money!
|