Blue Dogs Backsliding On Anti-Health Care Reform Backsliding

Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) is "unwavering" in her opposition to a Blue Dog Coalition health care position issued late last week, she said Tuesday. The Blue Dogs, a caucus of conservative Democrats, issued a set of principles opposing a public health care option unless it was triggered by the failure of private insurers to meet certain goals.

Harman, in a statement, said she supports a public option without a trigger. "I will oppose any plan that does not include this option, and am unwavering in my opposition to the so-called 'Blue Dog trigger,'" said Harman.

On Monday, the Huffington Post reported that the Blue Dogs had backed the trigger even though 20 of their 51 members, including Harman, had pledged to the reform coalition Health Care for America Now! (HCAN) that they supported a public option without one. (HCAN and other reform advocates consider a trigger to be the death of the public option.) If all 20 kept to their word, the Blue Dogs wouldn't have had enough votes to back a trigger.

Harman said she's sticking by her pledge.

"I am proud to have signed the HCAN (Health Care for America Now!) pledge to seek universal coverage," she said. "I am a strong supporter of universal health coverage, which is why I support the health care reform plan being developed by President Obama, Senator [Ted] Kennedy, and Congressman [Henry] Waxman. Like them, I believe that the bill must include a public health insurance option which guarantees all Americans access to quality, affordable health care."

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), a Blue Dog who also signed the pledge, told the Huffington Post she backs a public option without a trigger.

"America can't afford to wait for health care reform. While a single-payer system would be ideal, I am prepared to support other measures that also reduce costs, preserve doctor choice, and assure affordable, quality health care for all Americans," she said in a statement. "I think a public option without a trigger would be a good way to fix what's wrong with health care while preserving what works."

Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), the vice chairman of the Blue Dog Health Care Task Force, has also since come out in favor of a public option without a trigger.

UPDATE: Add Blue Dog Reps. Mike Thompson (Calif.) and Leonard Boswell (Iowa).

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Comments

[seanseamour]

Dear Blue Dog Democrats,
Times are historic and you will be missing the train if you go down the negation track. Consider that on health care our "e pluribus unum" principle has failed, our runaway health care problem resembles our "greed is good" wall street problem. Why are so many foreign insurance companies like AXA and Allianz operating in the US? Because there is so much profit to be made, I can't blame them, but if we continue bailing out the likes of AIG we might as well nationalize the health insurance industry and run it as a non-profit national health care fund regulating the health care service providers.
The only way to ensure quality and availability is some form of government sponsored umbrella empowered to regulate the private sector. Stop for a minute and look beyond CONUS -- France is give or take #1 in health care quality and availability whereas we are in the double digit doldrums (WHO puts us at #37), but France is also leader in productivity among developed nations so let us avoid the "socialist" scarecrow that that is used to shy us away from understanding a better model that works, as an expat I know, I live in it.
Please, we must not let the insurers and their lobbyists hijack the reform in the name of sacrosanct profit

[IhaveaDREAMwhitegirl]

Last sentence nailed it.

BlueDems are just finernailDirt to professional Lobbyists.

[IhaveaDREAMwhitegirl]

BlueDogs, what da... WHAT?!

What exactly is that a euphemism for?

WhiteCastle ALREADY got 'sliders', next!

[Amalek]

Texas Rep Pete Geren coined the term, saying that conservative democrats had been "choked blue" by their more liberal counterparts.

Party wingnuts on both sides tend to destroy the party.

[IhaveaDREAMwhitegirl]

Thanks for that info.

Wingnuts , left and right) do tend to do the magnetic-cancel dance don't they?

Two sides of the same coin .

[Coinyer101]

they can take their public options, and mandatory bs, and shove it, too!

[TrooAmerican]

Why does being "Conservative" to these politicians mean you have to be a DICK to the american people, and support exploitation of those American people by big donor health care companies raking in unwarranted profits from those American people.??? While leaving 15% of Americans without a health option due to greed only.

[TeeLolly]

"Conservative" is code for "being a dick to the American people," supporting exploitation of those people by greedy insurers and other corporate interests whenever profitable, without regard to how badly it hurts the people.

[Gatorray11]

A few questions will expose the fear mongering opponents of a public healthcare option use:

1. If public healthcare is so bad how come you guys in the Congress and White House use it extesively?

2. If it's good enough for you, why isn't it good enough for all the American people?

3. If public healthcare is so bad, how come no nation which has such a system -- and many are not only democracies, but parliamentary democracies where you can make instant changes when another party or coalition of parties win -- has ever abolished a public system?

4. How come opponents try to scare you with words like "socialized medicine" when you can have a single payer system -- Medicare, for example -- without having socialized medicine?

5. Isn't socialized medicine a system where doctors work for the government?

6. Isn't it true that no one is seriously proposing such a system?

7. How come Republicans never mention how much it cost to keep Dick Cheney alive during the last eight years?

8. Last year's GOP presidential candidate -- Sen. John S. McCain -- hasn't he relied on "socialized medicine," that what the Veterans Administration is, most of his life?

9. Why are private insurance companies willing to compete with a public healthcare option?

10. Why do Republicans scare us about "government bureaucrats" controlling your healthcare options when "bureaucrats" for the insurance companies do so now?

11. If our current system is so wonderful, why do we have

[kstuff]

Amalek,

You are confusing the current government option, Medicare/Medicaid with a potential public option. The one most people are supporting would allow you to continue seeing your current doctors, taking your current meds, etc.. The difference we be that your doctor receives a check from the government, not your insurance company. With the profit motive removed, the gov has less incentive to deny expensive treatments.
If the bill prohibited denying people for pre-existing conditions and made denying any medical treatment ordered by a doctor illegal, the public plan would then be far superior to the private plans. This is why the private sector is scared to death...They cannot financially profit from saying "yes" to everyone's medical needs. They'll go bankrupt trying to do what they government can, because the cost of care these days is just too expensive.

[TeeLolly]

The multimillion dollar salaries of health insurers' CEOs would keep premiums too high to compete with any plan that didn't drain huge sums off the top ...

[Amalek]

High they may be, but that has an insignificant effect on the costs.

[Amalek]

I am suspicious, like many Americans, that the plan the government offers will not be as good as the one I have, which I know is really expensive. I fear that my doctor will have quotas, and will decide that maybe I don't need that expensive treatment without letting me make the decision. Face it, cost controls means that everyone cannot have any treatment they want. At present, my insurance has never rejected anything I want - I have an executive plan, and I know that is why. My employer is the one who ultimately bears the cost (self insured) and they tell the processing agents how hard to crack down on costs. I also fear, like many do, that the government plans will destroy market competition, resulting in the Motor Vehicle effect - long lines and surly receptionists.

This is the obstacle to getting this done. Deal with these issues and don't just tell people if is going to be ok.

[ClandestineJohnson]

Market competition? Allowing people to come together and create a pool is the market at work. We come together via co-ops, we come together via unions and we come together via government. The wealthy come together via corporate control and create the rules of the market to benefit themselves. If WE want to come together via our representatives and swing the system back in our direction - to benefit us, then so be it.

By the way, my DMV experiences are fine. My health insurance experience is mediocre with someone implementing cost controls to increase their own monetary gain. Government is not the problem, government is the solution.

[AsISaid]

Tricky commentary. Unlike you, millions don't have insurance of any sort. The costs your employer absorbs in giving you your insurance will someday hit the point that it will become too expensive to offer, and poor you will have to grovel like the rest of us when you have to kick in to pay for your policy. You spew urban legends about long lines and quotas.

I honestly don't care whether you maintain your cushy insurance or not. Market competition - profit - has ruined health care in this country. It certainly hasn't improved it or made it cheaper - nor more accessible.

I think the larger debate is to provide health care to all of our nation's citizens - whether they are "executives" ,or just those common folk who get sick too. Your attitude makes my health care - and yours - more expensive than it should be. Believe it or not, we live in a Democracy and if the majority of Americans support national universal health care that's what we'll have - and it's high time we did.

[joeneri]

Obviously, the Blue Dogs are spineless cowards and can be easily swayed if enough public pressure is applied.

That's actually good news; now we know we can win anything we want.

[Coinyer101]

except single-payer, which is supported by the majority of people.

[mphalen]

Public pressure is a bad thing? I thought it was "We the People" and "a government OF, BY and FOR the people". We live in a representative democracy. We elect representatives who are supposed to represent the will of the people.

[iknowdou]

Corporations are people too!

[Clayton139]

I will vote for according to their votes !

There JOBS are on the line ! - The internet will rule !
(
Blue Dog Democrats)
http://www.house.gov/melancon/BlueDogs/Member%20Page.html

[Daly]

gosh I hope so; fill up their email boxes , male calls, send post cards

[Clayton139]

Blue Dog Leadership Team
http://www.house.gov/melancon/BlueDogs/Member%20Page.html

Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration
Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy
Rep. Charlie Melancon (LA-03), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications
Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11), Blue Dog Whip

(Blue Dog Members)
http://www.house.gov/melancon/BlueDogs/Member%20Page.html

[Daniel Torluemke]

The best thing to ever happen to our economy would be to take employers OUT of the health care business. It cripples their ability to compete with the rest of the world.

[TeeLolly]

It also cripples individuals' ability to leave unfulfilling jobs ...

[flowereater]

and marriages.

[Amalek]

The fear that those of us with employer funded health care have is that the government plan we get to replace it will require us to wait in squalid waiting rooms getting yelled at by surly government workers just like Motor Vehicle.

[TeeLolly]

That hasn't happened to people on Medicare. Why would this be different? People with whom I have worked, who selected cheaper options offered by employers, often found themselves not covered for treatment they needed; some had to use doctors they didn't like; others had to wait a week or two for a referral to get treated by a specialist. And no one was particularly comfortable with the employer having access to any info concerning their health.

[AsISaid]

You sound like someone who deserves to stand in lines and get yelled at.

[kstuff]

Can't we call them Red Dog Democrats? Seems more appropriate.

[TeeLolly]

Or yellow dogs, since they're such cowards at heart ...

[Amalek]

Somebody help me with this. I am completely in favor of health care reform and believe that our failure to cover millions of Americans is a sign we are not a civilized country.

However, like millions of Americans, I am one of the fortunate that has good health care coverage provided by my employer. I like it when Obama says that if I like my present health care coverage, I can keep it. What I worry about is that if a broad public plan is put in place my employer will decided to get out of providing health care They certainly want to cut costs, and if they feel I can get protection under a government plan, they are likely to let me go there. I do not expect the government plan will be as good as the one I have. I don't have a problem with that - I don't mind that people who cannot pay for coverage experience some inconvenience.

Convince me that Obama is right - if I like my present plan I can keep it.

[dagnew]

Why wouldn't any employer want to get out from under having to provide health care? Why should they have to provide something that is a human right? Providing heath care has been an albatross around the necks of employers for decades. Many are under the impression that a public health care plan will mean inferior care. Where does that come from? My mother and I both had the exact same test performed at the very same clinic, with the exact same care. She with Medicare and me with my insurance. We were treated equally.
And with a public plan for everyone, you don't have to worry about losing your health care to a job loss, which is what happened to my spouse and me two weeks ago. One day we are fully covered, and the next day we have no coverage at all. It is a scary feeling since we both have some health issues. We now are among the 40 some million without coverage.

[Amalek]

Employers would love to get out from under it.

If you want universal health care you need to convince the millions of Americans who have corporate funded health insurance that they will be as well off under the new plan.

I am one of the strongest supporters of universal health care, and have seen it work in many countries, but I am not convinced that the plans being proposed will not result in a significantly negative impact on me.

Convince me, and the others with corporate insurance, and universal care will be come a reality.

[Mikeeee]

"I don't mind that people who cannot pay for coverage experience some inconvenience."
According to you, a child who is born into less elite circumstances isn't as entitled to quality health care.
Sounds very republican to me.

[Amalek]

No, it is typical sinful human nature.

[AsISaid]

It's your employer's choice. One hopes you find humility.

[ZeMongoose]

I had great employer subsidized healthcare when I joined my current employer seven years ago. Last year, we lost our Blue Cross/Blue Shield option and our current benefit plan strongly encourages the HMO option. I'm fortunate my PCP and my specialists were all in network. Long story short, my benefits aren't bad, but they're nowhere near as good as they once were.

Employer based healthcare premiums have risen significantly and benefit plan options and coverage have been reduced pretty much across the board. Remember, virtually every employer based health care package, including the payroll deducted premium levels, were determined prior to the collapse of the economy. If you think your employer based coverage isn't going to cost you significantly more in 2010, you're not being realistic. That's assuming, of course, you remain employed through 2010; a given for virtually no one.

President Obama has stated point blank on repeated occasions that if you like your employer-based healthcare, you can keep it. However, a public option will be designed to be attractive to those with employer based healthcare, which is the whole point. Employees moving to the public option frees up money for the employer to do things like pay your salary and invest in manpower and equipment. This leads to jobs. A public option also frees the entrepeneur in you to strike out on your own, if you so wish, without concerns in regard to your healthcare...

...or you can keep your employer based coverage

[Amalek]

But what I hear is that they will "encourage" employers to keep existing plans. But if they allow the employers a way out, they will take it. And then I get my health care with the unwashed masses.

[bobfeld]

Can someone list who the blue dogs are?

[Amalek]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition

Wiki lists 52 from all over the country.

[Coinyer101]

evan bayh, blanche lincoln, barack obama, bill nelson, hillary clinton, bill clinton, max baucus, joe lieberman, etc. etc. etc.

[Coinyer101]

basically, they are any centrists or moderates who call themselves dems.

[jackjava]

All these Blue Dogs, or whomever, read the polls, and when 116 million people favor a single payer system, they notice. None of this is done on what is right or what is just, it's poll related.

When will someone not give a sh__ about re-election and do what is best for their fellow human beings.??

[Clayton139]

Yes they will !!! I will vote for according to their votes !

There JOBS are on the line ! - The internet will rule !

[worldview47]

are you kidding?

[who38]

when pigs fly?

[darthmaul]

They don't care about the polls, as much as they care about campaign cash. If they can get the dough, from insurance companies and others who don't want a public health care system, then that's what they will do. The politicians will then spin their vote, saying that the plan was flawed, it took away choice, it was socialized medicine. You name it.

[ChelseaC]

Evan Bayh is a chip off the old block. His father wrote the Bayh-Dole Act along with Bob Dole--protecting profit rights in medicine/big pharma.
These blue dogs care only about themselves and their cronies.

[magnetplanner]

Never. They will fight tooth-and-nail to hold on to their no-work jobs. Who wouldn't? Members of Congress can retire at 80% of their top pay after five years at age 50.

[WierdWookie]

Politicans are leading us through a sea of blabber instead of the real health care they promised.

[dagnew]

Exactly, Exactly, Exactly!

[Growup22]

What hypocrites, the congress has no problem with the people funding their healthcare. If they feel that the government can't administer a program for all of it's people, maybe they should reject the insurance that we provide for them and get private care that they have to pay for. I'd like to see any of them deal with an HMO. They're not as nice when you're not begging for a campaign donation and selling out the American people for profit.

[dye2000]

You are right on target about that!