Conrad Moves Closer To Public Health Care After Negotiations

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) moved sharply toward public health care Monday, saying that he could "absolutely" support major parts of Sen. Chuck Schumer's compromise proposal for a public option after closed-door negotiations.

Conrad has backed a health care co-op proposal that advocates of a public option have thoroughly rejected. Schumer (D-N.Y.) took their side on Sunday in comments made to the Associated Press. "I don't think I could say with a straight face that this [co-op proposal] is at all close to a nationwide public option," Schumer said. "Right now, this co-op idea doesn't come close to satisfying anyone who wants a public plan."

The wheels looked to be coming off with health care reform last week. But a poll showing huge public support for a public health care option and a strong bill from the House of Representatives have changed the dynamic.

Schumer and other backers of a public option insist that any plan must be national in scope, have substantial funding at the beginning from the federal government, and include national purchasing power in order to negotiate lower prices.

Conrad ticked off the areas of agreement that were reached Monday.

"National structure: I believe to be effective there has to a national entity with state affiliates and those affiliates have to have the ability to regionalize. I think his concern there can be addressed," said Conrad. "Second, he believes there needs to be national purchasing power. I think that's a good point that the national entity would be able to do purchasing on behalf of the state and regional affiliates and on behalf of the national entity itself."

Schumer wants $10 billion to start the plan, after which it would be self-sustaining. Conrad said the "state of negotiations" is that $3 to $4 billion would be provided.

Schumer wants the board overseeing the plan to be appointed by the president. Conrad said that according to the state of negotiations, the Health and Human Services Secretary would be charged with appointing the board.

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Conrad wants the board to be temporary and eventually disappear, leaving the co-op to be run by its members. Schumer, said Conrad, still wants the board to be permanent.

"Poll numbers, as you know, are here today and gone tomorrow. What's going to decide what passes here are votes," said Conrad. "Votes of members. And the reason I was asked to get involved in this was an effort to find a compromise. And what I read in Senator Schumer's comments are that he's continuing to negotiate, and negotiate in a forthright, aggressive way. Good for him."

As Conrad spoke to reporters, Schumer stepped off the Senate floor and passed the conversation.

"My remarks were not directed at him, they were directed at someone on the other side of the aisle," Schumer quipped, underlining, if only in jest, the new Democratic unity that seemed to be forming.

UPDATE: I'm getting a lot of angry e-mails as a result of this diary.

I reported that Conrad said he could support "major parts" of Schumer's public option proposal. Schumer wanted any public option to be national in scope and have national purchasing power, concessions that Conrad agreed to. They still differ, as I reported, on the duration of the board's existence -- Schumer wants it to be permanent; Conrad wants it temporary -- and the amount of start-up funding. Conrad isn't abandoning the coop model, but he is agreeing to major parts of Schumer's compromise. He's by no means fully embracing a public option, but he certainly moved in Schumer's direction.

On MSNBC on Tuesday, Conrad was read the first line of the story above and asked if it was wrong. "No, that report is not wrong. What is wrong is the interpretation of what that means. What Senator Schumer was discussing was changes to the coop plan. He wasn't talking about a pure public option," said Conrad.

When Conrad originally proposed the coops, they were to be regional in size and have no national purchasing power. The changes to the coop plan make it more similar to a national public option than it was when Conrad first proposed it.

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Comments

[mom2sons]

In a Washington Post article, June 13, 2009. Many lawmakers have holdings in the drug companies. This is not just an appearance of conflict, it is a conflict! Can someone start looking at personal investments of lawmakers who are fighting against healthcare reform?

[Gatorray11]

The answer is exposure. In their state or in their district. Let's give Kent Conrad the Ben Nelson treatment.

[Totto]

Call Conrad's office:202­-224-2043. The calls are working.

[Gatorray11]

Keep calling and e-mailing him. Support progressive organizations -- like MoveOn.org, Democracy Now and Democracy For America -- who back real reform and are working to keep Democrats in line on this signature issue.

Write letters and send e-mails to North Dakota media to expose to his constituents what he is doing and expose the donations he got from insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies. Buy the Howard Dean book on healthcare reform.

No to a public healthcare option is really no to real healthcare reform and it's a stand not acceptable in the Democratic Party. We should let these Democrats know no means real opposition in the Democratic primary next time they run. End of story.

[raker]

On these big issues it always seems that the congressional Democrats finely calculate which of them needs to be on board and which ones must join the opposition, but all the while ensuring the ultimate failure of the initiatives they pretend to support. The main thing is maintaining plausible deniability, the illusion that they supported, say, universal health care despite taking millions from health care lobbyists.

When was the last time the Democrats had the political courage to fight for and win a major policy battle that put us citizens above corporate interests. Never. They're fakers. They only pretend to fight. They pretend to have integrity. These things always end the same way, with the Republicans winning and the Democrats settling for scraps. People say that right and left are all the same because, regardless of who's in charge, the outcomes are all the same.

[Rich Hosking]

Yep.

[Chaimirija]

Of course they want people to give up..this is just like fighting in court...an­d if they get that individual mandate through, we will be screwed...­keep fighting, don't give up

[fairness4all]

From OpenSecrets.org

The top 12 industries that have contributed to Kent Conrad's campaign from 2005-2010, are:

Lawyers/Law Firms ----------­----------­------ $606,302
Insurance ----------­----------­----------­--------- $322,675
Securities & Investment ----------­----------­- $299,325
Health Professionals ----------­----------­----- $262,033
Lobbyists ----------­----------­----------­---------- $220,642
Hospitals/Nursing Homes ------------------- $189,930
Real Estate ----------­----------­----------­------- $185,150
Pharmaceut­icals/Heal­th Products -------- $169,100
Crop Production & Basic Processing ---- $159,975
Pro-Israel ----------­----------­----------­--------- $152,410
Health Services/HMOs ----------­----------­-- $130,015
Commercial Banks ----------­----------­------- $119,000

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=2010&cid==N00004613&type=C&mem=)

[Belisarius]

There must be a for sale sign on his head. He is also one of the senators that got a "VIP Loan" from Countrywide.

See article Countrywide's Many 'Friends':

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/06/12/Countrywide-Loan-Scandal

[Gatorray11]

Write letters to the editor to newspaper in North Dakota exposing this. Call and/or TV and radio stations in that state and demand they report this informatio­n.Letting the sunshine is the best medicine in this case. Pun intended.

[PhilipTaylor]

He is a light-weight compared to many of the Blue DAWGS!

[Rich Hosking]

These "blue dogs" (corrupt) senators maximize the payola by playing hard to get and on the fence.

Nothing to get worked up about. In the end they will cave in and vote against healthcare reform, or doom it with underfunding, co-ops, triggers, or simply making it so expensive that it will clearly fail. A fine, fine government indeed!!

The most profitable gig in Washington right now is to be a senator "for" healthcare. The line of envelope carrying lobbyists outside your door grows exponentially!!

Our democracy is a sham.

[Gatorray11]

You have to fight them and expose them in their home turf. We need to give Kent Conrade the Ben Nelson treatment.

[classicalgeek]

So Senator Conrad wants to gut the bill by underfunding it. We've seen that trick before, thank you. I believe the correct response is to underfund his bid for re-election.

[olmossy]

Saw a little of Joe $carborro this AM. They're calling it a Moral Imperative that so many aren't insured.
( Where have they been ?)
Their answer is to buy expensive insurance policys for the 50 Million from the existing Private Insurance Cos. They don't even say the words Public Option, or Single Payer.
They talk about the trillion dollar cost and never mention bringing down cost as single Payer would.

[sheine]

Conrad is another one of those Democratic Senators, like Landrieu and the two Nelsons, who make the 60 vote veto proof majority a joke. These people belong in the Republican Party where they can all serve the special interests together. In the old days, we blamed the failure of the Democratic Party to deliver on its campaign promises on the southerners, now it is the "centrists". Without a leader like Lyndon Johnson, the Democratic Party accomplishes little.

[Gatorray11]

The answer is one word -- exposure. And in North Dakota.

[1dogs2]

Perhaps Conrad would like to explain why numerous state or "regional" bureaucracies implementing a public (or co-op) option would be as efficient as a federal one. Or why we would trust those multiple bureaucracies to be less corrupt and wasteful than those of the various states that are (in)famous for their corruption.

[Gatorray11]

Expose him to his fellow North Dakotan -- Ed Schultz.

[RRoadrunner]

Ah...power of the people and for the people. Looks like all our screaming just might be getting thru....I hope...

[pup sydney]

Jokers, corrupt jokers, buffoons, incompetent, cowards, useless, spineless.
What else should an American say of these politicians?

[jonbw]

Dear Senator Conrad,

Your co-op plan is completely unworkable. You restrict the plan to only individuals and micro businesses. Even if a large precentag of those people sign up that means at most 3 out 100 individuals in any area would be part of the plan. That is insufficant market concentration to work. The few co-op still around work like HMO's. But you can't hire your own doctors and run your own clinics with that level of market concentration.

[1dogs2]

Any plan for a public option that does not permit ANYONE who wants that option to choose it is a fraud.

[massthreat]

The reason he wants the HHS board dissolved in time is so "public" health care can eventually be run by the same kind of self-interested fools that got us here in the first place.

[bluguy8]

forget co-op , single payer or nothing. co -op ? are you guys nuts ?