The Snowe Trigger: A Catch-22 to Kill the Public Option

Olympia Snowe's trigger is a plan to kill the public health insurance option. Not kill it as in make it weaker, but kill it as in make absolutely sure it will never, ever come into existence.

Senator Snowe's trigger is literally a catch-22, defined by Wikipedia as "a set of rules, regulations, procedures, or situations which present the illusion of choice while preventing any real choice."

Mike Lux explains:

The legislative language says that a public option will be set up in a state in which health care is not affordable to 95% of the state's residents, but it defines affordability as after the new tax credits that are written into the bill to make health care affordable.

Let's break that down.

In Snowe's trigger amendment, if affordable coverage is not available for 95% of a state's residents, then you get a public option in that state. While there are issues with state-based public health insurance options, the catch-22 comes with Snowe's definition of affordability.

Affordable is defined as 13% of income. So, if there is no plan in the exchange that costs less than 13% of a person's income, we'd get a public health insurance option. But that calculation of what a plan costs is made after the government pays out subsidies or employers pay their share. And therein lies the catch-22.

Max Baucus's bill caps out-of-pocket costs for people buying insurance in the exchange at 12% of their income. Therefore, after you add in government subsidies, costs will legally always have to be below 12%. The insurance industry can raise their rates as much as they want and government will make up the difference. The trigger, if passed, will never trigger. Not ever.

(This opinion has historical weight - there is a trigger for prescription drugs in Medicare Part D. So far, after 6 years, it still hasn't been triggered. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry rakes in the profits and seniors get screwed - a Families USA report [pdf] showed that private drug prices were an average of 58% higher than prices the government could have obtained through a public option. The fact that this trigger was never triggered costs government and seniors hundreds of billions per year, money that goes straight into the pockets of private pharmaceutical companies.)

It's clear: No public health insurance option anywhere in the country will ever be created under Snowe's trigger amendment.

The trigger amendment isn't a fig leaf. It isn't even a co-op. It's a plan to kill the public health insurance option outright, and give taxpayer money straight to private insurance companies.

Why does Senator Snowe want to deny choice and competition to her constituents, something they want? Why would she rather bail out the private insurance companies?

In a poll conducted September 14th by Lake Research Partners of 400 likely voters in Maine (with a margin of error of 4.9%), a strong majority - 58% - favor the creation of a "a public health insurance option to compete with private insurance companies."

When asked if they favor or oppose "requiring everyone to buy and be covered by a private health insurance plan," 55% of Mainers are opposed. When asked if they favor or oppose "requiring everyone to buy and be covered by a health insurance plan, with a choice between a public option and private insurance plans," 55% favor.

If you ask Mainers if they should be required to buy private insurance, they're against it, but if you ask them if they should be required to buy insurance, with a choice of public or private, they're for it. The numbers exactly flip.

The poll numbers further comdemn Snowe's trigger. We asked people which statement below comes closer to their view:

1. The public health insurance option should be a back-up; we should only offer it in case reforms to private health insurance companies don't result in making health care affordable for most people.
2. Because people are going to be required to buy health insurance, we need to offer the choice of an affordable public health insurance option to provide competition so that people aren't at the mercy of private insurance companies.

By a 54% to 24% margin, Maine voters chose the 2nd statement.

It's clear the people of Maine understand that a trigger for a public health insurance option is not health care reform. They get the essential question: Will the private health insurance companies finally face competition, or will they keep their government-supported monopoly to continue screwing you over with skyrocketing rates and serial denial of care, subsidized with your taxpayer dollars.

94% of insurance markets in this country are not competitive. This has led to rising costs that squeeze families and business as the insurance companies rake in the profits. As Senator Chuck Schumer said, "Any reasonable criteria for triggering a public plan has already been met."

The private insurance market has failed, and we've given them enough second chances. The American people support a public health insurance option that's available on day one, not a bailout of the insurance industry. President Obama has said that a public health insurance option is his first choice to lower costs and increase competition. Senator Snowe should not stand in the way of the people of Maine or the rest of us for the sake of the insurance companies.

(also posted at the NOW! blog)

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Comments

[teddiOhio]

I am very upset to find out there is a public option in Medicare part D when myself & several other seniors have had such a bad time with our Insurance co's & united Health care. I am calling my senator & congressman tomorrow to demand I be put in a public option under the govt in November.

My politician never solved the problem I had with my provider overcharging me in Medicare Part D. He at least tried, whereas the republican said, "thanks for letting me know about your problem. write again sometime. I like to know what my constituents think. That was Voinovich the father of Medicare Part D.

[truthbagger]

Politicians defending each other across party lines is akin to Medieval feudal lords who were reluctant to execute kings for fear of reducing the hesitancy that serfs had for killing/opposing nobles in general. There is nothing "noble" about our congressmen.

[ChelseaC]

I hope Maine votes her out.
She's useless excess senate baggage.

[phlashba]

We need to vote EVERY single one of them OUT...not just Snowe. That includes Obama.

[Deborah Beck]

I totally forgot that the Repubs won it all in 2008.

[Moose49]

Or, to put it another way, the trigger is a Snowe job by the insurance industry.

[ChelseaC]

lol.

[justobserve]

This is worth repeating: "This opinion has historical weight - there is a trigger for prescription drugs in Medicare Part D. So far, after 6 years, it still hasn't been triggered. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry rakes in the profits and seniors get screwed - a Families USA report [pdf] showed that private drug prices were an average of 58% higher than prices the government could have obtained through a public option. The fact that this trigger was never triggered costs government and seniors hundreds of billions per year, money that goes straight into the pockets of private pharmaceutical companies."
Why are they so afraid of a public option when its benefits are so obvious? They thought up of anything but a public option! So public option must be the best for people!

[jorjan]

Are they going to try and drag this out until after the elections in November? Then they can go ahead and shaft us again like they always do.

[max hp]

~~~~~~~~~~­~~~~~~~~~~­~~~~~~~~~~­~ A PUBLIC OPTION ~~~~~~~~~~­~~~~~~~~~~­~~~~~~~~~~­~

..........­..........­..........­..........­..........­........ WHEN DOES THE GREED STOP ..........­..........­..........­..........­..........­.........

Let our Congressional leaders clearly understand that lack of a condition-free Public Option in any successful Health Care Reform legislation will have negative consequences in the upcoming election.

Health Care Reform is MEANINGLESS without a strong condition-free PUBLIC OPTION, with clear unrestricted path to SINGLE PAYER.

A Public Option must be administered by the Federal Government.
A Public Option must be available to anyone who wants it, starting Jan 1, 2010.
A Public Option must be available to anyone, irrespective of Pre-Existing Conditions
A Public Option must be available to anyone at affordable rates.
A Public Option must be available to anyone whether employed or not.
A Public Option must be available to anyone whether his/her employer offers it or not.
A Public Option must NOT have any conditions placed on it by any private or for-profit entities.
A Public Option must NOT restrict anyone from opting in or out of it.
A Public Option must NOT be restricted from evolving into Single Payer.

A Public Option, and ultimately Single Payer, must be fully financed from federal taxes.

A Public Option must be made mandatory for ALL government employees, including Congress.

Don't bother to pass anything that does not have A CLEAR CONDITION-FREE PUBLIC OPTION.

~~~~~~IT'S WHAT WE WANT ~~~~ IT'S WHAT WE NEED ~~~~ IT'S WHAT WE CAN AFFORD~~~~~

..........­..........­..........­..........­... THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR A PUBLIC OPTION ..........­..........­..........­.........
**********­**********­**********­**********­**********­**********­**********­**********­**********­**********­********

[truthbagger]

You left out the huge profits for insurance companies. Without that it won't pass the blue dogs and GOP.

[iplaw]

If Machiavelli were half as the GOP we would all be speaking Italian.

[GeorgeP922]

You asked me (but it was censored) who I work for, noone.

I don't see what you are getting at, I see corruption in my own party and want to fix it.

HCAN is discredited and not to be trusted. They had 45 million to fight for us, we are at the end of the road and I see nothing.

Also I don't appreciate how they ignore progressive groups, not approved by Rahm who are fighting their hearts out for a PO and good bill.

Who do I work for? The American people. You can catch me on Kos, on TYT and a number of other places.

[truthbagger]

Didn't Rahm seem pretty fishy right out of the gate?

[iplaw]

Sorry I may have misread your motives.

[PlaceboStudman]

I know people don't want to face reality in this country, but the reality is, Public Option, Private Insurance isn't going to matter one iota so long as the medicine and technology we receive for that insurance is dangerously low

[iplaw]

And you base that on?

[PlaceboStudman]

Based on the fact that myself, and at least 10 others I can think of off the top of my head are now effectively terminally ill, with 5-10 years to live, at most, and we are terminally ill, not from a lack of care from a lack of insurance, but from a lack of care due to the fact that no treatment has been invented to give us full spinal transplants that would give us back our full sensation and organ (kidney and liver) function that is due to having been born with Spina Bifida

[GeorgeP922]

Nevermind, I see why this article doesn't cover the ads ran against Snowe.

The author is a direct employee for HCAN, the Rahm Emanuel controlled collective that is not allowed to run ads demaning the public option or against Blue Dogs or against Republicans.

I really hope MoveOn bolts from HCAN before Fox News asks "where did the 45 million go"

[GeorgeP922]

It has been obvious for weeks what Snowe's job was to do.

She was the lobbyists choice to kill the PO, either she kills it via a trigger with the dems (embaressing us to no end) or she teems up with her party and kills it in a louder fashion.

This is what Rahm wants, to please his lobbyist buddies, help us not let them get away with it.

Please donate to the ads running against Snowe through the weekend:
http://www.healthcarecantwait.com/
http://www.healthcarecantwait.com/
http://www.healthcarecantwait.com/

We have 75K raised so far, not sure why this piece and Mike Lux's mentions none of this.

As progressives we should do our best to help the groups fighting for us.

[Organic-Guy]

It's been obvious since this idea came along that it was a side show and a distraction as is everything else being reported. The big idea is just to keep this so called debate going as long as possible until we all get sick of it want to forget the whole thing. It's working too. Nothing being considered as of now is anything like what the public wants. No pile of amendments can fix this and indeed they are designed to bury the idea too in a ruse to pretend to try and make this better. It's all crap. We're all screwed.

[iplaw]

GOP are masters of obfuscation, misdirection, lies and delaying tactics.

[WorkingClass]

The human suffering is real Organic-Guy. And it's getting worse. When the anger reaches critical mass there will be a political explosion. If our corporate masters were wise they would sacrifice the health insurance companies by way of throwing us a bone. They are not wise. The 1% will be destroyed by their own greed and arrogance.

[iplaw]

I think our "masters" are emboldened by our complete inability to perceive what is going on. I think that is the only thing that kept them in line until now. I think they finally realized how stupid we were when Congress signed over the check book to treasury with no strings attached to give the crooks all the money they could want.

What we are seeing now is the special interests and many legislators running wild with no worry about us figuring it out.

[worldlyhick]

Are there not enough votes to put through a decent health care reform bill? By that I mean a bill that makes access to health care available to those who don't now have access for financial or medical reasons, which would seem to require a strong public option.

If private insurance companies are going to be involved in taking government subsidies, there should be some mechanism in place to cap salaries and control profits by "We the People".

Or preferably, Medicare for All.

[iplaw]

Salary caps are a hollow goal as we can see from the billions of dollars in options being doled out to Tarp firms in lieu of insane salary.

[LeftRight]

Wow, sure sounds like the "moderate" Snowe is EXACTLY like the "moderate" Specter was!