The Democrats' Problem: There's No Health Care Plan to Sell

People have been preoccupied with the preposterous lies that the Republicans have perpetrated on health insurance reform. At the same time, pundits repeat the conventional inside-the-beltway line that the Democrats are "off-message."

The reality is that Democrats don't have a message to be off of.

Yesterday, Roger Hickey from Campaign for America's Future and one of the leading experts on the public insurance option was a guest on the show that fellow Huffington Post blogger Art Levine and I do on blogtalkradio.com. I asked him what exactly is the public health insurance option at this point.

He couldn't give me a full answer. Not because he is uniformed on the subject, no one is more informed, but because there are several bills in Congress, all of them different. There isn't a fully formed public option.

You can listen to the full interview here.

There are several versions of it, as he explained. Maybe they'll just put everybody under Medicare? Maybe they'll set up a parallel system with all of the same features as Medicare?

Will there be mandatory insurance? Who pays? How much? What about small busniesses?

He knew what each bill had to say but he couldn't say for certain what will be in the final proposal because there isn't a unified bill.

So how are Democrats supposed to convince the public that their plan is a good one when there isn't a plan?

They can't. And they haven't. This has given the big "health" corporations and their Republican elves the opportunity to throw out any charge they like. All the Democrats can say is, "There's nothing like that in the bill."

What bill?

That's why words like "public option" have little meaning to those not on the inside of the issue and to those outside the beltway. "Public option" represents an amorphous concept that has yet to be spelled out.

Perhaps Obama has been playing rope-a-dope. It certainly worked for him during the election. When many of us were crying for him to strike back, he stayed on the ropes and struck at the right time.

Maybe he has been allowing Congress to make a mess and the Republicans punch themselves out so that he can walk in with a coherent plan when Congress re-convenes.

Or not.

Meanwhile, progressives have pushed back nicely and the fear-mongers have not progressed much past the 20% base they had in November. It shouldn't be too hard to convince most Americans of a good public option.....if they knew what it was.

The time has come for Democrats to bring one bill forward so that independents and the more conservative wing of the party can have a real plan to judge.

Follow Tom D'Antoni on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TomD'Antoni

Comments

[gfulmore]

One of the ideas to sell is that if all in the country have health insurance, the premiums for those currently with insurance should come down about 10%, just with that change. In other words, there is a financial payback for having all insured, in addition to the moral imperitive. The other argument is that there is tons of waste and inefficiency in the system that gives us a chance to save tons of money on health care over the next 10 years. The book, "Health Care Will Not Reform Itself," by Halvorson, has many good ideas.
We have an excellent health care system in our country in many ways, but the way it has developed is unsustainable economically. The way it is headed is that we will end up with superior hospitals, doctors and drugs that cannot serve anyone but those with the best health insurance, which will be a diminishing percentage of Americans.
Health care reform can start with the Obama Bill of Insurance Rights. That will help greatly with the accessibility part. For affordability and accountability, we need time and leadership to make changes where changes will be good for the common good.

[timbonotes]

As Will Rogers said in Franklin Roosevelt's first term, "I am a member of no organized political party-I am a Democrat." . To Mr. D'Antoni I say - patience, patience. To President Obama I say - do something and do it with exquisite timing or you're a one termer.

[DEJM]

Good point. So why all the bills? Why not one bill?

It just makes me think it's all about satisfying special interests.

And it's beginning to look like a shell game.

What's worse, more and more members of Congress have said they've not read any or all of the bills......

so will they vote on something they haven't read? Are the voters and citizens that unimportant?

[jcwtts1]

Legislative process 101. When you propose a system wide change to anything certain committees have jurisdiction over that issue. If you were going to propose a Mars or Bust bill or Colonizing the Moon by 2020 bill certain committees have the over-site authority to write a bill out of committee. For Health Care reform there are 6 committees with "jurisdiction" over health care, three house, three senate. So each committee holds hearings or debates issues, or talks about it until the chair feels it is read to craft a piece of legislation. Then that committee writes a bill with everything in it that they feel is important. Then they vote that bill out of committee, or don't. It is a simple majority rules kind of thing. Then once every committee in the senate and the house have voted out their bills, the house and senate reconcile those bills, open them up to amendment from the entire body and then finally vote on the floor for one comprehensive bill. Then the senate bill that passes and the house bill that passes are brought together into a dual chamber reconciliation and they iron out one final bill that will be voted on in the house and senate. When that bill passes it is taken to the white house and the President gets to sign it into law or veto it and send it back to congress.

[jcwtts1]

Which is why the President demanded that the bills all be out by the August recess and the republicans on the senate finance committee pretended to negotiate to slow the bill down. " We haven't had a chance to read the bills?" Lie. "We think we can reach a compromise." Lie. "We wish to work with the President." Lie. They wanted what they got a slow down of the process so that people could go home and get shellacked by the health care industry thugs. But in all ways the GOP is out classed. They overplayed their limited hand and instead of pushing the conversation , they let they woke up the crazies. The dangerous crazies. The gun wielding, trying to assassinate the President crazies, and the majority of this country, the vast majority of this country, started softly to say no. It has grown to a roar, galvanized by the tactics of intimidation and by the death of Edward Kennedy. So, the GOP, thinking they were fighting in a 1993 blew it. We will get a strong public option. It will be a private company like the post office is a private company, and like the post office, it will be the cheaper option by a significant margin at first. It will drive down costs, improve services. As the model of insurance is forever changed to a patient first profit second structure, we all win. People with the public option and people with private insurance.

[freelyb]

Absolutely. And thanks for relieving some anxiety for me. I thought I might be the only one confused about what we were fighting for!

[jmpurser]

Well said. For all the people demanding a "strong robust public option" there simply is no such thing. The "public option" was created to kill single payer. It exists for no other reason. By leaving it blank Obama and the DLC Democrats allow everyone who is aware that we need real health care to write their hopes upon the hope of "public option" without ever having to come out and promise anything. For the promise of pretty ribbons we paid dearly.

The core of the bill that needs a "public option" to be sold to the public will be a massive corporate welfare bill. It will require 50 million people to buy private health insurance or be hunted down by the IRS. When they can't afford the insurance they're forced to buy the government will open up the treasury and write a check to the very insurance companies that drove up the price beyond affording in the first place. We will write them a check for price gouging.

[batguano]

Excellent JM! Considering all the "compromise" (read capitulati­on/collusi­on) already apparently conceded by the Obama admn. to Big Pharma, re negotiating lower prices, etc, the prospects for further give-aways to the insurance industry, Big Pharma and the parasitic billing "industry seem probable. The campaign contributions lavished on both Repubs and Dems by the health care industry seems to trump any integrity (so far) or commitment to the citizens and our national health. No other industrialized nation on Earth tolerates such a greed-driven and corrupt system. We need to work for HR676 single payer and not give in to continued greed or corrupt influence by this critical sector that victimizes our citizens at will. If the Dem leadership had even a modicum of the commitment to health care for all Americans that Teddy Kennedy had, we might have something beside a mouthful of mumbles from Dems and vituperation, hate and lies fro Repubs.

[jcwtts1]

The Pharma deal saved health care. Seriously, think about fighting a two front war. Drug companies with their unlimited cash? Not only did he get a good deal out of them, it is neither permanent nor controlling outside of this one reform bill. If the congress wants to negotiate prices, pass the bill in 2010. If you have insurance with a prescription drug benefit, the cost of meds is reasonable. If you close the doughnut hole, which the deal with Pharma does about 55 percent, and you further provide a script benefit to everyone currently uninsured, what is the problem with delaying a blood war with the Pharma companies while we pass this bill?

[jsgaetano]

OMG... you mean a government program which is being created hasn't been created yet?

[treetracker]

Which is why those of us who want reform sat back until we saw the right begin spewing their lies.

S 703 is the best bill in my opinion. I'll live with HR 676 - but I'd rather get our employers OUT of our health care.

[Princemarko]

It's almost as disgusting as Obama trying to push thru a flaw healthcare plan before the CBO could come out with the adjusted deficit projections. The White House "cooked the books" and tried to get away with legislation.

I want healthcare reform also, i'm not happy paying $900 a month for my wife and unborn baby. The costs are outrageous, but adding $1.3 trillion to already ballooning deficits is not the answer to already flawed systems.

[treetracker]

S 703 requires everyone pay a 2.3% health care tax. Everyone gets coverage. Everyone pays. It won't add to the debt. How would that work out for you? For me, I could pay my own and not pay any more than I do now. My employer wouldn't need to contribute and could pay taxes on the profit the now don't pay taxes on. And since my former employer (I'm retired) is an insurance company, they get the money and the tax break. I have a 20% copay and a $1K deductible. I haven't been to the doctor since I retired...3 years ago. S 703 has no deductibles, no copays, covers dental and vision - neither of which I have.

Why would we settle for less?

[laylahb]

Thank you for your sensible piece. All month long I've been saying "what bill?" I've received many pro-reform emails, have been asked to make calls and canvass and attend town-hall meetings to defend the bill? Again, what bill?

This August has been an absolute disaster for the pro-reform movement, the Democratic Party and most of all, the Obama administration. If they don't get their act together soon, and agree on something that would work for most of us, it may be another 16 years before we get another chance.

[pontesisto]

If you would like to help pressure Congress to pass single payer health care please join our voting bloc at:
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