Today is the big day. No really, this time health care reform is really going to strap some wheels on and start moving (after all, abortion coverage is back in the news and you know it's not a real political discussion unless the abortion debate is involved). The President just had to get everybody together and tell them to stop their bickering and come to a compromise on health care reform. Although the strategy behind the Administration's moves to push health care reform thus far can be questioned ( i.e. why they foolishly gave up on the public option), the President is trying to stand strong and keep health care reform from falling apart as it did in '93.
Speaking of 1993, I can't decide whether it's a good thing or a bad thing that the current bill proposed by Democrats reflects that of the Republican bill during Clinton's presidency. I'll let you marinate on that for a minute.
Either way, Congress and the Administration are trying to move forward, because it is what has to be done in order to start the slow climb to actual health care reform.
The President released his new proposal for health care reform this week to be used as a basis for the discussion in today's summit (yes we have already seen a proposal from him, yes the new one packs less of a punch, and yes it is pretty much the Senate bill with a few key improvements - surprise our powerful leader is starting from center again).
However, we find ourselves in a dire situation with the health of our nation, mounting deficit and the corruption that keeps rearing its ugly head in the health insurance industry (are we really shocked that huge companies like Wellpoint would raise rates, manipulate data to boost profits and then try to defend their insidious actions? After all they are the powers that be behind the effort to kill this health care bill). So, it is clear now more than ever that we have to keep fighting for strong reform but also recognize that this proposal is doing some great things for America:
Extending dependent coverage for young adults up to age 26
Banning insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions
Increasing subsidies to low-income families in order to purchase coverage
Creating federal oversight to curb insurance industry abuses and unfair rate increases
Tax credits to help small businesses afford health insurance
And that's just naming a few, check out the full proposal here for more info.
So what will happen today? Well, tune in here to see for yourself. This site will be streaming the discussion live all day and will have some cool live blogging as well as links to the campaign contributions from health insurance lobbyists that members are receiving as each of them speaks. One thing is certain, you can expect "party of no" members to give the same old attacks against health care reform, while not producing solutions themselves. Check out The WonkRoom's guide to GOP ideas expected during today's summit.
*This post was written by CP Advocacy intern, Yosef Getachew
In a recent article written by the National Journal, it was revealed that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce not only spent the most money on health care lobbying last year but had also doubled what it had spent in 2008. As a result, the lobbying group spent $123.3 million in 2009 compared to $62.3 million in 2008 for all lobbying activities. Furthermore, a majority of this money was spent in the 4th quarter of 2009, which was the height of the health care debate. The massive amount of spending done by the traditionally conservative lobbyist group demonstrates its efforts in derailing health care reform for millions of Americans:
The top-spending groups on health care reform generally spent about as much lobbying last year as they did in 2008 — with one notable exception. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce stood out not only for consistently outspending other groups, but also for nearly doubling its lobbying spending over the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2009 alone, the group’s outflows easily topped the amount spent by any other group all year.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce wasn’t the only one who spent millions of dollars to lobby against health care reform. An article written by Think Progress reports that health insurance companies spent a total of $38 million in 2009 to impede the progress of health care reform.
A protest lead by Health Care for America Now was held today to fight back against the U.S Chamber of Commerce. Campus Progress attended the protest, which took place right on the steps of the lobbyist group’s building. Protestors shared stories and vehemently condemned the actions of lobbyist efforts as they urged Congress to finally pass health care reform.
On Thursday September 17, 2009, President Obama held a health care rally at the University of Maryland. He spoke directly to students and young people about the importance of health care reform and addressed the impact that our broken health care system is having on this generation.
Campus Progress was in attendance and gathering pledges of support for Obama's health care plan from hundreds of young people as they stood in line to hear the President speak.
Many of our network members and students spoke to reporters about their concerns with the health care system and their reasons for supporting reform.
Other than a handful of anti-abortion protestors and anti-reform hecklers that thought dressing up for halloween was a good way to somehow get their message across, the rally attendees were all in support of the President's call for reform and excited to have him addressing the issue as it pertains to young people.
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