By Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images

President Obama will make an announcement sometime next week on "the way forward" in health care, spokesman Robert Gibbs said today.

The big question: Will he support congressional "reconciliation," a legislative process that could enable Democrats to pass Obama’s comprehensive $950 billion health care plan and avoid a Senate Republican filibuster.

Gibbs said Obama will consult with congressional Democrats in the days ahead. The president hasn’t made any final decisions, Gibbs added, only that he wants an up-or-down vote on health care.

The president himself made the same point at yesterday’s summit with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders.

At the end of that session, Obama told Republicans: "The question that I’m going to ask myself, and I ask of all of you is, ‘is there enough serious effort that in a month’s time or a few weeks’ time or six weeks’ time we could actually resolve something?’ And if we can’t, then I think we’ve got to go ahead and some make decisions, and then that’s what elections are for."

Republicans have said the use of reconciliation will defy the will of voters who oppose the scope of Obama’s health care plan, and would disrupt the operations of Congress.

"It could harm the future of our country and our institution," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who lost to Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Obama announces ‘way forward’ in health care next week – The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency

 

By Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images

President Obama will make an announcement sometime next week on "the way forward" in health care, spokesman Robert Gibbs said today.

The big question: Will he support congressional "reconciliation," a legislative process that could enable Democrats to pass Obama’s comprehensive $950 billion health care plan and avoid a Senate Republican filibuster.

Gibbs said Obama will consult with congressional Democrats in the days ahead. The president hasn’t made any final decisions, Gibbs added, only that he wants an up-or-down vote on health care.

The president himself made the same point at yesterday’s summit with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders.

At the end of that session, Obama told Republicans: "The question that I’m going to ask myself, and I ask of all of you is, ‘is there enough serious effort that in a month’s time or a few weeks’ time or six weeks’ time we could actually resolve something?’ And if we can’t, then I think we’ve got to go ahead and some make decisions, and then that’s what elections are for."

Republicans have said the use of reconciliation will defy the will of voters who oppose the scope of Obama’s health care plan, and would disrupt the operations of Congress.

"It could harm the future of our country and our institution," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who lost to Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Obama announces ‘way forward’ in health care next week – The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency

President Obama Opens the Health Reform Meeting

President Obama lays out the plan for the day and his hopes for what can be accomplished. He talks about where we’re at now and why this meeting is so necessary: "Politics, I think, ended up trumping practical common sense. I said at the State of the Union, and I’ll repeat — I didn’t take this on because I thought it was good politics. This is such a complicated issue that it’s inevitably going to be contentious. But what I’m hoping to accomplish today is for everybody to focus not just on where we differ, but focus on where we agree."

"You are entitled to your opinion, but not your own facts"

In response to Republican Senator Lamar Alexander’s contention that premiums will go up under reform, the President cites the Congressional Budget Offices report that his proposal will actually lower costs for individuals. President Obama also cites some of the Republican ideas he’s included in his proposal and makes it clear that he welcomes additional ideas to contain costs.

"It’s a good talking point, but it doesn’t actually answer the underlying question"

In a discussion of insurance market reforms, President Obama asks Republican Senator John Kyl to move away from talking points and focus on finding common areas of agreement. The President responds to Kyl: "Any time the question is phrased as ‘Does Washington know better?’ I think we’re kind of tipping the scales a little bit there — since we all know that everybody is angry at Washington right now it’s a good talking point, but it doesn’t actually answer the underlying question, which is, ‘Do we want to make sure that people have a baseline of protection?’"

"More choice and competition"

President Obama responds to Republican Representative Eric Cantor, explaining that health reform would lead to more choices and better plans: "The eight to nine million people that you refer that might change their coverage… would be folks that the Congressional Budget Office estimates would find the deal in th
e exchange better. Yes, they would change coverage, because they’ve got more choice and competition."

"American families will drown if we try an incremental approach"

Senator Tom Harkin reminds those at the meeting that while it’s easy to get caught up in the debate over numbers and policy details, it’s ultimately about making progress to help ordinary folks across the country struggling under today’s broken system: "I keep thinking we have got to bring it back home to what this is all about. We all have our stories. I got a letter yesterday from a farmer in Iowa that really encapsulates it. [He said] ‘I’m a 57-year-old Iowa farmer. I’m writing to voice my concern regarding my family’s rapidly escalating health care costs. On Saturday, February 20th, I received a notice informing me that our health insurance premium will be increasing $193.90 per month to a monthly total of $1,516.20. This is a 14.6% increase.’"

"None of us know who’s going to end up being healthy and who’s not"

President Obama discusses some of the short-comings of the Republican proposal to use high-risk pools to cover people with pre-existing conditions. "We looked at the Boehner bill to see how you approached that, but given the amount of money that you have allocated for that pool, its just not going to be a very useful tool for the vast majority of people who’ve got pre-existing conditions. It’s just not enough money that you put into it to cover all the people with pre-existing conditions."

“If you think it’s a socialist plot, give up your federal health care”

Senator Dick Durbin asks Republicans who oppose health reform to give up the health plans they and their families receive from the federal government as members of Congress: "The federal employees health benefit program that we enjoy as individuals and want for our families is all we are asking for in this bill for families across America. If you think it is a socialist plot and it’s wrong, for goodness sakes, drop out of the federal employees health benefit program. But if you think it is good enough for your family, shouldn’t our health insurance be good enough for the rest of America?"

“These bills reduce the deficit”

Rep. Xavier Becerra challenges Republican Rep. Paul Ryan’s statement that he doesn’t trust the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate that the health reform bills will reduce the deficit. Becerra: "Now, we can all agree to disagree…but if there is no referee on the field, we can never agree how the game should be played. So I think we have to decide, do we believe in the Congressional Budget Office or not? Paul, you and I have sat on the Budget Committee for years together and on any number of occasions in those years you have cited the CBO to make your point, referred to their projections to make your points, and today you essentially said you can’t trust the CBO."

“We shouldn’t pretend that these folks don’t need help”

President Obama responds to Republican Senator John Barrasso’s argument that high-deductible plans and health savings accounts would be enough, explaining that neither are as effective for families below the highest income levels: "The vast majority of these 30 million people we’re talking about, they work every day. Some of them work two jobs. But if they’re working for a small business, they can’t get health care. If they are self-employed, they don’t get health care. It is a scary proposition for them. We can debate whether or not we can afford to help them, but we shouldn’t pretend somehow that they don’t need help. I get too many letters saying they need help."

President Obama’s Closing: “People don’t want us to wait”

President Obama closes the bipartisan health reform meeting by summing up the day’s progress and laying out the next steps: "If we saw movement, significant movement, not just gestures, then you wouldn’t need to start over [on health reform] because essentially everybody here knows what the issues are. And procedurally, it could get done fairly quickly. We cannot have another year-long debate about this. The question that I’m going to ask of myself and all of you is this: Is there enough serious effort that in a month’s time, or few weeks’ time or six weeks time, we could actually resolve something?"

I am a fan of Speaker Pelosi. She has more guts that every Democrat including the President. She is a proud liberal who have done all that was asked of her and she produced. Now if the men would the the country’s business we will have our bill.

P

By CALVIN WOODWARD First Posted: 02-25-10 01:41 PM   |   Updated: 02-25-10

WASHINGTON — When President Barack Obama and a Republican lawmaker sparred Thursday over what might happen to health insurance premiums in an overhauled system, both cited a nonpartisan analysis that looked at that very question. The president gave a fairer summary of what the analysis found.

Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander declared in his statement to the White House health policy conference that "for millions of Americans, premiums will go up" under the Obama plan. That much could be true — but for millions of others, premiums are expected to go down and those who face higher costs would be getting better coverage than they have now.

The debate on that point is key if Americans are to accept the insurance changes Obama wants. Democrats know that pitching their plan as a means to extend coverage to the uninsured is not enough: They must convince middle-income Americans who already have insurance that they, too, will end up with a better deal under the overhaul. So the squabble was about more than a bureaucratic report.

Obama sharply challenged Alexander on his claim and insisted he had the facts on his side when quoting from the report by the Congressional Budget Office. For the most part, he did.

THE CLAIMS:

Obama: "Lamar, when you mentioned earlier that you said premiums go up, that’s just not the case, according to the Congressional Budget Office."

Story continues below

Alexander: "Mr. President, if you’re going to contradict me, I ought to have a chance …. The Congressional Budget Office report says that premiums will rise in the individual market as a result of the Senate bill."

Obama: "No, no, no, no. Let me — and this is an example of where we’ve got to get our facts straight."

Alexander: "That’s my point."

Obama: "Well, exactly, so let me — let me respond to what you just said, Lamar, because it’s not factually accurate. … Here’s what the Congressional Budget Office says: The costs for families for the same type of coverage that they’re currently receiving would go down 14 percent to 20 percent. What the Congressional Budget Office says is that because now they’ve got a better deal, because policies are cheaper, they may choose to buy better coverage than they have right now, and that might be 10 percent to 13 percent more expensive than the bad insurance that they had previously."

THE FACTS:

Both are right, but Obama offered important context that Alexander left out.

The analysis estimated that average premiums for people buying insurance individually would be 10 to 13 percent higher in 2016 under the Senate legislation, as Alexander said. But the policies would cover more, and about half the people would be getting substantial government subsidies to defray the extra costs.

As the president said, if the policies offered today were offered in 2016, they would be considerably cheaper under the plan, even without subsidies. One big reason: Many more healthy young people would be signing up for the coverage because insurance would become mandatory. They are cheap to insure and would moderate costs for others.

Moreover, the analysis estimated that almost 60 percent of the people covered under individual policies would qualify for subsidies, bringing their own costs down by more than half from what they pay now.

Obama was correct that the forecast for higher costs on average is based on the expectation that people would buy better coverage. But that might not be as voluntary as he made it sound. The report said the Senate legislation sets minimum levels of coverage and that would require some people to pay for better insurance than they have now.

Obama Calls Out Lamar Alexander On His Facts: AP Fact Check (VIDEO)

Rachel Maddow is fast becoming one of the most complete journalists on television bar none. Unlike most “journalists” that continue to be lazy, allowing politicians to spin without any challenge to any misinformation they make expound, she does her homework.

The video below is a must see. Not only is it a must see but you must pass it along.

The GOP is attempting to equate reconciliation with the nuclear option that Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist attempted. It must be noted, it is the Republicans that have been constantly ramming things through with reconciliation and have been the only ones to attempt a nuclear option.

As shown in Rachel’s well researched piece, Republican Senators and Republican Congress people have supported reconciliation vociferously in the past. Some notable quotes:

Eric Cantor direct quote in 2005

“Reconciliation is a process I hope we can engage in every year”

Senator Judd Gregg

“We are using the rules of the Senate here. That’s what this is Senator. Reconciliation is a rule of the Senate … All this rule of the senate does is allow a majority of the Senate to take a position and pass a piece of legislation; support that position. Is there something wrong with majority rules? I don’t think so.”

Senator Kyl stated without any pushback

“it(reconciliation) was never designed for a large comprehensive peace of legislation like health care”

This is a lie as illustrated by Barbara Boxer where she stated that since 1980 reconciliation has been used 22 times. Out of those times the Republicans used it 16 times. It is in the Congressional record.

Harry Reid

My Republican Friends Are Lamenting Reconciliation. But I would recommend for them to go back and look at history. Realistically they should stop crying about reconciliation as if it has never been done before. It’s done almost every congress. And they are the ones that used it more than anyone else.

To be sure, as stated in the video, reconciliation was used to pass Bush’s two massive tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. NPR stated “…over the past three decades, the number of major health financing measures that were not passed via budget reconciliation can be counted on one hand. SCHIP(1997) and COBRA all passed by reconciliation.

Congressional Democrats say Thursday’s health care summit is likely to clear final hurdles to passing health care reform – and say President Obama returning to the issue with a clear focus and specific health care proposal makes it easier for them to get it done.

Health care reform was in hibernation after the special election in Massachusetts ended the 60-vote supermajority in the Senate, with some even declaring it dead and buried. But over the last few weeks there have been a series of developments that gave new life to health care reform. Democrats say the summit is the final step to securing House and Senate support for a compromise bill that could pass by the spring.

TPMDC has been surfacing where the momentum came from, with Congressional and Washington sources telling us that the White House at first seemed wary about spending political capital on something that was plummeting in the polls and which had wounded the party’s chances at success in November.

Since Obama finally put a stamp of his own on a health care plan – a compromise that looks more like the Senate bill than the more progressive House version passed last year – Democrats are saying they can finally move forward and score a political victory.

Among the factors at work helping revive momentum were the president’s performance at the GOP retreat last month, Republican shenanigans around the invitations to the summit and the massive rate hikes proposed by the nation’s largest insurer. What’s more, Democrats cited polls showing the American people want Congress to press on.

These disparate events came together after a month of legislative limbo, giving the White House the political cover to move forward.

From Nearly Dead To Nearly Done: How The White House Refocused On Health Care To Finish It Off | TPMDC#more#more

Insurance companies and likely the drug companies are likely gearing up to kill healthcare reform once and for all. Only you can make a difference.

Yesterday, the White House released President Obama’s health insurance reform proposal. It bridges the gap between the House and Senate bills, includes ideas from both parties to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse, and puts American families and small business owners in control of their own health care.

And it creates a major new authority to help states crack down on insurers who propose unreasonable and unfair rate hikes — like the ones we saw just last week in California and Maine.

It’s a proposal that combines feedback from the health debate with the President’s longstanding principles on reform — and it’s a bill that any member of Congress can support. But we know Big Insurance won’t like it one bit.

Before too long, their attack ads will be back up on TV and their misinformation campaign will be up and running. They’ll have one goal: convince members of Congress that its bad politics to support reform.

So it’s more important than ever to show every member of Congress that if they fight for reform now, we’ll back them up this election season.

OFA supporters have already pledged to volunteer over 7 million "You fight, we’ll fight" hours. Join them by pledging today.

The President’s bill is a combination of new provisions to crack down on insurers and eliminate waste and abuse, and targeted changes to the Senate bill to include ideas from the House and the President’s own priorities.

It makes insurance more affordable, sets up a new competitive health insurance market, lays down commonsense rules to bring greater accountability to health care, ends discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions, and cuts the deficit. And it strengthens the Senate bill, adding new provisions to cut down on waste, make sure middle-class families are protected, and closing the Medicare Part D "donut hole" coverage gap.

But health insurance companies don’t care what’s in the bill. They’re fighting to preserve the status quo that benefits them — even though it’s disastrous for our nation.

This proposal means reform is moving again, but the clock is ticking. We can’t wait to show that insurers are wrong when they claim members of Congress who vote for reform will suffer at the polls — but we need every committed supporter to pledge:
http://my.barackobama.com/YouFight

Thanks,
Mitch
Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

Most of us have relied on Consumer Reports as an arbiter of unbiased information that help us in the purchase of products and services we can be sure would meet our requirements. With all the noise and misinformation on healthcare reform, why not take an objective look through a trusted source.

PS: As a person who has a wife with Lupus, a pre-existing condition, a daughter in college, and a small business, I and I alone am responsible for the healthcare insurance & well being of the family; there is no company, corporation, or entity masking the true cost of health insurance and health costs. We have been fortunate that we never had to take government subsidies for any of our healthcare needs but can attest to the difficulty of navigating every avenue within the healthcare delivery and insurance industry. We must sympathize with all Americans as at sometime we all get sick or are injured. Many who believe that they are insured do not realize what they are ultimately covered for until they need it most. Listen to those opposing healthcare reform at your own peril. Only you can chose to be personally misinformed.

If you’re like a lot of Americans, you probably have health insurance through your job. And for the most part, you might be happy with it. But what if you become one of the tens of thousands of Americans losing their job each week thanks to our economic crisis? Or what if your employer dramatically hikes your premium, cuts benefits or drops your coverage? How would you afford your family’s health care? Yesterday the President offered a proposal to bridge the gap between the House and Senate bills so Congress can move ahead, giving you health care security for these rough times. Later this week, the leaders of both parties will meet. Some will argue we must toss out what’s on the table and start over. That’s why we’re reviewing the benefits of health reform with you, and asking that you forward these messages to others. If you know how you’ll benefit, and show politicians that you care, it will be much harder for them to walk away. Read our newest update, and make sure everyone you know understands what they would get by forwarding this email to all your friends and family. Nearly 90,000 people have now been introduced to benefits they may not have known about, thanks to you! Keep it going! Here’s the gist: If you have decent coverage now through your job, you keep it. But if your employer suddenly drops your health coverage, or makes you pay more than 8% of your salary on your premium, you could get credits or vouchers to help buy your own affordable policy in an insurance shopping mall, or ‘exchange.’ Help to buy insurance should you hit a rough financial patch. If you’re laid off from your job, or suddenly have a lot less income coming in, you can buy your own policy through the exchange with the help of tax credits. The less money you have coming in, the cheaper the policy. Your kids can stay on your policy until they turn 26 if they have trouble finding a job – and they don’t have to be full-time students. Small businesses will get help to cover their workers through tax credits that help cut their share of employees’ coverage by up to 50%. They also can also buy policies for their workers in the exchange, giving their employees a wide range of quality options. Seniors will get more benefits and a more stable Medicare program. Medicare, which is facing bankruptcy in seven years, will be fully funded until at least 2026. And seniors will get all their preventive care covered at 100%, more of their prescription drug costs covered by shrinking the infamous ‘donut hole’ coverage gap, and more programs to keep them in their own homes and out of nursing homes. We’ll be asking for your help in the coming days to make sure these and other real benefits aren’t left behind in the political wrangling. In the meantime, help us tell everyone how they would benefit from health reform by forwarding this email to everyone you know. Click here to learn more from Consumers Union about how health reform will guarantee you and your family decent, comprehensive, quality health care, no matter whether you have a job, or hit a rough financial patch. Sincerely, Liz Foley PrescriptionForChange.org A project of Consumers Union 1101 17th Street NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20036

Schwarzenegger breaks with GOP on health care, stimulus

Rob Hotakainen | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — While Republican leaders in Washington are urging President Barack Obama to start from scratch on a health care bill, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday dismissed the idea as "bogus talk."

It marked the second day in a row that Schwarzenegger strayed from his party’s positions.

On Sunday, he defended Obama’s economic stimulus plan and chided elected officials, most of them Republicans, who oppose the overall stimulus but are quick to trumpet individual projects in their states that are paid for by the stimulus.

Standing outside the White House after meeting privately with Obama on Monday, Schwarzenegger touted the economic stimulus plan yet again.

"I think the stimulus package has been very successful so far and I think California has benefitted tremendously," he said.

Schwarzenegger also said it’s good that the president is reaching out to Republicans as he prepares for this week’s health care summit with congressional leaders.

"Since half of the people are Republicans, why would you exclude Republicans?" he asked. "Then half of the people hate you for having done health care reform."

And he sided with Obama, saying it would be wrong to start all over in preparing health care legislation for Congress to consider.

"I think any Republican that says you should start from scratch, I think that’s bogus talk, and that’s partisan talk," the governor told reporters.

Obama met with the governors as a group Monday morning. Schwarzenegger was the only governor to get a private meeting later with the president.

Schwarzenegger said he discussed a wide array of issues with the president, including roads and bridges, high-speed rail, education and creating new tax incentives for energy-efficient homes.

But he said the economy was the top issue.

"It was truly encouraging to see him being so interested in talking about job creation being his number one priority," Schwarzenegger said.

Schwarzenegger breaks with GOP on health care, stimulus | McClatchy