A Weekend in Alexandria

While I typically reserve my Saturdays for SEC Football (GEAUX Tigers!), the debate over health care reform didn't take the weekend off, so neither did we. Saturday I went up to Alexandria, LA to discuss health care at the biennial Louisiana Federation of Republican Women Conference and met up with my cohort Devin in Lafayette that same afternoon.

While in Alexandria I had the pleasure of listening to countless concerned citizens and their concerns about the current propositions for health care reform, but two seemed to really stand out above the rest.

First, I was able to sit down with Clyde Holloway- Central Louisiana's Public Service Commissioner and former Congressman. Here's the video:




The next video is of Joyce Lacour, a member of the Republican Women, Baton Rouge Pachyderms, and all around informed citizen:

Trust the social worker

Donna Ganier owns her own small business and is a practicing social worker. She's the one that has to navigate the bureaucratic labyrinth that is government health care. Now, just why do you think she's opposed to a public option?

Landrieu Blasts Public Option!

Below is a story out of the Hill. Looks like Mary Landrieu is hearing and understanding our concerns!

Here is the link to the story on the Hill's website: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/64301-landrieu-blasts-public-option


Landrieu blasts public option

By Eric Zimmermann - 10/22/09 12:33 PM ET

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) echoed Republican criticisms of a public option today, suggesting it would bankrupt the country.Describing the public option as a "government-run, taxpayer subsidized, national insurance plan,"

Landrieu said it would likely replicate the problems faced by Medicare and Medicaid."Why don't we fix the two public options we have now instead of creating a third one," she told NPR's "Tell Me More."

Asked about polls showing public support for a government plan, Landrieu said the questions should be phrased differently."I think if you asked, do you want a public option but it would force the government to go bankrupt, people would say no," she said.

Landrieu suggested co-ops as a possible compromise.

Thirty Democratic Senators have pledged to only vote for a bill including a public option. Landrieu, obviously, is not one of them.

You know you're spoiled by a sub-tropical climate when...

Yes, it's 60 degrees and you're FREEZING!!! But I have to admit, I love the coincidence the day and subsequent weekend after that lady asks President Obama about cap and trade and green energy in the Town Hall meeting, prefacing the question with, "it's 90 degrees in the middle of October, something's not right," the temperature drops. Well it's 60 degrees now, happy? I didn't think so.

What does this have to do with health reform? Nothing, I'm just cold and embittered that that lady in the town hall jinxed us with cold weather. And so I'm beginning this entry by rambling a bit to keep my fingers moving so they don't freeze and fall off. But cap and trade and climate change are not the matter of this blog, health reform is. 

Above, as you can see, is another video blog entry featuring our friend David Huguenel at the University of New Orleans for President Obama's Town Hall. I had the pleasure of seeing the President, motorcade in tow, at MLK Charter School in the Lower 9. It was pretty spectacular. We set up some campaign signs along the drive route and waved some at the POTUS as he drove by. We're very grateful to President Obama for making health care reform such  a high priority. It's always a huge political risk to undertake something so massive and treacherous, and I cannot express the the respect I have for him showing the courage to take this on. I can only hope he takes to heart our message: spare small business additional taxes, foster competition and wellness, and don't create a new federal bureaucracy named 'public option'! 

I hope that last one comes as a given, but we can never be too perseverant. Especially in this chilly economic climate. More government inevitably means more taxes. Even the recently-passed-out-of-committee Baucus proposal means more taxes. Hopefully as debate progresses in the Senate and they begin to reconcile the ice-water-in-its-veins HELP bill with the less-than-tepid Finance Committee bill, some brave legislators (like our own Mary Landrieu?) will propose some amendments we can warm-up to. 

Until then, bundle up...

Louisiana Women on Health Reform

These are two great video testimonials we got from Louisiana women on health care. Both raise interesting concerns about some of the proposed health reform. First is Alicia Schlumbrect with here opinions on what she saw come of government-run health care overseas.



Next is Goldie Huguenel, former Patient Liason for Chairty Hospital and current recipient of Medicare Advantage:

PricewaterhouseCoopers' report on Baucus proposal = ALARM BELLS!!!

I know this debate has been raging for a fair while now, but if I remember correctly, at the onset of it all President Obama specified three simple criteria that need be met to receive his signature: increase access and affordability; decrease the cost curve over the long-run; and must be budget neutral. We've already gone through the motions with the public option and the CBO has made it crystal clear it misses the mark on two and a half of the three (not budget neutral, bends cost-curve up, increases access but makes private coverage less affordable....).

It has been readily said that the Baucus proposal is a step in the right direction, but still falls far short of those simple yet imperative benchmarks. The CBO tenuously projects it will reduce the deficit by $81 billion over the next decade. That's under the assumption that they are able to implement and maintain the "Permanent reductions in the annual updates to Medicare’s payment rates for most services in the fee-for-service sector (other than physicians’ services), yielding budgetary savings of $162 billion over 10 years" that would grossly inflate the cost of private insurance as providers charge them more for the services they provide below cost to Medicare recipients- who are conveniently expected to grossly increase over the next decade as the baby boomer generation retires. Hmmmm. The budget neutral quality of the proposal is on very shaky ground. Maybe this can be cleared up when there is actual legislation to accompany. 

Then there's access and affordability. It accomplishes this through a new insurance exchange and subsidies for families making up to 400 percent of the federal poverty line. The exchanges guarantee access, the subsidies guarantee affordability. Simple enough. It accomplishes this, but with an obvious cost. 

According to the report released earlier today by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the bill will actually bend the cost curve up for individuals, families and businesses. I'm assuming that fact will be somewhat effaced by the concurrent subsidies. Check out the report here. This is a fat lot of information to digest at once. Check it out. Let me know what you think.

Congressman Bill Cassidy Talks to the Campaign!

Over the past several months we've had the pleasure of speaking with citizens and hearing their concerns about health care reform. We've spoken to people from all walks of life, but today we had the pleasure of listening to Congressman Bill Cassidy- Louisiana's representative from the 6th Congressional District (Baton Rouge) and it was nothing short of fascinating. Watch the full video below: