Tags : bob dole, down boy, healthcare reform, healthcare reform controversy, partisanship
White House Has Healthcare TV Ad Pulled After Bob Dole Objects
Democrats suffered a setback to their new tactic of showcasing Republican support for healthcare reform after the White House ordered the Democratic National Committee to pull a TV ad featuring former Sen. Bob Dole.
According to ABC, Dole told White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel over the weekend that he was against the ad because it misrepresented his statements. The spot quotes Dole as saying, “I want this to pass. … We’ve got to do something.”
The 1996 Republican presidential nominee has told ABC that he had been encouraging bipartisanship, not a specific legislative reform proposal.
Democrats have been pointing to recent Republican statements to rally support for their health agenda, which will be tested on Tuesday when the Senate Finance Committee votes on its measure, viewed as the best chance for the White House to pass a bill this year because it is the only one among five majority proposals in Congress without a public option.
Prominent members of the GOP last week urged reform, a priority of the administration in its first year in office.
President Barack Obama in his weekly address had cited their support, saying, “Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg came out in support of reform, joining two former Republican Senate Majority Leaders: Bob Dole and Dr. Bill Frist, himself a cardiac surgeon. Dr. Louis Sullivan, Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George H.W. Bush, supports reform. As does Republican Tommy Thompson, a former Wisconsin governor and Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush.”
“These distinguished leaders understand,” the President added, “that health insurance reform isn’t a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, but an American issue that demands a solution.”
The GOP has remained strongly opposed to the Democratic health reform bills, saying these raise taxes, harm small businesses, and fail to ensure that funds won’t be used to pay for abortion or to cover illegal immigrants.
All of the four other bills introduced by Democrats have been reported out of committee: $600 billion measure crafted by the late Ted Kennedy for the Senate Health Committee, a $900 billion bill from the House Energy Committee with a public option that allows doctors to negotiate payment rates, and the legislation from the Ways and Means and Education committees both costing $1 trillion over 10 years.
The Senate Finance panel votes on its bill, following a two-week debate and months of intensive negotiations by its Gang of Six centrist lawmakers, led by committee chairman Max Baucus (D-MT). The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) last week also assessed the committee’s final bill, saying
the proposal would reduce the deficit by $81 billion over a decade, and would increase federal revenues through spending changes. One of the revenue mechanisms, however, is a controversial tax on “Cadillac” insurance plans that even Democrats oppose.
The bill would cost $829 billion over 10 years. It would provide coverage to 94 percent of the nation, expanding coverage to 29 million uninsured Americans, but leaving 25 million people uninsured.
The CBO says one-third of this 6 percent that will remain without coverage are illegal immigrants.
The total cost of the legislation includes $518 billion for the expansion of coverage, additional spending for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and tax credits for small businesses.
But these costs would be offset by $110 billion “in net savings from other sources,” and “the combination of other spending changes that would save $404 billion over the 10 years and other provisions that would increase federal revenues by $196 billion over the same period,” the CBO said.
A tax on “Cadillac” insurance plans would also provide the government with $201 billion in revenues, according to the CBO, that offset the costs.
The 40 percent tax on insurers will be applied to expensive policies, or those with premiums costing more than $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for families. The tax, which begins in 2013, will be imposed only to the amount that exceeds the two thresholds, and not to the entire cost of the plan.
Those living in high cost states will have protection through a higher threshold, initially by 20 percent. For plans covering retirees and workers in high-risk jobs, the threshold is $9,850 for individuals and $26,000 for families.
Apart from the “Cadillac” tax, Baucus’ bill is the only one among five Democratic proposals in Congress that does not feature a public option, which is a government-run, voluntary healthcare program that would compete with private insurance by offering cheaper coverage.
The measure uses non-profit cooperatives as its mechanism for competition instead. It also requires all Americans to buy coverage starting 2013.
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