Health Care Reform Terms You Should Know
Written by: Tom Sawyer
Nobody I personally know works in congress or the senate. Therefore, I don’t know anyone who is making money through lobbyists for their daily actions and votes. Working for these institutions seems to be more of a money grab than a position where you represent the American public. Political party affiliation doesn’t matter; on the outside and until proven otherwise, politicians are shady characters.
Cash For Cloture – The official name is H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But this week, it has acquired an unhelpful nickname: “Cash for Cloture.”
Cloture is the legislative term for cutting off debate and holding a final vote. The term came from the fact that a closer look at the bill uncovers man backroom deals that were made to secure the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture. I would say this isn’t surprising at all given the (un) ethical behaviors in our government.
Louisiana Purchase – $100 million in extra Medicaid money for the Bayou State, requested by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).
Cornhusker Kickback – $100 million in extra Medicaid money, this time for Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).
U Con – Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) had $100 million written into legislature for a medical center in his state. Earlier, when GOP staff member mistakenly thought the medical center was destined for Indiana rather than Connecticut, they named it the “Bayh Off” for Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.).
Botax – Democratic leaders had a tax in the bill that created an appearance problem. Fortunately, they had removed from the bill the tax on cosmetic procedures (the “Botax”) and replaced it with a tax on tanning (which would primarily impact House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio).
Handout Montana – Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) secured Medicare coverage for anybody exposed to asbestos — as long as they worked in a mine in Libby, Mont.
Gator Aid – Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) inserted a grandfather clause that would allow Floridians to preserve their pricey Medicare Advantage program.
Iowa Pork and Omaha Prime Cuts – Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) won more Medicare money for low-volume hospitals of the sort commonly found in Iowa, while Nebraska’s Nelson won a “carve out” provision that would reduce fees for Mutual of Omaha and other Nebraska insurers.
“I don’t know if there is a senator that doesn’t have something in this bill that was important to them,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) reasoned when asked at a news conference Monday about the cash-for-cloture accusation. “And if they don’t have something in it important to them, then it doesn’t speak well of them.”
I wish we, the general public, could see through the facade and know how much money each one of these politicians will make because of health care reform. It would be extremely naive at this point to think they are doing this without the possibility of personal gain. It would also be naive to assume this all started in late January, when Obama became president. Obama’s presidency is raising awareness because people are taking notice and paying attention for various “reasons.” If we were paying attention for the past 100 years maybe things would be different. As it stands, we may have traded one problem for another one and only time will show the better of two evils.
Tags: bayh off, botax, cash for cloture, cornhusker kickback, democratic interests in health care reform, gator aid, handout montana, health care reform, louisiana purchase, President Obama, u con
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:00 am
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December 22nd, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Tom,
I greatly appreciate the honest look at the corruption and you are right, people are paying very close attention for a number of reasons. One of the many reasons I’m paying close attention to this particular issue is the claims and promises President (Then Candidate) Obama made on many occasions regarding earmarks and transparency; both of which were blatant lies.
We’ve all heard the expression ” Nice guys finish last” and quite frankly I can vouch for that being true and it’s very true when considering members of Congress. It would seem if you try and acquire funds for your state the legitimate way it could take years and years to get done. So in other words if you want to bring money home to increase your odds of winning re-election you have to play dirty politics. Unfortunately this type of behavior will never change until the constituents of these corrupt politicians hold them accountable for their actions. Going back to the Bush stimulus checks we received; it would be the equivalent of us really sending the checks back and saying no thanks. We have to ask ourselves, sure they’re building a nice bridge but which states tax payers were robbed to make that happen?
A couple of things worth noting in regards to the health care reform. There is still a mandate that every American carries government approved health insurance (Which is unconstitutional). From what I understand (I haven’t fact checked it yet) fines begin at $750 a year and go up based on income from there. If you fail to pay the fines you can be put in prison. (That is of course the extreme)
A large majority of the newly insured will be put on Medicaid or Tenn Care as it’s called here in Tennessee. Our Democrat governor has stated that putting this many people on the Tenn Care system will end up costing the state upwards of 750 million dollars over ten years. Seeing how our representatives haven’t played dirty politics(In the fashion of those listed previously) and haven’t acquired any earmarks to receive Federal funding to close that gap the Tennessee citizens will likely be faced with higher taxes and premiums.
Keep a close watch on the following. There is a 21% medicare payout (To Doctors) cut in this bill and in the coming weeks they will be working on additional legislation to close that gap. Additional legislation was needed to get AMA on board and they will pass this separate from the Health Care Reform bill because it would have pushed the real cost of this bill far beyond that of President Obamas requirements.
From what I understand (Not fact checked) a majority of the taxes will be put in place very soon after the bill is passed but no benefits will be paid out until 2014. So in other words they will be collecting taxes for several years before there is any money going out for benefits. Yet another dirty tactic to meet the Presidents budget requirements.
.-= Ryan Kazinec´s last blog ..Can Your Physician Definitively Diagnose You with Swine Flu (Type A Novel H1N1) ? The Answer Might Surprise You. =-.
December 23rd, 2009 at 8:47 am
Admittedly so, I really haven’t kept up on the health care reform. Great information in this article. Not surprised by anything in it though. The Botax reference is funny!
.-= Kim Sawyer´s last blog ..Jesus Fan v. Jesus Follower =-.
December 28th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
What I hate is the fact that people will abuse the medicaid application. I cannot believe that they would try to cheat the system. oh wait yes i can. it’s because of them that people who need it for real will suffer.
.-= Apply For Medicaid´s last blog ..Getting Medicaid For Children With Disabilities =-.
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