In focusing on how "quality" would be defined and the prospect of the government making patients' insurance decisions, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) provided a preview of the GOP's reaction to President Obama's Monday healthcare speech.
On a conference call sponsored by the Republican National Committee, Price, a physician, said there are two major criticisms of Obama healthcare reform principles.
"Number one," he said in classic GOP pre-buttal style, "where are medical decisions going to be made?"
Obama's plan, Price said, would take the authority to make medical decisions away from patients and doctors.
Secondly, price said the government would define was "quality" medical care is. Therefore if the government determines an individuals healthcare is not up to its standards, that individual may be forced to enroll in the government run program.
"It crowds out individuals who are eligible for that plan and moves them into the government run program," he said.
That first criticism appears a bit misleading, though. Price sharply criticized Obama's plan as taking away decision making authority from patients and doctors. At first glance, that sounds like it means that the government would be making individual healthcare decisions - like what treatment is administered.
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Americans United for Change, the labor backed behemoth that appears to have a bottomless bank account, is going up with a new ad on healthcare reform in D.C. this week.
The ad touts a recent Diageo/Hotline poll that found that 62 percent of respondents support "the president enacting a major overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system."
"In the Senate, they call sixty percent support a 'super' majority," the narrator says. "A new poll shows 62 percent of Americans support the President's plan to reform health care. That means lowering costs, so everyone has access to quality, affordable care. Protecting your choice of doctor. Letting you choose between keeping the private insurance you have, and a public health insurance plan."
The ad, of course, serves as a primer for Obama's big healthcare speech to the American Medical Association on Monday.
Check out the ad below. It is going up on D.C. cable on Monday and will air through the end of the week.
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Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean had some choice words for those who disagree with him on healthcare reform Wednesday morning.
Dean, a physician and former Vermont governor, appeared on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" to talk healthcare and promote his new book on the topic: "Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Health-care Reform: How We Can Achieve Affordable Medical Care for Every American and Make Our Jobs Safer."
And within minutes of the hour long interview, Dean fired away at senators that oppose a public insurance option and teed off on other physicians in Congress.
Dean strongly encouraged support for a public option in the reform package and went so far as to say that if it isn't included, no reform bill should be passed.
"If you don't have a public option," he said, "then you shouldn't do reform, because it isn't reform."
He also bluntly criticized Sen. Tom Coburn, a Oklahoma Republican and fellow physician who has argued against a public plan.
"Public healthcare does a better job for its patients than private healthcare," he said. "The senator is wrong. He's well-intentioned, he's a physician, I respect that, but he's wrong about economics."
That criticism seemed mild, though, when compared to what he said about Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey (Ga.), another physician who opposes any public plan. Dean addressed Gingrey's remarks on the same program in which Gingrey said a public plan could make it more difficult to get care. Gingrey also said that Dean's own wife, after getting her name wrong, doesn't take patients with Medicaid packages.
"Dr. Gingrey is just plain wrong," Dean said. "He's an embarrassment."
Speaking of his wife, Dean said, "She does accept Medicaid patients. So this fella simply doesn't know what he's talking about. Good thing he's in Congress cause I'd hate to see what he'd do to patients."
Where Dean significantly diverged from the president's plan was over how to pay for the public option. Dean was much more open to new taxes, including on unhealthy products that contribute to rising healthcare costs, including soda and alcohol.
"I don't have a problem with it," Dean said when asked about taxing soda or alcohol. "I have always thought there is no reason not to tax beverages that contribute to healthcare problems. While soda isn't in the same league as alcohol, those things all do contribute to healthcare problems."
Check out the full hour long interview below.
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President Obama's campaign arm has launched a website dedicated to help push health care reform through Congress.
Organizing for America (OFA) sent an email to its massive email list Wednesday morning announcing the website - mybarackobama.com/HealthCare.
The site breaks down Obama's healthcare goals into three broad categories: "Reduce costs," "Guarantee choice" (including a public option) and "Ensure quality" care for all. It also urges users to sign an online petition to Congress in support of those goals.
"The race to pass real healthcare reform in 2009 is heating up. Early drafts for a full proposal are already circulating in the Senate and in the House," OFA director Mitch Stewart writes in the email. "While our opponents twist arms to weaken reform, the future of American health care is up for grabs. That's why we're launching our Health Care Action Center. It's a one-stop shop for taking action and learning more to build support for real reform."
A couple things worth noting: First, in OFA's defense, this is new waters - no president has had an email list like this and sought to use it for legislative priorities.
Second, this attempt appears to be geared as generating high numbers of participants, that can then be touted to the press. Signing an online petition is really easy and the goals listed are so broad that they would appeal to most, I think.
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Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) says he's found a cost effective way to address chronic pain, stress, and other illnesses: meditation.
Ryan is urging policymakers to consider adding "mindfulness education"--learning to reduce one's own stress level--to healthcare reform legislation.
"Every day, I meditate for at least 45 minutes before leaving home in the morning," Ryan wrote on his website. "I find it makes me a better listener, and my concentration is sharper. I get less distracted when I'm reading. It's like you see through the clutter of life and can penetrate to what's really going on."
At a hearing last week, Ryan asked HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to keep in mind the positive effects of mindfulness when re-working the nation's healthcare system.
"When we have these discussions about healthcare, there's always an issue we never really talk about, and it's the issue of stress," Ryan said. "A lot of us are seeing it in our Congressional districts because of the economic situation we're dealing with. And the issue of stress leads to, I think, we know, increased illness."
Sebelius agreed that the technique was useful as a form of preventive medicine that could reduce the need for more costly treatments.
"I think it's a prevention strategy that I know has the potential of paying huge dividends," Sebelius said.
The chairmen of the three House committees sharing jurisdiction over healthcare reform briefed the Democratic caucus today on their preliminary legislation.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee; Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee; and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, will each have a hand in shaping the legislation.
According to a committee release, the chairman focused on "reducing health care costs, protecting current coverage and preserving choice for patients to ensure affordable, quality care for all."
See the full statement, issued jointly by all three chairmen, after the jump.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had some frank thoughts on the healthcare debate when he appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning.
Sanders, who advocates a single-payer system, said Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, would never consider it.
C-SPAN: Is Senator Baucus open to your ideas? Sen. Sanders: No. C-SPAN: He's not? Sen. Sanders: To a single-payer idea? No. Not in a milllion years.
Sanders went on to lump Baucus together with Republicans:
Sen. Sanders: Well, It bothers me. It's not just Senator Baucus. It is every Republican. I mean let's be clear. C-SPAN: But he's a Democrat. Sen. Sanders: Well I'm an independent. And that's why I'm an indedendent C-SPAN: But you caucus with the Democrats. Sen. Sanders: I caucus with the Democrats. Look, what am I going to, sit here and tell you Democrats are perfect? They are immune from money pressure? Of course not.
Finally, Sanders said any bill that would muster a filibuster proof 60 votes would be too weak. Instead, he hinted at using budget reconciliation rules to push through stronger legislation.
"My strong feeling is if we end up with a bill that has 60 or 70 votes, it will be such a weak bill that it will not accomplish what I think the American people want," he said. "I would rather pass a strong bill with 51 votes than a weak bill with 65 or 70 votes."
Harry Reid is warning his colleagues to expect a "very long, hard work period" this summer.
With Democrats hoping to pass healthcare and climate change before the August recess (climate change perhaps just in the House), Reid is preparing for a packed schedule.
Congress usually bears its heaviest load Tuesday through Thursday, since members often travel on Monday and Friday.
But the Nevada Democrat said the Senate would work Monday through Friday from July 5 to Aug. 7, when Congress is scheduled to go on recess for the balance of the summer. The only day in the workweek that senators should not expect votes is July 17, he said.
Speaking of health care, Reid said "we cannot complete that most important legislation" working a more limited schedule. "Everyone's on notice," he said.
In remarks on the floor, Reid said is it unclear whether the Senate will act in July on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, or whether the issue would "spill over until" to September. A decision will be made after conversations with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Reid said.
Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), one of the leading House Democrats on healthcare reform, is recovering well from a bout with pneumonia and plans to return to the Hill in June.
If he does return in June, that would conveniently get him back in the mix as Congress tackles healthcare reform legislation.
You may remember this post from our healthcare reporter, Jeffrey Young, on Stark not being too happy with being sidelined from his work in the Capitol.
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Organizing for America tapped President Obama's campaign email list again Friday to distribute a message seeking volunteers for a nationwide action to "kick off" healthcare reform on June 6.
"Remember this date: Saturday, June 6th, 2009. We will look back on that day as the moment when the fight for real health care reform began in your neighborhood -- perhaps even in your own living room," reads the message, attributed to David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager who now oversees Organizing for America, a Democratic National Committee-affiliated off-shoot of the campaign.
"On June 6th, in thousands of homes across the country, we'll gather to launch our grassroots campaign for health care," the email says, going on the explain that participants who sign up will get access to a conference call featuring remarks by Obama
"These gatherings on June 6th are just the beginning of a battle between those who fought and believe in change and those who would protect a broken status quo. The stakes for our country could not be greater," the message says.
Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress have vowed to enact a comprehensive healthcare reform bill by the end of the year. The first real tests will come in June when congressional committees introduce the first drafts of the legislation.
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