Health care live blog #2
9:54 Obama on businesses laying off or not able to hire because of health care costs. And this is only going to get worse as costs go up.
9:57 This will be interesting, having a moderator (Obama) who is the chief representative of one side …
9:58 We have included a lot of Republican ideas in the Senate bill.
9:59 “We have tried to take every single cost containment idea that’s out there” and tried to include them in this bill. I’d like to find out which of your cost containment ideas are not in the bill and see whether we can include them. Alexander, you named some ideas you’d like in a bill that are already there.
10:02 McConnell points to poll numbers unfavorable to reform. (Of course, he doesn’t say is that a lot of the opposition is from people who think the bills are not strong enough.)
10:05 Coburn-R: Get rid of fraud. Tort reform.
10:07 Coburn-R says we can incentive healthy eating for users of food stamps and make school lunches healthier because right now food stamps and school lunches are causing diabetes. He forgot to mention massive subsidies for corn-growing.
10:10 Obama: Every good idea we’ve heard about eliminating fraud and abuse in government health care we’ve incorporated. So that’s an area where we agree. But that doesn’t account for rising costs in private marketplace. Sebelius is working on tort reform. There are a lot of preventive measures in the bill already.
10:12 Hoyer-D: Americans hope we’re here talking about them, not about us.
10:15 Hoyer-D, to Coburn-R: We agree with you about cost containment, and a lot of what you suggest is in the bills. You may have a better way of doing it, but we do have wellness as a focus. We agree with your premise on food stamps and school lunches; let’s find a way to get there.
10:17 Hoyer-D: You agree with us on preexisting conditions and caps on coverage, but it’s not in your bill (I think I heard that right). We agree on coordination of care.
10:18 Hoyer-D: Public option! Would open competition. Our caucus didn’t all agree on that.
10:20 Obama: I’d like to hear Republican objections to allowing individuals and small businesses to be able to become part of a large group like government employees have so they’ll have negotiating power–which would drive down costs. (Is he talking about a public option?) Some have agreed in the past on this. Is there something about the way bills have been structured that makes you concerned?
10:22 Republican response doesn’t answer Obama’s question but suggests Republican proposal re allowing association health plans. This would be better than the exchange that’s in the “huge bill.”
10:25 Baucus: “Gaps, in my judgment, are not that great.” We allow buying and selling across state lines in exchange.
OK, I need to break for some work-work.