There is some real progress to note on the health care bill that will be coming out of the HELP committee, currently being led by Sen. Dodd in Sen. Kennedy's continued absence.
As Sen. Dodd hinted last week, he went back to the Congressional Budget Office after their initial $1+ trillion price tag for a plan with no public option to get a plan with a public option scored. The result? With a public option now included, the cost has been cut significantly:
Democrats on a key Senate Committee outlined a revised and far less costly health care plan Wednesday night that includes a government-run insurance option and an annual fee on employers who do not offer coverage to their workers.
The plan carries a 10-year price tag of slightly over $600 billion, and would lead toward an estimated 97 percent of all Americans having coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and Chris Dodd said in a letter to other members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The AP obtained a copy....
"We must not settle for legislation that merely gestures at reform," the two Democrats wrote. "We must deliver on the promise of true change."
Sen. Dodd promised the MLN community last month that he would stand up for the absent Sen. Kennedy and fight for a strong public option in the HELP committee, and from all appearances he is delivering on that promise. This new CBO score should change the debate significantly.
In the meantime, there is more good news coming out of the HELP committee fight. One is the massive pressure being brought to bear against the lone holdout for the public option in that committtee, Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), by NC breast cancer survivors and the local and national netroots:
Kay Hagan has been the sole obstacle keeping a public plan from coming out of the Senate HELP Committee. On Friday, Pam Spaulding and breast cancer survivors of North Carolina will go to Kay Hagan's office carrying their signatures and those of the people who stand with them, asking Hagan to stand with us, too. We want to get 20,000 signatures of support for them to deliver in the next 48 hours.
We survived because we had the medical treatment that many of our sisters who died did not. As survivors we want to speak out and demand access to health care for the women whose battle is before them.
And finally, early next week, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) will finally be sworn in. One of the Senate committee slots being reserved for him? Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. He will be replacing Sen. Whitehouse (D-RI) who has been temporarily filling his empty slot there, but will hopefully be an invaluable ally for Sen. Dodd and Sen. Kennedy as they continue their fight to get to get a strong public option out of committee.
("The CT #healthcare09 delegation arrives in @jahimes office." by CCAG via TwitPic)
Today, Beau from CCAG is twittering the huge Health Care '09 rally and lobby day live from DC. You can follow CCAG's twitter feed all day here, photo updates here, and video updates here. This is by all accounts the largest national healthcare reform lobby day in history, and it comes at a crucial time. You can follow CCAG on twitter throughout the day for updates on meetings between Connecticut voters lobbying for meaningful health care reform - including a robust public option - and their representatives.
While most recent attention - and pressure - on healthcare legislation has been focused on the opaque workings of Senate committees and the huge egos and twisted priorities at work therein, this week Firedoglake and nyceve from Daily Kos launched a public whip count of progressive Representatives asking them for a firm commitment to vote against any health care "reform" legislation that does not include a public option that is "1. Available nationwide, 2. From day one," and "3. Answerable to Congress and the voters."
As Ben Smith from Politico points out, public whip counts like this are one of the most powerful tools available to online activists who want to influence legislation:
Legislative vote counts are one of those things that the Web can transform. They're typically closely held - counting is an insider's art - and deliberate ambiguity is a key negotiating tactic. Legislators who would prefer to vote no, for instance, might be willing to be the last vote, for a price. So while this has the effect of pushing members toward Obama's position, it also shines a spotlight on members who might prefer to stay uncommitted, or to wait for details and compromises.
Getting only 40 progressive Representatives to commit to voting against meaningless "reform" legislation without a public option may be the best way to force the Senate's - and White House's - hand on the public option. The Firedoglake whip count tool is here, but it only targets 100 progressive Representatives who they believe to be the lowest hanging fruit. Only one Rep from Connecticut - DeLauro - is on the list, and she has yet to respond. Yet Connecticut has 5 Democratic representatives who are all signatories to the Health Care for America Now "core principles" -- 3 of whom were elected to replace Republican incumbents in 2006 and 2008 based in large part on their support for real health care reform.
There's no reason not to ask CT's entire House delegation to commit to oppose meaningless reform-in-name-only that does not include a workable and robust public option. Contact your Rep at the phone number below and ask them to pledge to vote against any bill that does not contain a public option that is (1) available nationwide, (2) on day one, and (3) accountable to Congress and the voters, and report any response to the FDL whip count tool here.
According to a source with direct knowledge of what is happening on the HELP Committee, the problem is that two Democrats -- Kay Hagan and Jeff Bingaman -- are refusing to sign on.
"We can't bring it up because we'd actually lose the vote," said the source. "They'd vote with the Republicans."
Bingaman and Hagan are in favor of watering down a public plan into Kent Conrad's co-op plan, which is supported by insurance lobbyists. "It gives them the appearance of supporting a public option without getting them in trouble with the insurance companies," said the source
There is a lot on the line here. A health care bill without a public option is unacceptable, and should be to all of our representatives. While we make sure our own representatives know that, let's also make sure the one Senator who appears to be putting the brakes on the public option in this committee hears from us too.
The NC state blog BlueNC is asking their readers to contact Senator Hagan and ask her to support a strong public option in the HELP committee. We can help get a real public option out of HELP by joining them in doing so as well:
With Ted Kennedy too sick to come down to DC and make the committee vote, Democrats will need every Senator on the HELP committee to produce a strong bill, a bill that fights for what Teddy Kennedy has been fighting for his entire life. The last holdout is Kay Hagan, who represents a state (NC) that is one of the worst in the country in terms of percent of people without health insurance. The insurance companies are lobbying Hagan against the bill, because they don't like having to compete with a public option. My simple question is this: Teddy Kennedy is too sick to be there, Senator Hagan, so he is relying on your vote for the issue that he has fought for passionately his entire life. Will you betray him to help the insurance companies? You need to make up your mind now.
Also worth asking: does Kay Hagan really want to be remembered as the Senator Who Killed Health Care?
For years, candidates for, and members of, Congress told us that we needed to elect and re-elect them in order to lower health care costs and provide universal coverage. And so, for years, we dutifully worked our collective asses off, delivering wide majorities for Democrats--who said they would lower health care costs and provide universal coverage--in both branches of Congress.
Now, when it comes time for them to deliver on health care by providing a public option--the bare minimum required to reduce costs and provide universal coverage--what we are getting instead are backroom deals, flip-flops, and cop-outs.
We know what time it is. We have waited long enough. Now is the time for quality, affordable health care we can all count on.
The insurance industry knows what time it is too. So in pursuit of real health care reform, we find ourselves wading into muddy waters. Insurance companies--the opponents of real reform--have gone to great lengths to dress up their counter-proposals to appear beneficial to the health of the American people rather than to the health of corporate bottom lines. They say they want reform, and create "grassroots" organizations to push for it, but what they really want are profit protections.
This makes Lieberman the only member of Connecticut's Congressional Delegation who does not support the public option. More than anybody else, Joe Lieberman needs to hear from his constituents. Send him an e-mail asking him to explain his opposition to the public option to you himself.
The Senate is poised to be--in the words of Chris Bowers--"the biggest hurdle on health care." We need to find out where our Senators stand on the public option now, so that we know who to thank, and who to persuade. In the extended text, you can see all of the tools for contacting your Senators.
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