Republican Debate Ignores Health Care Elephant

The Republican presidential candidate debate was a union of traditional and new media as CNN and YouTube joined forces. This should have been a major step forward in the political process, allowing the public to directly engage potential U.S. presidential candidates. It was certainly colorful and interesting, but troubling as well.

You see, despite repeated studies (like this one from the Washington Post) that place health care as one of the three topics of most concern to American voters, there was absolutely no mention of it in the debate. This lack of attention to an issue of such wide reaching importance already has people typing away on the subject, blogging about the omission.

Roger Simon at Politico.Com minces no words:

One of those woes, by the way, is not a lack of affordable, dependable, effective health insurance that you can retain for life.

Americans must already have that. Because not a single question was asked about it in the entire two hour-plus debate.

The disbelief is spreading across the web as the pundits and bloggers ponder this puzzling omission. The Daily KOS enters the fray with a brief post from nyceve:

I waited.

And waited.

And kept waiting.

But a single question about the plight of 47 million uninsured Americans, or the rest of us who have to wage an unending true holy war against the for-profit insurance industry, just didn't make the CNN cut.

Joe Brewer, a fellow of the Rockridge Institute, has a written a response to this oversight that is being syndicated in a variety of places across the web. Here is a sampling:

It certainly begs the question of why CNN chose to overlook all 40 YouTube questions about health care. Is it perhaps because they know that the Republican candidates don't have much to say about health care? After all, every general Democratic debate has included discussions of candidate plans.

Even CNN was on the ball when the same moderator for both debates, Anderson Cooper, introduced health care at the earlier Democratic YouTube debate with "One of the most popular topics that we got questions on was health care. We, frankly, were overwhelmed with videos on health care, so we put several of them together."

Why did he let the Republicans off the hook?

Think about it. We are in the midst of a health care crisis and a major media source leaves us in the dark about the views of presidential hopefuls who, presumably, will represent all Americans in the White House if they are elected.

I am sure that monitoring the mainstream media, the pundits and the bloggers in the near future will yield a wide variety of comments and conjectures on this subject. The one thing that everyone can agree on, however, is that health care was not a topic in the debates.

SOURCE: "GOP debate Misses The Mark"11/29/07
SOURCE: "I Guess CNN Must Think Healthcare is a "Gotcha" Question" 11/28/07
SOURCE: "Joe Brewer: Where's the Healthy Debate, CNN?" 11/29/07
photo courtesy of irrational_cat, used under this Creative Commons license

Next Step in the Health Care Battle? Retreat!

Health Care and its Reform were the major subjects of a retreat for Republican governors and their staff Sunday in eastern Georgia.

The Republican Party has consistently been seen in the media as lacking innovation or imagination when it comes to health care reform. As reported here in a prior post, Karl Rove has publicly urged the G.O.P. to become bold on this subject, so it should come as no surprise that he was one of the featured speakers, along with former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich and former Governor of Georgia, Zell Miller.

Shannon McCaffrey, a writer for the Savannah Morning News, shares some of the details:

On the agenda were GOP initiatives to drive down health care costs through plans like health savings accounts, the portability of health care records and other free-market proposals designed to boost competition.

The specter of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton loomed large over the policy sessions as some members of the GOP fretted about the possibility of "Hillary care" if the U.S. senator from New York wins the White House in 2009. Clinton became known for her failed health care plan during her husband's administration and her campaign has put forward a plan to provide universal coverage.

"When Americans have no ideas and Democrats have bad ideas Americans will choose bad ideas because Americans will almost always choose something rather than nothing," said Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster.

McInturff allowed that health care is not an issue that "gets the blood pumping" in the Republican base.

The gathering was also used to "create a new face for the G.O.P." We now jump from Savannah to Ms. MacCaffrey's other article for the Associated Press:

The group's executive director, Nick Ayers, said that in the last election cycle Republicans were, by and large, focused on attacking their opponents rather than putting forth real ideas. The result was that the party lost control of Congress, he said.

"This is the beginning of the R[epublican] G[overnors] A[ssociation] pushing a theme that really good policy equals good politics," Ayers said.

Ayers said health care is probably the Republicans' weakest issue but added that innovation in the states is arising under the leadership of GOP governors.

It all points to a significant disconnect between Republicans in Washington and in the states, Ayers said.

"Republican governors are popular, but most people are basing their assumptions about the party on what's going in Washington," he said.

Dozens of association contributors from the health care and pharmaceutical industry showed up for a dinner Sunday night, where they mingled with top state officials over a fried chicken.

Rep. Bobby Jindal, who was elected Saturday as Louisiana's governor, will become the 23rd member of the Republican Governors Association. Staff from 17 states attended the retreat.

Stay tuned for more developments.

SOURCE: "GOP Talks Health Care at Georgia Conference" 10/22/07
SOURCE: "GOP Govs Discuss Health Care on Retreat" 10/22/07
photo courtesy of WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot on Flickr remixed and used under this Creative Commons license

Taking The Pulse: A Political Check Up

It has become an axiom that health care in the United States needs a drastic overhaul, hence this blog (among many others) and its companion, George C. Halvorson's book, Health Care Reform Now!. According to surveys, health care reform is one issue that unites the vast majority of Americans regardless of ideology. How to implement that needed reform remains a major point of contention .

As we end this week on the Health Care Reform Now! blog, it occurs to me that our readers might appreciate some resources for comparing the various politicians and Presidential candidates on the issue of our health care system.

First of all, the New York Times offers up their "Presidential Candidates on Health Care" page where all the candidates are presented with both their proposal to expand coverage and how they intend to pay for it. Very nicely laid out and accessible, the content here is presented in the candidate's own words with links back to the debates and news articles from which they were drawn.

Farhana Hossain, a New York Times blogger, sums up the page nicely in its introduction:

Presidential candidates in both parties are promising to overhaul the nation's health care system and cover more - if not all - of the nation's uninsured. In 2005, 44.8 million people - 15.3 percent of the population - were without health insurance, according to estimates released by the Census Bureau in March. The leading Democrats are competing among themselves over who has the better plan to control costs and approach universal coverage. The Republicans, for the most part, are promising to expand coverage without increasing the role of the federal government, and reduce cost through tax incentives. Most of the candidates have not presented a detailed outline of their health care plans, but here is what they have said so far.

Another useful page for comparing our leaders on the subject is located at On The Issues, a site that attempts to track "every political leader on every issue." Their Health Care page contains a wealth of information delivered in simple bullet pointed lists. What makes this a very different resource from the New York Times page is the fact that it does not solely focus on Presidential hopefuls, instead trying to track the position and records of everyone currently in office.

To give a brief example, let us look at a name that has been far from the spotlight recently, Newt Gingrich. Here is the text of his entry on the Health Care page:

Newt Gingrich on Health Care

Former Republican Representative (GA-6) and Speaker of the House

Click here for 6 full quotes by Newt Gingrich OR click here for Newt Gingrich on other issues.

• Medicare opt-in to private health savings accounts. (Dec 2006)


• Focus 21st Century Intelligent Health System on individuals. (Dec 2006)


• Market competition yields more health choice at lower prices. (Dec 2006)


• Save dollars and save lives--so transform urgently. (Sep 2003)


• Focus on prevention; would save $14B with diabetes. (Jul 1998)


• Ongoing battle against liberals nationalizing healthcare. (Jul 1998)

The modern voter has a plethora of new tools available with which to inform him/herself, aggregate information pages like these being a terrific example. With a subject as important as health care reform, having all the data can be crucial to making a correct decision.

SOURCE: "The Presidential Candidates on Health Care" ONGOING UPDATES
SOURCE: "Health Care" ONGOING UPDATES
photo courtesy of b-may on Flickr, used under its Creative Commons license

Politics Over Productivity

Children's health care is a subject we cannot get away from, especially recently. The SCHIP legislation and President Bush's veto are impossible to escape when one surveys the morning news. Vitriol pours from both sides of the issue as thick and bitter as service station coffee.

As one digs through the multitude of vituperative articles, blog posts, and paid propaganda, it becomes more and more apparent that most of the discussion is politics rather than objective analysis. The Democrats are now experiencing the backlash from their recent radio campaign. In that campaign, Graeme Frost, age 12, made a radio address asking President Bush to sign off on the SCHIP legislation on the grounds that he and his siblings would not have received hospital care after their auto accident without it.

From the Baltimore Sun

But while the Frosts were helping a bipartisan majority in Congress sell a plan to expand the program, they were not prepared for comments such as this one, posted over the weekend on the conservative Web site Redstate:

"If federal funds were required [they] could die for all I care. Let the parents get second jobs, let their state foot the bill or let them seek help from private charities. ... I would hire a team of PIs and find out exactly how much there parents made and where they spent every nickel. Then I'd do everything possible to destroy their lives with that info."

The arguments continue, as chronicled in the Baltimore Sun, over the state of the Frost family's finances and their reliance on SCHIP. Rush Limbaugh discussed the family's assets and financial status on his show last Monday, while conservative blogger Michelle Malkin posted about visiting the family's business and driving by their home.

Quotes such as this one (again from Redstate) seem par for the course:

"Hang 'em. Publicly," the contributor wrote. "Let 'em twist in the wind and be eaten by ravens. Then maybe the bunch of socialist patsies will think twice."

You do not have to be an advocate of public hangings or destroying lives to make your point. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is a fine example:

Are the Democrats grandstanding? Are they playing politics with a critical issue? Of course, they are. When don't politicians play politics? But at least they're blanketing the airwaves and blitzing the phone lines with an issue that matters — health care for children of working families.

It's a little vexing to listen to ultraconservative Republicans berate Democrats for trying to score political points. For the past several years, the GOP has made a fine art of scoring points over issues both petty and private: for example, the overblown travel office "scandal" during the Clinton years; for another, the intrusion into the difficult decisions faced by the family of Terri Schiavo. They've exploited flag-burning, same-sex marriage and religious faith, all to gain political advantage. It seems a bit churlish for them to complain when the tables are turned.

And so the debate rages on.

SOURCE: "Frost Family Draws Ire of Conservatives" 10/10/07
SOURCE: "Democrats Politicking for Good Reason: Peach Care" 10/10/07
photo courtesy of Graniers on Flickr, used under this Creative Commons license

Karl Rove, The Wall Street Journal, and Health Care

Yesterday's Wall Street journal contained a 788-word opinion piece by Karl Rove, former advisor to President George W. Bush:

As the latest government-heavy plan announced by Hillary Clinton yesterday once again shows, the answers politicians offer on health care highlight the deep differences between liberals and conservatives. This is a debate Republicans cannot avoid. But it is one we can win -- if we offer a bold plan. Conservatives must put forward reforms aimed at putting the patient in charge. Increasing competition will ensure greater access, lower costs and more innovation.

He goes on to present his ideas for reform, which include greater transparency of health care costs and data portability for health care records. The vast majority of his points stress using the forces of the free market to drive down health care costs through competition between providers.

The extensive similarities between Rove's ideas and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's health care plan are noted in many places across the blogosphere, including Romney's campaign blog *:

After reading the entire article by Rove, does any reader of this blog doubt Governor Romney's strategic brilliance and his ability to execute against a strategic plan?

The maelstrom of debate and press releases continues as both parties attempt to assert dominance on the health care issue. Political commentator Susan Estrich of the Nashua Telegraph observes that the political jockeying is often seen as more gripping than the issues themselves:

It is a commentary on the state of American politics that more attention is being paid to the strategic goals that might loom behind Rove's comments than to the substance of the comments themselves.

Politics today, and political coverage, is much more about tactics than ideas, more focused on where candidates stand in the polls - even before anyone has actually voted - than where they stand on the issues.

* CORRECTION: Many thanks to Nate Gunderson of the Utah for Mitt Web Log for pointing out in the comments that this is actually an independent site and not the official campaign site. We apologize for allowing the error to slip through and appreciate the correction!

SOURCE: "Republicans Can Win on Health Care" 09/18/07
SOURCE: "Karl Rove: Republicans Can Win on Health Care" 09/18/07
SOURCE: "Rove's Parting Shot at Hillary Raises Questions" 09/20/07
photo courtesy of DoctorWho on Flickr remixed and used under this Creative Commons license

Report Card on the Legislative Session

Even though a special session looms in California, the lack of progress on the health care issue has spawned criticism, anxiety and unease across the state.

Steven Harmon at the San Jose Mercury News examines the situation:

"They had the stars and the moon properly aligned, with the governor re-elected, and there were no election worries for the Legislature," said Tony Quinn, a GOP political analyst. "This was the year to do something. I expected to see more substantive stuff. But the governor didn't use the large mandate he got. It just petered out."

Left on the cutting room floor were hot-button issues such as health care reform, sentencing and parole reform, assisted suicide, water storage and redistricting reform.

[Gov. Arnold] Schwarzenegger has called lawmakers into special session in hopes of accomplishing what couldn't be done in the regular session: health care reform, and water storage and flood protection legislation.

But not everyone is optimistic, especially given the partisan divide that dominated a session that produced mostly tweaks to state laws, not memorable change.

A common thread in many articles is the idea that the seven-week long budget standoff was a primary factor in health care issues remaining unresolved.

Ted Lempert, former California State Assembly member and President of Children Now, comments in the Capitol Weekly:

California's recent budget battle did more than just heighten political friction. The two-month-long stalemate monopolized precious time needed to fix California's desperately broken health-care system, which leaves millions of Californians uninsured--including over 760,000 children. Uninsured children often miss the preventive care that decreases health-care costs borne by the public over time.

Now, with just a few weeks left on the legislative calendar, Democrats and Republicans alike have a responsibility to address their unfinished business--namely health-care reform. This is not a problem that can wait until the next legislative year. California, which always has prided itself on leading the nation in social and economic issues, today ranks 43rd among states in the percent of insured children. As families, businesses and the rest of the public are demanding immediate action, it is not hyperbole to say that health care reform is a life or death issue.

SOURCE: "Hopes for Major Achievement Dashed as California Legislature Wraps Up- 2007 Session in Review" 09/13/07
SOURCE: "Children's Health Care: Unfinished Business" 09/13/07
photo courtesy of A. Belani on Flickr remixed and used under this Creative Commons license

Votes and Vetos: AB8 Passes

All eyes in California are focused on Sacramento.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

The state Legislature approved an overhaul of California's health care system Monday, but even before the votes were tallied Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to veto the bill and call lawmakers into a special session after the current session ends this week.

Schwarzenegger said he would reject AB8, by Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, because it puts too great a financial burden on employers and does not address the needs of 2.8 million of California's estimated 6.8 million uninsured residents.

Despite the vote's outcome, there is still a long road ahead for reformers. Schwarzenegger's veto will bring a return to the ongoing debate, while the special session will keep it in the public eye.

Jordan Rau at the Los Angeles Times speculates on the content of possible resolutions:

An agreement would be likely to include a requirement that employers provide health coverage for workers or pay a fee to the state, which would then arrange for insurance for those workers. That proposal forms the heart of the Democratic bill.

The deal probably would also incorporate a tax on hospitals that would help California capture an extra $2 billion in federal aid. The California Hospital Assn. endorsed such a tax last week after Schwarzenegger lobbied hospital executives.

SOURCE: "Health Care Bill Passes Legislature, But Governor Says He'll Veto It" 09/11/07
SOURCE: "Governor Plans Health Care Veto, Talks" 09/11/07
photo courtesy of Fronco Folini on Flickr remixed and used under this Creative Commons license

Dissecting Mitt Romney's Health Care Plan

Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor, unveiled his detailed health care reform plan this past Friday. Today, conservative magazine National Review Online published responses to Romney's plan from various health care experts.

Among those experts questioned is John Goodman, President and CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis.

Goodman writes:

Mitt Romney is the only U.S. politician who can credibly claim to have created universal health care coverage. His Massachusetts Health Plan may yet falter; but so far he has walked the walk, while his Democrat opponents have only chattered. He alone owns the health care issue. [...] In taking the Massachusetts plan nationwide, Romney has left most of the bad features on the cutting room floor. There is no individual mandate, no employer mandate, and no managed competition. States would have the opportunity to go their own way.

SOURCE: "Dr. Romney Goes National" 08/27/07
photo courtesy of Cathy Kaplan

Labor Unions Get Behind Health Care Reform

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), which represents 10 million workers, sponsored a 90-minute forum yesterday at Chicago's Soldier Field for the 2008 Presidential candidates.

Only 7 out of 8 Democratic candidates participated in the AFL-CIO Presidential Candidates Forum. "Labor leaders said the Republican presidential candidates were invited to take part in the Chicago debate, but none of them filled out a labor questionnaire sent them -- a precondition for participating in the debate" [The New York Times Caucus Blog]. Democratic candidate and former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska was also not invited to participate, as he too failed to submit the questionnaire.

The AFL-CIO blog summarizes the candidates' positions on health care reform issues:

Every Democratic candidate talks about expanding health care access—yet every one of these 10 Republicans is talking about reducing government’s role in providing coverage. As former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) debate about which of them can best move the country toward universal coverage, the Republican candidates spent nearly all of their time in this debate advocating a smaller federal role, leaving coverage to the market and to private insurers.

[The AFL-CIO] "said in 2006 that it knocked on 8.25 million doors for union candidates, made 30 million telephone calls, distributed 14 million fliers and sent out 20 million pieces of mail in its successful efforts to help Democrats take the House and Senate" [Chicago Tribune].

The AFL-CIO is jumping into the health care reform arena. Per an August 8, 2007, AFL-CIO Executive Council statement, published online by Political Affairs:

Working families are deeply concerned about their health care coverage, especially the health care costs that are major contributors to the eroding standard of living for middle-class Americans.

Labor Day 2008 will mark the beginning of a renewed effort by the AFL-CIO to win reform at the national level that protects existing hard-won union benefits and extends coverage to all Americans.

The goal of this effort will be to win universal, quality health care for all of America by making the 2008 elections a mandate on health care reform and electing a president and Congress pledged to that end.

The AFL-CIO website includes a page dedicated to health care issues and health care reform petitions

The AFL-CIO's executive council will meet today to decide whether or not to begin the labor federation's endorsement process immediately. Two-thirds of the AFL-CIO's 55 individual unions must agree on a candidate before an endorsement.

Other Sources: Baltimore Sun
photo courtesy of Guy-Claude Portmann

Massachusetts Governor Won't Use State Model for U.S.

On July 1 of this year, a universal health care plan for all state residents went into effect in Massachusetts. The plan was pushed through by governor -- and 2008 Presidential candidate -- Mitt Romney.

With an article in yesterday's Miami Herald, writer Steven Thomma ponders why Romney has not been talking about the Massachusetts model, or health care in general, in his campaign.

Aides say the Massachusetts plan wouldn't work nationally, and Romney has no plans to propose a nationwide version.

Romney spokesperson Kevin Madden says that the omission of the Massachusetts health care plan from TV ads is not intentional, and that Romney is discussing reform with voters in town hall meetings. According to Thomma, however, Romney doesn't want to apply the Massachusetts model to the country.

SOURCE: "Healthcare Success Proves Tricky for Romney" 07/15/07
Stock photo courtesy of GeekPhilosopher.com