Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Budget. the Ranking Minority Member is Republican Judd Gregg of New Hampshire.
Why my interest in Kent Conrad? Because he is the guy that heads up the Senate Committee which is pushing a “community health insurance option” which the Physicians for a National Health Program find to be a big mistake.
Physicians for a National Health Program is a non-profit research and education organization of 16,000 physicians, medical students and health professionals who support single-payer national health insurance. I pay attention to this group because they are the people who are manning the doctor’s offices, emergency rooms, hospitals every day. I place more credence in what they say than I do all the politicians pundits in the media. Dr. Andrew Coates M.D. wrote a blog post on their website last Friday about the Senate bill which has apparently ousted the “public option” from consideration in the healthcare/insurance reform debate. Dr. Coates examined the bill and found it sorely lacking in feasibility. He contends the “community health insurance option” simply returns the “reform” to insurance company control.
So, what I’m up to here is to try and dig deeper into the reasons for this sudden switch in the Obama Administrations approach to healthcare reform. Conrad, being the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Budget, appears to be responsible for this switch. I start with that Committee.
The Majority Democratic members of the Senate Committee on Budget are:
Patty Murray of Washington.
Ron Wyden of Oregon.
Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.
Robert Byrd of West Virginia.
Bill Nelson of Florida.
Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.
Bob Menendez of New Jersey.
Ben Cardin of Maryland.
Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
Mark Warner of Virginia.
Jeff Merkley of Oregon.
The minority (Republican) members of the Senate Committee on Budget are:
Judd Gregg, Ranking Member, of New Hampshire.
Charles Grassley of Iowa.
Michael Enzi of Wyoming.
Jeff Sessions of Alabama.
Jim Bunning of Kentucky.
Mike Crapo of Idaho.
John Ensign of Nevada. (Note: I embolden his name because he is the junior Senator from my state of Nevada.)
John Cornyn of Texas.
Lindsay Graham of South Carolina.
Lamar Alexander of Tennessee.
Now, let us see from whom these illustrious members of the Budget Committee gets their money. (Note: the source is OpenSecrets.org)
Now, let’s take a look at the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Why do that? Because employee health benefits are provided to full-time permanent civilian employees and qualified retirees of the United States Government. The FEHBP allows insurance companies and employee associations such as labor unions to develop health, dental, and allied plans to be marketed to governmental employees.
The FEHBP is open to members of United States Congress; in the 2004 presidential campaign, Senator John Kerry proposed opening enrollment in this plan to all Americans, which would certainly have changed it drastically.
You can learn more about the FEHBP and here and here.
I seem to remember that during the 2008 Presidential election campaign when it was proposed that all Americans should be able to receive the same healthcare benefits afforded to members of Congress.
If it is good enough for members of Congress then why is it not good enough for you and me too. Notice that if you go here you can see all the plans available here in Nevada.
If the Obama administration is going to abandon the “public option” in favor of community co-ops, then why not just allow all Americans to chose the FEHBP option and permit all Americans to enjoy the same health care benefits afforded federal employees, including Congress. After all, it is all made possible from taxes we all pay, isn’t it?
Alternatively, if Congress thinks their community co-op plan is so hot then why not remove Congressional members from their FEHBP plan and require they be covered under Conrad’s co-op plan.
Simple choice: either let all Americans have access to FEHBP or else require all members of Congress to be covered under the same plan Congress and the President pass into law.
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