Sen. Murray: Senate healthcare bill good for Washington
Via U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, and her staff:
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) stood with Democratic Senators and health care advocates at an event highlighting the benefits to Washington state families and small businesses of the comprehensive Senate health insurance reform bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was formally unveiled yesterday.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office yesterday reported that the bill saves the government money and protects Medicare while ensuring coverage for 94 percent of Americans.
Key excerpts from Senator Murray’s speech:
“I am so excited to stand here today as we move closer than ever to passing an historic bill that will finally reform our broken health care system and help millions of families and small business owners get the coverage they need at a price they can afford.”
“Enough with the politics and enough with the games. This issue is just too important. So I call on my colleagues across the aisle to work with us, to rise above partisanship. We have a good plan. It will rein in costs for our families and small business owners. And it will ensure that every Americans has high quality, affordable coverage.”
“The problems in our health insurance system are not going to go away if we do nothing. They will not get better if we wait. Costs are rising at an unsustainable rate for those who have insurance, and more and more Americans are losing their insurance every day. We have been talking about reforming our health care system for a long time. And now we have a plan to get it done.”
Senator Murray’s full speech follows:
“It has been a long journey—one that is far from over—but I am so excited to stand here today as we move closer than ever to passing an historic bill that will finally reform our broken health care system and help millions of families and small business owners get the coverage they need at a price they can afford.
“And it is about time.
“For too long we have had a health insurance system that crushes our hard-working families under the burden of skyrocketing costs. And for too long we have had a health insurance system that devastates small business owners—and penalizes our best doctors and hospitals.
“I have heard from so many of my constituents about the desperate need for reform.
“Patricia Jackson from Woodinville, Washington sent me a story that about her family’s fight to maintain their coverage. Like many working families, the Jacksons have private insurance through their employer and pay premiums each month directly out of Patricia’s paycheck. But also like most families, the burden of those premium payments is rising too quickly.
“To provide care for her family of four, Patricia paid $840 a month in 2007. Then, in 2008, her payments jumped to $900 a month. This year, Patricia paid $1,186 a month. And just recently her rates were hiked to $1,400 a month. This is an increase of over 66% in just 3 years
“Patricia and her family simply can’t afford for this to continue—and they are not alone.
“Skyrocketing costs are weighing on families across the country—but we can make sure that this changes.
“That here in America, losing your job won’t mean losing your health care. That here in America, health care will finally be affordable for all families and small business owners. And that here in America, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to reject people because of a pre-existing condition—or cut off their coverage. And finally, they will be forced to truly compete for business of the American people.
“But some of my Republican colleagues don’t think this is an urgent problem. They don’t think our country needs real reform. They say we should wait, and they plan to use cheap political tricks to delay reform.
“But who do they think they are hurting? It’s not us—it’s the families out there right now with sick husbands, sick wives, sick children. And it’s small business owners who can’t afford to cover their employees. And people who have coverage but are worried about losing it in this uncertain economy It’s them we are fighting for—and as a mother and a Senator I say enough is enough.
“Enough with the politics and enough with the games. This issue is just too important.
“So I call on my colleagues across the aisle to work with us—to rise above partisanship. We have a good plan. It will rein in costs for our families and small business owners. And it will ensure that every Americans has high quality, affordable coverage.
“The problems in our health insurance system are not going to go away if we do nothing. They will not get better if we wait. Costs are rising at an unsustainable rate for those who have insurance, and more and more Americans are losing their insurance every day.
“We have been talking about reforming our health care system for a long time. And now we have a plan to get it done.
“I am going to keep fighting to make this work for our families—and I know all of you are going to be fighting by my side.
“Thank you.”
November 19th, 2009 at 4:37 PM
In case anyone is interested, here’s the letter I sent Senators Murray and Cantwell this morning. I expect to see a heated debate in the Senate and wanted to have at least some input. Please feel free to copy all or part of it, when writing our representatives.
November 19, 2009
Dear Senator Murray,
I have been watching Congressional healthcare reform efforts with great interest, as I do not have coverage through employment, and I cannot afford the high premiums currently being charged by the private health insurance market.
As one of your constituents, I am writing to encourage you to do everything possible, during the coming Senate debate, for the citizens of Washington State and the nation. Please work to ensure that citizens can access a large, dynamic, and transparent insurance exchange that includes a robust and highly competitive public plan fully capable of negotiating hospital, medical service, and drug rates to hold down prices. Furthermore, Congress should repeal the ban preventing Medicare from negotiating lower prices for prescription drugs. I also feel it is imperative that the insurance exchange be open to the widest possible array of individuals and small businesses so that employers with up to 100 workers are allowed to participate.
I also believe that premiums for younger and older adults should be the same to more evenly distribute cost burdens and to discourage age-discrimination against older, potentially more costly employees. Older workers already face considerable age-discrimination in employment, and the cost of health insurance should not contribute to present inequities.
Given recent momentum in the House and Senate, I am confident that, with your help, we can pass healthcare reform legislation that eliminates the worse abuses in the present system, such as rescission and denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, while covering the widest possible array of citizens.
Sincerely yours,
Todd
Incidentally, here is a NYTimes interactive feature “Comparing the House and the Senate Health Care Proposals:”
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/19/us/politics/1119-plan-comparison.html?hp
November 19th, 2009 at 5:23 PM
Here’s an example why I am so bothered by 2000+ page legislation.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/11/the-100-million-health-care-vote.html
November 19th, 2009 at 5:40 PM
Weird, Bhammer, if it’s only states that have been declared major disaster areas, Washington was declared one this very yearl, along with many others:
http://www.fema.gov/news/disasters.fema#sev1
November 19th, 2009 at 5:41 PM
Ah, but reading further, the bill actually says it must include every county or parish in the state to have been affected. And that’s not the case for other states. I didn’t realize, however, every area of Louisiana was declared a major disaster area during Katrina.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:26 PM
It’s time the Katrina people shut up for good. They chose to live below sea level, they chose to stay there in face of hurricane force five warnings. The state of Louisiana has received billions of our largesse over the years and where did it go? to the levees?no, to line the pockets of the good old boys and build casinos - yes. Take a look at how Sen. Mary Landrieu D La has just received a magnificent bribe from Harry Reid $100,000,000 for her favorable vote for the health reform travesty- where did those dollars come from?
And, Where indeed will the dollars come from to pay for insuring millions more? The health insurance reform act is a rotten deal,;we all pay up, or get fined for five years before any of this reform becomes operational in 2014, ergo, figure manipulation to make it appear as a saving - you pay for 10 years and only get five years of dubious benefit. I don’t share Todd 2s misplaced enthusiasm for extacting enormous amounts of other peoples’ money just so he can be absolved of the responsibility for his own life.. Our Senators should do the American thing instead of toeing he party line thing, and vote down this very bad bill with all its poisonous concealments. Go like a lamb to the slaughter if you must Todd2 but you go alone. Sen. Murray’s sad piece is naught but hogwash I’m afraid. She must be made redundant as soon as possible.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:48 PM
I find it appalling that people would say Katrina victims should shut up. Actually stating that about fellow Americans.
And I suppose the Sept.11th crowd should shut up as well?
I hope Karma doesn’t decide it’s time to have a mountain erupt on you or an earthquake leave you devastated and homeless.
Or a house fall on you in a tornado, like it did your sister.
November 20th, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Good reply, Worst.
I’m always surprised how self-righteous some posters come across.
Now.
hand over those slippers!
November 20th, 2009 at 10:15 AM
I sent a comment and it apparently just sailed off into the cybersphere. I will try again.
Aunt Madbee, that’s extremely callous blaming the poor for the shortcomings of the Army Corps. I guess one person’s lifeline is another’s”dubious benefit.” We always hear about these good old boys who are lining their pockets, but usually if you want to see who is benefiting at the expense of the poor one need only look in the mirror. Throw off that heavy saddle you’re mounted on and check under the blanket, I think you have a burr………
November 20th, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Can’t wait to see how Madbee handles the big one when it hits Washington! (Does she know that we live just a few feet above sea level)?
I can hear it now: throw the homeless and injured out in the street! Don’t give vicitms any shelter, food, blankets or emergency medical treatment!
After all, they know that they live in an earthquake prone area!
November 20th, 2009 at 11:17 AM
Todd2,
Great letter!
November 20th, 2009 at 11:23 AM
The Corps drove a dredged shipping channel in a straight line through the wetlands and into the heart of New Orleans.
Then,
they ‘managed’ that canal through overzealous dredging that undermined the levees.
So when they failed and the city was inundated and people died,
how much noise should they be making to suit you?
And apparently, a trial court and a Judge are the real complainers.
November 20th, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Ciz is that one of those great government actions/programs yous are so fond of?
AFY!!thesheepdog!!!
November 20th, 2009 at 11:31 AM
I along with many other people personally went down to Louisana to help in recovery efforts. Not as part of a government program, but using mine and other willing supporters resources. We were able to go down there and make a real difference. The areas of Louisana that have recovered has had little to do with the government’s help. It’s mostly been thanks to volunteers and fellow American’s getting off their butts and taking action. Here’s a great video (including locals) discussing the difference between government’s efforts and private organizations efforts. You decide which one is more effective.
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6061963
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=6031025&page=1
November 20th, 2009 at 11:35 AM
“But some of my Republican colleagues don’t think this is an urgent problem. They don’t think our country needs real reform. They say we should wait, and they plan to use cheap political tricks to delay reform.
“But who do they think they are hurting? It’s not us—it’s the families out there right now with sick husbands, sick wives, sick children. And it’s small business owners who can’t afford to cover their employees. And people who have coverage but are worried about losing it in this uncertain economy It’s them we are fighting for—and as a mother and a Senator I say enough is enough.
“Enough with the politics and enough with the games. This issue is just too important.”
Right on, Senator Murray!
November 20th, 2009 at 11:38 AM
Hey Murray the issue next year when you run will be three things, JOBS JOBS JOBS and this bill is a job killer! Because of three things TAXES TAXES TAXES!
OH BTW Patty when you are running next year make sure you point that out to all of your supporters!
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/jobs_employment/november_2009/democrats_unaffiliateds_more_likely_to_be_unemployed_than_republicans
AFY!!thesheepdog!!!
November 20th, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Re: Katrina:
“The federal judge’s harshly worded decision also served as vindication for residents of St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans who have long argued that Katrina was largely a man-made disaster, caused by the federal government’s failure to maintain the levees protecting the city.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/20/court-blames-army-corps-for-katrina-floods/
November 20th, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Hammer, I salute you for your contribution. Do you still go down there? When were you last there?
Unfortunately the job is far from done, but I will cut Obama a little slack. For one thing, you should, but don’t see many “come help rebuild N.O.” press anymore. I guess we’re too busy with Palin. Also the guy’s got a pretty full scooper, trying to clean up all the dog pies left by 40plus years of Republican administrations. The Army Corps owes a lot to the people of New Orleans and some of that debt should include the loss of retirement benefits and court martial.
In the absence of leadership, which was involved in duping us into an illegal war, a Republican administration bungled in a big way. Private organizations came together, but their motives were not totally philanthropic. A state’s economy had to be re-started for the benefit of all. No government is going to be able to do it all for us, the privates and non profits will always be needed to take up the slack, unless we become a socialist utopia.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:13 PM
I meant to say MOSTLY Republican administrations…the ones that have really botched things–like Nixon, Reagan, and the Bushes, Dad and shrub. The Dems and Clinton are not blameless even if they only had the reins for 12 of the last 40 plus years. Clinton spent his time cleaning up after the Reagan/Bush years while fighting Republican peeping tom obsessions with a sordid consensual affair. Obama is playing cleanup to Bush 2, the unholy Trinity Strikes Again.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:26 PM
Ciz is that one of those great government actions/programs yous are so fond of?
Yes, I signed off on that plan personally.
I also approve of using tax money to make the plaintiffs whole.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Bellinghammer - do you agree with Madbee that it’s their fault for living in Louisiana in the first place?
November 20th, 2009 at 12:43 PM
ABC Dredging Company made over $350 million in profits on the New Orleans Ship canal.
Now a judge has ruled that ABC is liable for the negligence and damage surrounding the failure of that canal.
ABC Dredging takes their $350 million and goes bankrupt,
leaving the owners of ABC Dredging wealthy and fat,
its employees on Federal unemployment compensation
and all their pension funds drained.
The taxpayers are on the line for all the damages.
But hey, at least it ain’t government waste!
November 20th, 2009 at 1:13 PM
Maybe we should all get in the dredging business!
Hey ciz do you think someone in ABC dredging might be going to jail for killing people if they were responsible? I reckon that profit can do them good there, don’t you know! But don’t they take that evil money away too? You can ask Bernie on that I reckon!
I’s wonder how many people in your belove Corp is going to jail?
Oh, there is a difference? Should there be?
AFY!!thesheepdog!!!
November 20th, 2009 at 1:48 PM
Even the people that purposely forgot to tell their meat customers that they were selling e-coli burgers and many were killed,
never faced jail.
But that was with lassiez-faire Bushies at the helm.
The rest of the question is too weighty to resolve without ale.
November 20th, 2009 at 2:39 PM
Democrats kept the poor people of New Orleans down and out for generations, just as they have the “poor and disadvantaged” in other inner cities across this nation. They lived in substandard housing with no transportation but the public kind, and when hurricane Katrina came they had no way to escape. That was a crime purpetrated upon them by the politicians they kept electing decade after decade. School buses that might have got hundreds of them out, were left parked–except for one, hotwired and hi-jacked by a teenager, loaded up with the fleeing and driven to Houston. That kid was the smartest person in New Orleans.
In a healthy, free market environment people would get out of town before the storm struck; because they would have cars, and information, and would act upon it.
November 20th, 2009 at 2:41 PM
This is how I see it, private or public, if you are responsible for negligence, you should pay the price.
Just because you work for government should not allow you a pass.
AFY!!thesheepdog!!!
November 20th, 2009 at 2:56 PM
Madbee wrote: “I don’t share Todd 2s misplaced enthusiasm for extacting enormous amounts of other peoples’ money just so he can be absolved of the responsibility for his own life.”
Throughout my life, I have never sought or accepted welfare, so I don’t know what you are talking about.
Let me tell you about an experience I had back in 2003. I accidentally cut the back of my thumb with a very sharp knife. It was a small cut, but I severed the tendon that allows you to lift your thumb, and I also cut the vein that runs along the top of your thumb. So even though I tried for several hours, I couldn’t get it to stop bleeding.
Because it was Sunday afternoon and I saw no other choice, I reluctantly went to the hospital emergency room. Altogether, the doctor spent less than five minutes with me. He put one suture in the tendon, and one in the vein and sent me home. Two weeks later, I got a bill from the hospital for over $5,000!
Anyone who has seen the charges on their hospital bills knows that our healthcare system is in dire need of reform. Anyone who has witnessed the dramatic rise in their health insurance premiums the past two decades knows that the current system is absolutely unsustainable.
Here’s another story for you: For several years before he died, my dad was dependent upon inhalers that he could buy in Mexico for $5 each, but those exact same inhalers cost $120 in the United States — all because our government is essentially in bed with the pharmaceutical companies and protecting them from competition. My dad’s friends used to come back from Mexico with inhalers by the bag full for him, and you can rest assured that the drug companies weren’t selling them at a loss south of the border.
It’s sad and tragic that radical, right-wing spin masters are working to protect the supernormal profits of corporate oligopolies by convincing honest, hard working people that an evil-doer in the White House is ramming a big, scary bill down their throats that is going to bankrupt the nation, while redistributing your wealth.
Instead of buying into the lies, why don’t you pull the wool from your eyes and trying looking at reality for a change?
November 20th, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Anyone who does not want to improve the cost of health care is wrong and is just as wrong as anyone who wants to instills something that will make it worst than it already is, more expensive and not improve the care we receive.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431804574539581994054014.html
There are reasons health care costs are going up and these bills in congress will not correct that, and I truly feel sorry for anyone who thinks they will.
So much effort in the wrong direction still means yous are headed in the wrong direction!
AFY!!thesheepdog!!!
November 20th, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Spinn, that’s an interesting piece of lore you just spread there. Lots of negative assumptions about people. Point the finger everywhere but back at oneself. Is there anything that is not the fault of an tyrannical government or dastardly Democrats? Also it was not just the poor who got hurt in N.O. They were just the least equipped for it. Clearly you have never been there to make such a blanket statement. A lot of half million to million dollars homes got drowned also. A lot of middle class folks took the brunt of having to start over.
November 20th, 2009 at 3:15 PM
Instead of forthrightly dealing with the fundamental problems, discussion is dominated by rival factions struggling to enact or defeat President Barack Obama’s agenda. The rhetoric on both sides is exaggerated and often deceptive. Those of us for whom the central issue is health—not politics—have been left in the lurch. And as controversy heads toward a conclusion in Washington, it appears that the people who favor the legislation are engaged in collective denial.
Our health-care system suffers from problems of cost, access and quality, and needs major reform. Tax policy drives employment-based insurance; this begets overinsurance and drives costs upward while creating inequities for the unemployed and self-employed. A regulatory morass limits innovation. And deep flaws in Medicare and Medicaid drive spending without optimizing care.
From the previous link.
AFY!!thesheepdog!!!
November 20th, 2009 at 4:43 PM
But AFY, why is the only reform being proffered coming from the Dems? None of us are going to get all we want. It will be refined just as any product or service is refined over time. You agree the status quo is no good, yet your ideal plan is not even being talked about. Why then are you so adamantly against the Dem plan and giving such credence to the R’s rhetoric? You sound as though you might be conflicted and are therefore stymied into a narrow position. Just an observation shared with admiration.
The politics of a democratic nation is the only way as people we have of even badly trying to create some consensus. Some have to be brought along slowly, and that is what has been going on for decades. Now it’s time to move, even if it isn’t to everyone’s liking, it is a start past due.
November 20th, 2009 at 4:58 PM
There has been many plans offered by the R’s, I even had a conversation with Larsen about one from Rep Ryan (Who he spoke well of BTW) that he said he would check out. I really don’t think he did. There has been no effort to find common ground, zitch, why, do you ask?
Here’s the deal, there are issues most of both sides agree on (like buying insurance across state lines) that could be passed without much of a fight right now and should be if we were really interested in reducing cost in health care. But it a all or nothing right now, this time or else!
IMHO this ain’t about health care, it is about the government in time taking over the health care business.
I’s don’t like big insurance between me and my doctor and I’s definitely don’t want big government filling that gap, to save money, to give people more say in their health care decisions is the only way in my book to save cost, not more government intrusions which leads to more cost and less choice!
AFY!! & Jurgen having a rational discussion, is it possible, we will see! Stay tuned folks!
AFY!!thesheepdog!!!
November 21st, 2009 at 12:33 AM
AFY, And you think the zilch effort to find common ground comes from the Dem or R side? What I’m reading and hearing leads me to believe that all the Republican party wants to do is make it Waterloo time for Obama. They’re afraid if he gets his way on this issue, he might try another major issue. Frankly, and I follow this as close as someone probably can who is well outside of the circle; but all I am seeing and hearing in Republican allied groups’ ads and pronouncements, by those placing themselves out in front of the public as the Republican party, is outrageous negativism and weak arguments that basically say that because in the past some government run agency came up short–all government agencies are going to come up short because we (supposedly) have never learned from our mistakes.
Further, what I am seeing is enough concessions to the few serious Republicans of gravitas that I am getting a little POed that the Dems can’t grow a pair and exercise their mandate and let the naysayers chew on it.
The government is never going to take over the health care industry. What will happen is industry will adapt. Right now it is about half serious and half flim flam artists. Insurance people are the flim of the flam along with the guy making a simple prosthetic tool for .15 cents and selling it for $5. Serious medicine will remain and can only improve. In case you all have forgotten, moving ahead and solving problems and righting wrongs and advancing rather than declining has always been our tradition as a nation when we listen to our better angels. We are just following our tradition of making our national nest ever better.
Therefore you have no proof that government will intrude to your detriment. None! You have only fear and emotion. You see the same things I do but you chose to see gloom and doom and I chose to see promise.
Last point taken.
November 21st, 2009 at 2:54 AM
Forget common ground. The Republicans had their chance to run this country under Bush. Now it’s time to get out of the way and let the Democrats have a go!
Since the Democrats won enough Senate seats to stop Republican filibusters and actually bring bills to the floor, they’ve given us the Credit CARD Act of 2009, which was long, long overdue.
Finally, some desperately needed consumer protection against abusive credit card issuers!
You can read more about that bill here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_CARD_Act
Congress also passed the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, which promises to reduce billions of dollars in waste and cost overruns in defense contracts.
They also enacted the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 and the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
After healthcare reform, they are going to get to work on financial regulation and even more consumer protections against the worse abuses of the financial sector, such as predatory and fraudulent lending practices.
If they keep this up, maybe Democrats will actually expand their majorities in both the House and Senate in 2010!
November 21st, 2009 at 6:41 PM
There is no privately owned business that you HAVE to do business with. Not so the Federal Government.
November 21st, 2009 at 7:15 PM
@Spinnwolf:
If there is no privately owned business that you have to do business with, then who do you have for electricity or garbage service, and who else could you get for those services?
November 21st, 2009 at 11:17 PM
Todd2,
“If they keep this up, maybe Democrats will actually expand their majorities in both the House and Senate in 2010!”
The polls would suggest otherwise. Keep drinking the Kool-aid.
November 21st, 2009 at 11:23 PM
Todd2,
“They also enacted the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 and the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.”
Those clunkers aren’t going to save homes and are not going to reduce smoking. They will, however, make you feel good, at great, unproductive, expense.
The deficit is $1.4 trillion. Doesn’t that get your attention? Do you have children? Are you happy to load them up with this debt?
November 21st, 2009 at 11:49 PM
Davesix,
That is why I’m pretty much all for increasing taxes and buying bonds, to pay for everything that I/we have and use already.
I can’t believe sometimes the number of people who don’t even see the incongruity of saying both “Lower taxes!” and “Reduce the debt!”, or worst of all, advocate an interventionalist military.
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:24 AM
How about Puget Sound Electric, Cascade Natural Gas, there is only one hospital in town, Peace Health and they’re taking over other local health groups, Sanitary Service, the local Cable Co, Regal Cinema, the Bellingham Herald, the Alaska ferry, a huge percentage of the appliances we use, Whirlpool, GE, Amana, Kenmore, Frigidaire are all made by two manufacturers, there are many private businesses locally and nationwide who essentially have a monopoly. No you don’t have to go to any of these unless you need their products. You could sit alone in the in the dark and dream up all sorts of comments that sound great out of the light of day, but without PSE you couldn’t tell us about it
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Jurgy, my man, let’s be honest, Obama wants single payer, I’s attached him saying it himself, also you will find his plan on how to do it, not immediately but over time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-_SGGcJu_c&feature=related
Now if you want single payer which is government health care, it is your choice, myself, I think all it would be doing is adding costs and ending up looking more like England’s or Canada’s systems, which I believe to be a huge step down from what we have today.
What we have today needs improvement, but I don’t see putting government or insurance more into the mix will solve our problems but will only make it worst. I would like to see us headed towards eliminating/reducing the third party as much as possible, whether it’s government or insurance companies, to allow the consumers to have more say. To me it does not matter if a D or a R promotes such a program just that is the direction of reform I would support.
Both of the current bills are going in the direction that methinks is the wrong direction towards more government involvement.
Health care is not as complicated as some would make it:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/06/health_care_is_not_that_compli.html
AFY!!thesheepdog!!!