Senate Finance Committee Rejects Public Option — Twice

The Senate Finance Committee rejected two amendments earlier today that would have add a government-run public health-insurance plan to the health care reform legislation currently before the committee:

A key US committee on Tuesday rejected a push by liberal Democrats to have a government-run healthcare option included in the $856bn centrist bill taking shape in the Senate.

The 15-8 vote by the Senate finance committee, which could indicate the fate of the proposal in the upper chamber as a whole, was followed by a 13-10 vote against a second, similar amendment, with three Democrats voting against both versions.

The outcome was expected, but was still a defeat for liberals who view government-sponsored insurance for the middle class as a key component of President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul.

The debate pitted Jay Rockefeller and Charles Schumer, senators for West Virginia and New York, against conservative Democratic colleagues, including Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate finance committee, where the bill is being hammered out.

The latter were joined by Republicans in opposing a public option as the “thin end of the wedge” that would lead to a single-payer healthcare system. Supporters of the public option fear that the White House is preparing to junk the provision in favour of getting a deal.

Mr Rockefeller said the public option was designed to ensure there was competition for private insurers. In roughly half the US states, two insurers dominated the market.

Heh, if Senator Rockefeller where really interested increased competition he’d be pushing for a bill that would allow health insurance companies to compete equally in all 50 states. Currently each state regulates it’s own insurance markets and mandates different coverages.

The current system restricts competition, drives up costs and allows just one or two insurance plans to dominate the market in most states. Allowing our nations health insurers to compete on level playing field nationwide will do far more to increase competition and reduce costs than the public option would.

The simple truth is the public option is not about increasing competition, it’s the gateway to creating a single payer system which is Democrats ultimate goal.

Related

• Health Co-Ops Aren’t the Answer – Wall Street Journal
• Why Medical Malpractice Is Off Limits – Wall Street Journal
• Liberals seek health-care access for illegals – Washington Times
• Medicare ‘Gag Order’ A Sign That Obama, Democrats Are Desperate on Health Care, Republican Leader Says – CNSNews.com

AP: Key Health Care Senators Have Industry Ties

I meant to post the story on Friday but I wasn’t able to get to it so figured I’d lead off with today… The Associated Press reported last week on the ties between several key Senators and the health care industry. Among them Connecticut’s own Chris Dodd.

Sen. Dodd’s wife Jackie Clegg Dodd sits on the boards of four pharmaceutical companies, Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cardiome Pharma Corp., Brookdale Senior Living and Pear Tree Pharmaceuticals.

Mrs. Dodd last year was one of the most highly compensated non-employee members of the Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc. board, on which she has served since 2004. She earned $32,000 in fees and $109,587 in stock option awards last year, according to the company’s SEC filings.

Mrs. Dodd earned $79,063 in fees from Cardiome in its last fiscal year, while Brookdale Senior Living gave her $122,231 in stock awards in 2008, their SEC filings show. She earned no income from her post as a director for Pear Tree Pharmaceuticals but holds up to $15,000 in stock in Pear Tree, which describes itself as a development-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the needs of aging women.

The annual financial disclosure reports for members of Congress are less precise. They only require that assets and liabilities be listed in ranges of values.

Dodd sought a 90-day extension to file his report covering last year, giving him until mid-August to submit his report, but released his report Friday to The Associated Press.

Bryan DeAngelis, Dodd’s spokesman, said, “Jackie Clegg Dodd’s career is her own; absolutely independent of Senator Dodd, as it was when they married 10 years ago. The senator has worked to reform our health care system for decades, and nothing about his wife’s career is relevant at all to his leadership of that effort.”

DeAngelis said that Mrs. Dodd has hired a personal ethics lawyer to avoid any conflicts of interest and is not a lobbyist.

In addition to Sen Dodd. Democrats Jay Rockefeller and Tom Harkin and Republicans Tom Coburn, Judd Gregg, John Kyl and Orrin Hatchn are mentioned in the AP story.

I’m not going not to draw any conclusions, my advice is to read the entire article and draw your own conclusions… I have fundamental problem with Sen Dodd, or any Senator for that matter,  authoring legislation that may directly effect companies on whose boards their spouse sits.

The the bigger story within the story may be the APs passing mention of Sen. Dodd’s magically appreciating Irish Cottage… Michelle Malkin has the deatails on that here.