IowaPolitics.com BlogWatch

Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley's prediction that the GOP won't
get much of a say in ironing out the differences between the House and
Senate versions of health care reform is apparently coming true, and
the months of delay tactics his party engaged in appears to be the
deciding factor. The New Republic reported late Sunday night that
Democrats are "almost certain" to negotiate informally rather than
convene a formal conference committee. That would keep Republicans
from continuing to stall the legislation, something party leadership
has vowed to do at every step. ... Staffers in both the House and
Senate said Democrats will likely send legislation back and forth to
each chamber until a final version of the bill can be agreed upon.
While it will be far from easy to merge the two bills, the process
will certainly move much faster than it would if Republicans were
included.

Labels: health_care

This morning I awoke to find that Iowa Senator Tom Harkin has once again demonstrated the elitism that he has cultivated during his career in the US Senate. In an interview on CBS this morning Senator Harkin defended the intensely unpopular health reform legislation moving through the US Congress. Even more disgusting was his defense of the use of taxpayer money to bribe skeptical Senators into supporting bad legislation. If there was ever a demonstration of the problems plaguing our government this was it. If you haven't had the opportunity to watch the interview please take the time to do so now. It was just days ago that Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson capitulated in what has become widely known as the Cornhusker Kickback. This was a deal that provided the state of Nebraska with millions in taxpayer funded earmarks in exchange for his support of the Senate version of the health reform bill.

Labels: health_care, Tom_Harkin

A majority of Americans oppose the health care reform bill making its way through Congress, but Congress will pass a bill anyway. That's because Democrats will face a completely dispirited base if they don't act on a primary issue among Democratic voters. With no base support, a candidate has NO chance. With the base, a candidate at least has the POSSIBILITY of re-establishing public support.

Labels: health_care

We are offering a set of bold, state-based initiatives to make health care more accessible, affordable, and portable. Health care reform solutions need not come from Washington, DC. In fact, the best reforms are often those developed closest to the people. Iowans do not need to wait for national politicians to act. Instead, they can join with us in pursuit of a set of common sense Iowa Health Care Initiatives and solve Iowa problems with Iowa solutions. ... As with any product or service, the more information consumers can access to compare the costs and quality of that product or service, the lower the cost and the higher the quality of the products and services they ultimately consume.

Labels: health_care, Iowa GOP

Even if Democrats manage to pass health reform legislation, if it
contains an individual mandate it could prove unconstitutional, U.S.
Sen. Chuck Grassley said Thursday. During an interview with KAYL radio
in Storm Lake and the Marshalltown Times Republican, Grassley said
that even though he's never studied law and is not a constitutional
expert, he still believes mandating insurance coverage could be a
violation of the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. "[The 10th
Amendment] says something like anything that's not specifically
delegated to the federal government is reserved to the states and the
people thereof -- all those rights and powers," Grassley said, later
adding: "So states, if they want to mandate you buy something, they
can do it. But that doesn't give the federal government the right to
do it."

Labels: Charles Grassley, health_care

One of the most difficult things about writing this blog is the fact
that I'm not just providing news, but co-opting news with opinion. As
a long-term reporter who has had "just the facts" forever pushed into
my brain function, it's difficult to come to the keyboard with the
dual purpose of providing factual information and to issue a call to
action based on that information. But, as I told the women gathered in
Sioux City this weekend, there are times we have to step outside of
our comfort zones in order to stand up for things that we believe in
or to right a wrong. While I drove across Iowa on Saturday, members of
the U.S. House of Representatives voted on an unprecedented health
care reform bill. The good and bad news is all rolled up in one
sentence: It passed.

Labels: health_care

Federal health care reform talks have achieved critical mass, as the
end of this week will be a key time to see whether reform moves
forward. The U.S. House could vote on a measure Saturday, and today
some local chapters of the American Association of Retired People are
holding press conferences to talk about support for the House bill.
That will happen in a few minutes in Des Moines with Iowa AARP talking
about advocacy efforts. On the flip side, at noon Republicans like
Iowa 5th District Congressman Steve King and Minnesota Congresswoman
Michele Bachmann will follow through with a press event called a
"house call" on the east steps of the Capitol in Washington to beat
back reform. Two days ago King and other reform critics called on
Americans to "fill the streets of Washington and opposed the (House
Speaker Nancy) Pelosi health care bill."

Labels: health_care

Conservative activists gathered in Washington yesterday to protest
Democratic-backed health care reform proposals. As usual,
right-wingers are completely wrong about the substance of the bills,
crying "socialism" when the real problem is not enough
government-backed competition for private insurers. Former House
Majority Leader Dick Armey, a key figure in the "tea party" movement,
claims to believe that "The largest empirical problem we have in
health care today is too many people are too overinsured." Anyway,
when ill-informed right-wingers are causing a spectacle inside the
beltway, you can count on finding Representative Steve King (IA-05)
nearby. Hey, it's been almost three weeks since national media last
paid attention to his unfounded allegations. So King gets on MSNBC
yesterday and falsely claims that the House Democrats' bill would
cancel every private insurance contract in America. You can watch the
clip on the Iowa Democratic Party's site.

Labels: health_care, Steve_King

While once again renewing his call that a Congressional health care reform will bill with a public option will be passed and on Pres. Barack Obama's desk by Christmas, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin suggested that there are several reasons why speculation that Connecticut's independent senator would block a bill with a public option won't come to fruition. "There's just a lot of jockeying going on here for all kinds of positions from a few people that are using their position right now to maybe extract other things, to get other things done," Harkin said Thursday morning on a conference call with reporters. Earlier this week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) suggested that he would support a Republican filibuster if the final Senate bill contains a public option.

Labels: health_care, Tom_Harkin

The House of Representatives will soon bring a health care reform bill
up for a floor vote. All three relevant committees have approved bills
containing a public health insurance option. ... When the House Energy
and Commerce Committee passed a watered-down bill to placate Blue Dog
Democrats, most people assumed that this compromise would be the
health care reform bill sent to the House floor. However, House
Progressives have been rounding up votes for the stronger public
option provisions, and yesterday Progressive Caucus co-chair Raul
Grijalva claimed to have 210 votes supporting or leaning toward
supporting the stronger bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi won't bring that
bill to the floor unless she is sure she has the 218 votes needed to
pass, however. As many as 19 House Democrats have not decided whether
they would support the "Medicare plus 5 percent" public option. Chris
Bowers published a pdf file listing 36 House Democrats who are either
undecided, "lean yes" or "lean no" on the stronger public option.
Representative Leonard Boswell (IA-03) is on that list.

Labels: health_care, Leonard_Boswell

I should have been more up on this, after hearing much in recent weeks
on Randy Ray Renshaw's "Open Line" KSCJ 1360AM show. There is a
growing number of people who think it isn't constitutional for the
government to enact federal health reform, since it would violate the
10th Amendment. Renshaw has been hot on that topic, and now U.S. Sen.
Charles Grassley is saying there could be credence to that thought.
The 10th Amendment reads thusly: "The powers not delegated to the
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Those to
the left of political center (like DailyKos) think this logic is off,
that it's more from people who were birthers (denying that Barack
Obama was born in the U.S., therefore unable to be president) becoming
"Tenthers."

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

The WaPo's Chris Cillizza lists the winners and losers from
yesterday's health care vote and among the losers: "Chuck Grassley:
Grassley... took himself out of the negotiations on the bill early on
-- effectively ceding any ability to influence the legislation.
Grassley's pull-out allowed Democrats to paint him as a rank partisan,
a portrayal that won't help him as he runs for reelection next fall."
Attn: Christie Vilsack? (That bandwagon is rolling again...)
Meanwhile, up in Cedar Rapids, the date is set for Nov. 24 and the
candidates are emerging for House District 33: "Norm Sterzenbach, Sr.,
a military veteran who has been a steady presence in county politics
for years and currently serves as the county Democrats' second vice
chairman, is expected to make a bid for the seat." ... No GOP names
yet. With Terry Branstad about set to jump in and knock everyone but
Vander Plaats and Rants out of the governor's race, what legislative
district does Christian Fong live in? Update: I'm told he's in Renee
Schulte's turf.

Labels: Charles Grassley, health_care

As expected, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley voted against the health care
reform bill that went before the Senate Finance Committee today.
Grassley's reasons are stated elsewhere on our web site. But I found
this little tidbit interesting. Before the vote, Grassley, the ranking
Republican on the committee, told reporters on a conference call,
"It'll pass on a -- probably a party-line vote of 13-10." Of course,
it mostly was. But apparently, Grassley figured Sen. Olympia Snowe,
R-Maine, would vote with the rest of the GOP, too. She didn't, which
of course has Democrats hoping she does the same thing on the floor.

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

As expected, the Senate Finance Committee rejected two amendments
yesterday that would have added a public health insurance option to
the health care reform bill Chairman Max Baucus drafted with a big
assist from industry lobbyists. Five Democrats voted with all the
committee Republicans against Senator Jay Rockefeller's amendment,
which would have created a national public option tied to Medicare
rates. Three Democrats also joined Republicans to vote down Senator
Chuck Schumer's much weaker "national level playing field" public
option. CA Berkeley WV liveblogged yesterday's hearing for Congress
Matters. Senator Chuck Grassley sang the same old song about the
"government run plan" forcing private insurance companies out of
business.

Labels: health_care

Although some members of the U.S. House have voiced firm opposition to
the long-awaited initial health care reform bill presented this week
by U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana), chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee, U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) isn't necessarily among
them. The process is not a sprint, he reminded reporters on his
Thursday morning conference call, but more of a marathon in which the
finish line must remain the top priority. "I'm not at all happy with
some of the things that were left out of the Senate (Finance
Committee) bill, but the reality is that this is not the final Senate
bill. It is the chairman's mark," Braley said. "It was the product of
work by six senators and, in the end, we're not sure how much the
Republican senators contributed to this chairman's mark since none of
them support (it)."

Labels: Bruce Braley, health_care

Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate are pushing an artificial deadline for health care and, thus, pushing Republican lawmakers away from negotiations, Sen. Chuck Grassley said Tuesday in a statement. Grassley also returned to two debunked rumors about the health care bill, that it will provide money for abortion and that it will provide health insurance for illegal immigrants, as reasons why he cannot support the legislation in its current form.

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

Sen. Max Baucus worked hard to find a "bipartisan compromise" with Grassley and two other Republicans. In the end he gave them everything and got nothing in return. I'll join the chorus of others who say, "Fine, if Republicans won't play ball let's go back and make this a Democrat sponsored bill with full public option, cost controls and tax the rich to pay for it." This insightful blog sums up our Chuck Grassley: "what this really means is that in order to meet Grassley's definition of bipartisanship, Dems must effectively hand over to Republicans total veto power over health care reform. It's that simple."

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

Because of increasing pressure from both the right and left, Congress is in the position of either a public option for health care reform, a private health care consortium/cooperative, or not doing either and adding a trigger mechanism that would kick in if the private sector failed on benchmarks to ensure all Americans have access to affordable health care. I have written about the public option in general and will compare the benefits of it against the cooperative and exchange options. Finally, I will discuss the trigger option. According to Consumer Watchdog.Com "a carefully constructed 'public option' to private insurance would provide an antidote to the market consolidation that has propelled premium increases and administrative inefficiencies, shrunk coverage and degraded quality."

Labels: health_care

When Governor Culver and the Democrats made it illegal to smoke in public places, including bars and restaurants, small business owners went nuts over the fact that our government could step in and tell them how to run their business. In that case, they could sell cigarettes to their clientele, but they just couldn’t smoke them inside. If they were upset over that, I'd love to hear what they have to say about Obama's speech last night. In one breath, President Obama said that government wouldn’t take over the insurance industry, but in another breath he listed a slew of new mandates that would force them out of business. Obama said that he supports the following mandates on insurance companies: They cannot deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. They cannot drop your coverage for any reason. They can no long place a cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime.

Labels: Barack_Obama, health_care

Nick Johnson gave me a hard time for using a pen and paper to take
notes at the Iowa City Federation of Labor picnic, but after trying to
liveblog from the Blackberry at Dave Loebsack's health care forum my
thumbs were typed out. Loebsack was the big speaker at this
afternoon's picnic and while he pledged to fight hard for the public
option, he said Medicare reimbursement reform was a critical part of
health care reform for Iowa. "Right now the public option
reimbursement rate is based on Medicare," said Loebsack, "and those
rates need to get fixed so that Iowa does not get hurt in the
process." Iowa is among the states with the lowest reimbursement
rates.

Labels: Dave Loebsack, health_care

Arguing that the town hall forums of August have "changed the direction" of the health care reform debate, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), said Thursday that he nonetheless expects a bill to pass before Christmas -- though it "may be kind of miniature to what we're talking about." Grassley, on the front lines of the year's thorny health reform debate, has been impressed by the larger-than-usual public gatherings that have stolen headlines throughout the month, referring to them Thursday as "democracy in action." Still, the Gang of Six member was quick to point out that the future of health reform hinges on the collective experience of Congress, not his alone.

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

From the very beginning of the Obama caucus campaign continuing
through the general election, I gave more money, more time, and stuck
my neck out further than I ever had before for a Presidential
candidate, and I've worked hard for quite a few. I will not invest my
energy in a cause that has no bottom line, no goals which the
president will not compromise, nor any clear cut progress toward true
reform. I respect Barack Obama for the great things he HAS done, but I
refuse to work for his version of health care reform when he has no
clear goal other than to pass something - anything - that may get
through Congress, regardless of content.

Labels: Barack_Obama, health_care

The crowd applauded Sen Grassley for merely walking into the room in
Pocahontas today. They were clearly his fans, and they filled a good
part of the Expo Center on the fairgrounds. The very first man railed
against too much government using the mandated EXIT signs above all
the doors as his example. Anybody too stupid to know the way out of
the building would likely not be smart enough read the sign, he said.
This drew another round of applause and laughter. No guns were in
evidence, but I imagine the four sheriff deputies may have had theirs.
I wasn’t close enough to them to notice. One elderly voter who got the
microphone stood right next to the Senator, accused Obama of "acting
like a little Hitler," (more applause) and said he was ready to take
his gun to Washington.

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

9:10 and after 45 mins of the UI wifi staring at me like a giant
middle finger, I gave up so I'm on the phone. (The site was moved from
the library to the UIowa campus because a bigger crowd was expected,
but the UI campus is wifi-unfriendly to the general public, you need a
university ID. A long time pet peeve.) The crowd is split but
intermixed. The Dems have preprinted Obama font signs; some say THANK
YOU. The Rs are more handmade a big banner from the gallery says "it's
not about health care, it's about govt control of your life." I count
maybe 300 people so far. Ed Flaherty has a GRASSLEY RETIRE sign. One
woman with a "Obama is not my doctor" shirt.

Labels: Dave Loebsack, health_care

A few wingnuts knocked at the door of Tom Latham's town meeting in
Emmetsburg today, but Latham did not come out to play. One woman in a
Patriot Party t-shirt greeted arriving voters with a handout listing
ways to stockpile food for the coming disaster. It did not say what
disaster she was expecting. One man wondered how long before the
government starts implanting computer chips into our bodies. Another
wondered if the Congressman could go to the floor of the House and
read the Constitution aloud to his colleagues. Of course there were
the usual sneers at Speaker Pelosi and Senator Kennedy, but I don't
think the name Obama was mentioned by anyone. Latham deflected all
these ideas and insults without offending the people who injected
them.

Labels: health_care, Tom Latham

The primary purpose behind Town Hall Meetings is to allow the public
to have an avenue where they can express themselves to their elected
officials face to face. It allows citizen's to ask a question directly
to the official. This is an excellent method for our legislators to
correspond with us, the residents of the district. In recent days we
have seen Town Halls across the country erupt with passion and
activism in quantities that we have not seen in quite some time. As
Craig Robinson pointed out on The Iowa Republican, it would seem that
an apathetic public has awoken and nothing will contain their passion
or their outrage. Unlike some other Iowans roaming the halls of
Congress in Washington Senator Charles Grassley's Town Halls have
maintained an openness and respect for the constituents that has
rarely been witnessed this month.

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

In his only scheduled town hall meeting, Congressman Leonard Boswell
told a crowd of 100 people that he might not vote for the health care
reform bill. Boswell, who is considered to be the most vulnerable
congressional incumbent in Iowa, told the audience, "I can't answer
that because we don't have a bill." However Boswell's congressional
website tells a different story. The front page of Boswell's website
states, "As a Member of Congress, representing the Third Congressional
District of Iowa, I am committed to working with my colleagues in
Congress and with President Obama to create real reforms that will
help Iowans and all Americans receive health insurance and access to
their family doctors. Since H.R. 3200, the America's Affordable Health
Choices Act of 2009, was introduced on July 14th, I have been in
various meetings analyzing this bill with the needs of Iowans in mind,
voicing my support and criticism for the many provisions in this
monumental bill."

Labels: health_care, Leonard_Boswell

Wow, there is a lot to get to today. Sorry for my prolonged absence. I
was on the golf course enjoying the summer temperatures that finally
arrived. Grassley vs. The Mob: I'm blown away by the number of people
who turned out to express their feelings about ObamaCare. For all the
people who emailed me saying that I went too far the other day in my
article about Grassley, the frustration that was contained in my
article was only small fraction of what Grassley was confronted with
yesterday. Trust me on this one, Grassley still needs to get up and
walk away from the table. Until he does that, nobody can convince me
that he's going to do the right thing.

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

At yesterday's town-hall meeting in New Hampshire, President Barack
Obama had nice things to say about Senator Chuck Grassley. ... Look at
how Grassley talks about health care reform and tell me whether Obama
should praise Grassley's efforts. Grassley told a crowd in Afton that
the U.S. has the best health care system in the world and that he
won't nationalize healthcare or "do anything that allows Washington
between a doctor and you." Grassley also claimed that Obama "is
pursuing a partisan bill." While in Winterset, Grassley promoted the
latest bogus Republican talking point about killing Granny. Yes, he
went there.

Labels: Barack_Obama, Charles_Grassley, health_care

The video and audio footage from various congressional district
townhall meetings are streaming in from every corner of our country.
From Pennsylvania to California and all points in between, it is clear
that the American people are frustrated with their representatives in
congress and oppose the Obama administration's rush to nationalized
healthcare. However, Democratic leaders, including Iowa Senator Tom
Harkin, don't believe that the outrage over President Obama's
healthcare plan is real. Sen. Harkin and others are out trying to
convince people that the uprising of people who are opposed to
President Obama's health care reform package has been ginned up by
Republicans and people like Rush Limbaugh.

Labels: health_care

Contrary to what you may have heard, Republicans are highly concerned
about health care and ready to meet at the table to discuss reform and
enhancing the way we deliver health care services in our country. We
need to amplify our main point however: As we make our voices heard
this month, there's a loud and clear signal from a majority of the
American public to our elected officials and the White House... "Not
like this!" H.R. 3200 (America's Affordable Health Choices Act) is all
told, 1017 pages of terrible legislation which to our dismay, most of
our elected representatives have failed to thoroughly read, study and
comprehend.

Labels: health_care

Forget the "Details," the Devil is in the Basic Concept ... Have you,
like I, been more focused on the politics of health care, and the
"universal, single-payer" systems of civilized countries that is off
the table than what's in the plans that are on the table? This thing
is doomed to disaster from the starting gate. "The Devil is in the
details?" Not this time. The Devil is in these approaches from "Be it
enacted" through the bottom of the last page. As Congressman Dennis
Kucinich has long and famously said, "I don't want everybody in
America to have health insurance. I want everybody to have health
care."

Labels: health_care

Senator Chuck Grassley (R - Deaf and Dumb) is the ranking Republican
on the Senate Finance Committee. As such, he has a great deal of
influence while the Senate considers health care reform. The number of
uninsured Americans is currently close to 50 million. In Iowa, some
nine per cent of the adult population is uninsured. Those who are
lucky enough to have health insurance face soaring premiums, denial of
services and uncaring providers who are more concerned with making a
profit and paying exorbitant salaries to their executives than
actually providing health care. The system has gotten so bad that 72
per cent of Americans supported public health care in a recent poll by
CBS News.

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

Shawn Kruse, a 32-year-old Cedar Rapids man believed to be a domestic
abuse perpetrator, is currently residing in the Iowa Medical and
Classification Center, run by the Iowa Department of Corrections, and
he is costing Linn County residents $3,000 each day. Kruse allegedly
hit his wife with a weapon, intimated her with a crowbar and saw, and
then ran from police. It was during that high-speed chase that Kruse
was involved in a single-car accident on Highway 30, which led to
lower body paralysis. Journalist Adam Belz reports on his blog that
once Kruse left University Hospitals in Iowa City, his injuries
remained too great for placement in the Linn County Jail. ... Belt
explains that the sheriff's office has budgeted $247,000 to pay for
all doctor visits and medications needed by inmates for the entire
year.

Labels: health_care

Where Do They Get This Stuff? ... To cut to the chase, and remove any
question about my own position, I'm siding with one of my favorite
theology doctors: "Let he who has no bad health habits cast the first
bed pan." If what I mean by that is ambiguous, let me try again. I
recall years ago reading about a British doctor who simply refused to
treat patients' self-induced medical conditions -- the impact of
smoking on a cough or bronchial condition, the consumption of
excessive salt on elevated blood pressure or excessive animal fats on
cholesterol levels. In effect, if the patient was unwilling to make
any effort whatsoever to improve their condition by altering their own
behavior, the doctor's sense of the most appropriate triage of his own
time and talent was to spend them with the patients who would.

Labels: health_care

The White House and key Democratic senators, including Iowa's Tom
Harkin, appear to be walking into a trap for the sake of bipartisan
agreement on health care in the Senate. There is growing support for a
fake "public option," as opposed to a government health insurance plan
that would compete directly with private insurance companies. If
Congress passes this kind of deal and President Barack Obama signs it,
we will get a enormously expensive non-solution to an enormous
problem, and Democrats will pay the political price. ... The public
option is anathema to Republicans and corporate Democrats, because it
would give consumers more choices, especially in areas where one
insurance company dominates the market.

Labels: health_care

New polling shows that the public supports a choice between
government-run insurance and private insurance. I can see why the
public believes that public "competition" for private insurance
companies would be a good idea. Voters rightfully believe that
competition produces lower prices and better customer service.
However, the public option is a bad idea because the government
"competes" with the private sector on a playing field tilted
precipitously toward the bureaucracy winning the competition. Why? 1.
The government has unlimited access to money. It does not have to
create a business plan to benefit consumers and keep prices low in
order to keep itself from going out of business. A government program
never "goes out of business."

Labels: health_care

I am a fan of Bill Salier. I first met him during his primary campaign
in Cedar Rapids at the home of a good Republican friend, Billboard
Bob. I liked his message of family values, strong defense and limited,
constitutional government. ... This week I have been listening to Bill
filling in for Jan Mickelson on 1040 WHO radio. The topic of greatest
interest to me has been healthcare and the push by the Obama
government to take over the nation's healthcare system. Whether it is
a single-payer government solution or a Massachesetts (Romney) style
insurance mandate, we conservatives must stand firm against it. I
recently started my own business full-time. As I looked at all of the
things I would have to do to make a go of it, I was dismayed that one
of the biggest issues I faced was how to provide health insurance for
my family. I know that my situation is atypical.

Labels: health_care

All of us who have been pushing for meaningful health care reform on a
national level are working at fever pitch these days. From reading the
latest policy papers and political commentary to organizing local
events, there's plenty of work for everyone, and the pace just keeps
accelerating. But even in the current frenzied atmosphere, next week
will stand out. On June 24 and 25, people from around the country will
gather in Washington D.C. to tell our members of Congress, and the
nation, that health care reform can't wait. I feel honored and
privileged to have been invited, along with fellow Quad Cities health
care reform activists Alta Price and Bev Strayhall, to participate in
the events in D.C., thanks to our Iowa friends at Change That Works.

Labels: health_care

If you're a radio talk show host that calls female basketball players "nappy headed hos," Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson will create enough public pressure to see to it that you lose your job. On the other hand, if you are a State Senator who is so passionate about socialized medicine, that you stomp right into the House chambers and tell a black legislator, "They are treating us like [n-words], like masters and slaves," you end up with a key White House appointment from America's first African-American president.

Labels: Barack_Obama, health_care

Congressman Leonard Boswell still supports a health care reform bill
containing a public option that would go into effect immediately,
Boswell's spokesman Mark Daley confirmed today via e-mail. ... Whether
to include a "public option" that would compete directly with private
health insurers has become the main fault line as Congress prepares to
mark up health care reform proposals this summer. Stand with Dr. Dean
and Health Care for America Now are good resources on the need for a
public option. Republican opponents of serious reform are mostly
trying to keep the public option out of the health care bill, dangling
the carrot of substantial bipartisan support.

Labels: health_care, Leonard_Boswell

Change that Works Iowa will be launching a Twitter health care story
blast on Monday June 8, 2009. The idea is to hit Senator Grassley's
Twitter account with one compelling Iowa health care story per hour,
for 24 hours. The action began at 10:00 am on Monday June 8th
and will continue until 9:00 am on the June 9th. Stories will be
distributed on Twitter through traditional posts from "CTWIowaSEIU"
(which Senator Grassley follows), and through direct messages to the
Senator's username, "ChuckGrassley." The timing for this action
corresponds with the week Change that Works anticipates Senator
Grassley's Finance Committee will take additional action on a
comprehensive health care reform bill. The purpose is to lobby Senator
Grassley's support for reform during this critical legislative week
using his favorite medium, Twitter.

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

Leonard Boswell's pals in the House Blue Dog Coalition of conservative
Democrats may be the latest barrier to health care reform. The Blue
Dogs Thursday released a statement headed, "Health Care Reform Must
Protect Consumer Choice, Promote Competition in the Marketplace," and
signed by the group's 15 member Health Care Task Force. Boswell's not
part of that subgroup, but is a member of the larger 51 member Blue
Dog Coalition. ... Those 78 Democrats include 2nd District Rep. Dave
Loebsack, but not 1st District Rep. Bruce Braley. But Boswell still
seems to be in good standing with party leadership, as Speaker Nancy
Pelosi is visiting Des Moines with Boswell Saturday.

Labels: health_care, Leonard_Boswell

When Governor Chet Culver took final action on the last two dozen bills from the 2009 legislative session, my biggest disappointment was his decision to sign Senate File 433, a bill that "eliminates a broad range of fines against Iowa nursing homes that fail to meet minimum health and safety standards." Governors rarely veto bills that pass out of the state legislature unanimously, as this one did. However, when Culver didn't sign Senate File 433 right away, I hoped he was seriously considering the advice of the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs and the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals. Both of those state agencies opposed the bill. Instead of listening to the public officials who have the most in-depth knowledge of nursing home regulations and violations, Culver sided with a corporate interest group.

Labels: Chet_Culver, health_care

Yesterday we mentioned that Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the senior
Republican on the Finance Committee and a fierce opponent of public
health plans, had left the door open to including a public option in
the sweeping health care reforms he's currently drafting with panel
Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.). Today, Grassley all but eliminated the
possibility that he would support such a plan, warning that it would
be the first step toward a health care system controlled entirely by
the government. From a speech today on the Senate floor: "[S]ome say
that we can avoid these [payment] problems by putting the
government-run plan on a level playing field with private insurers. ...
So my question is this -- when this new government-run health
insurance plans starts to cost too much, is Congress going to start
breaking its promises?

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care, U.S. Senate

As the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Senator
Chuck Grassley will influence the shape of health care reform. For
that reason, he and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of
Montana were invited to lunch at the White House on Wednesday with
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Grassley's
message to the president and vice president, as well as to every
journalist who'll listen, is that health care reform should be done
through a bipartisan bill that can receive 70 or 80 votes in the
Senate. (See also Grassley's recent guest editorial at Politico.) Many
Democrats want to include a health care bill in the budget
reconciliation process, which would prevent a Republican filibuster.

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

We've in Iowa have heard from the progressive MoveOn.org political
action committee since the 2004 general election. MoveOn.org is back
again, as some ads are slated to highlight the importance of including
choice of a public health insurance plan in any health care reform
bill that moves through Congress. MoveOn wants U.S. Sen. Charles
Grassley to feel pressure, since he opposes the public health
insurance aspect. MoveOn.Org contends Grassley is standing instead
with "insurance companies and special interests." The ad, touted as
humorous, features two undertakers (funeral home directors I guess
would be a more acceptable term within the industry) discussing
President Obama's public health insurance option.

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

When Gene Gessow was called on by Governor Chet Culver last fall to
head the state's Department of Human Services, he would not have known
the misery it could cause him, but he could have guessed given the
political football that DHS has been for lawmakers. With a budget
shortfall and needs for human services likely to increase for the
foreseeable future, it is troubling that Senate Republicans are lining
up to block his confirmation. Gessow must receive 34 votes to be
confirmed by the 50-member Senate (there are 32 Democrats and 18
Republicans in the Senate). The DHS, which has 5,700 employees and a
$4.6 billion annual budget is in a constant state of flux as Democrats
and Republicans play tug o' war with its budget.

Labels: health_care

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, says the time is right to enact
substantive reform to the national health care system. Some are saying
in a time of recession that the Obama administration should be pulling
back issues that were raised on the 2008 campaign trail. Obama
definitely wants health care reform, and Harkin in a call with Iowa
reporters today said the president should keep plowing ahead.
Legislators like himself certainly will do that, Harkin said. "We've
been working very hard on this since November, since Senator (Edward)
Kennedy set up the three working groups. I'm on one working group.
We've had numerous hearings, we are drafting legislation. We hope to
have this ready go to by June in the committee, July on the floor," he
said.

Labels: health_care, Tom_Harkin

I don't have a transcript or video yet, but Pres. Barack Obama just said in his televised press conference that (paraphrasing): "It is time to start offering [Medicare/Medicaid] reimbursements on quality and not quantity. States should not be rewarded for how many procedures they do." For those who are interested in quality health care in Iowa, this is an amazingly wonderful statement to hear. We have truly wonderful health care quality in Iowa, that has been challenged for years because our state's reimbursement rate is near the bottom of the national rankings. In particular, increasing the reimbursement rate would make it easier for all of our hospitals (but especially those non-critical access hospitals in rural areas) to attract and maintain physicians.

Labels: health_care

Iowa Republicans are mobilizing against House File 530, which would
allow employees to select their own doctor in case of a workplace
injury. The workers' compensation reform has already cleared a
subcommittee (over the objections of its Republican member) and will
be discussed at a public hearing tonight at 7 pm at the capitol. Iowa
GOP chairman Matt Strawn held a press conference on the issue
yesterday in Davenport, and most statehouse Republicans agree with the
business interests working hard to defeat the bill. Opponents claim
the bill would let injured workers go "doctor-shopping," even though
the text states clearly that workers would have to designate a
personal physician before any injury occurs.

Labels: health_care, state House

Many have deemed this week "labor week" in the Iowa House of
Representatives. Last night some 40 Iowans spoke out at a public
forum. Following the forum, the bill quickly passed out of the House
Labor Committee. The bill is expected to be debated on the floor of
the House on Friday if Democrats can find the 51 votes needed to pass
it. Democrat leaders in the House might have a hard time finding the
necessary votes to move forward with the bill. It is rumored that as
many as ten Democrats oppose the legislation. If that is indeed the
case, it will be another embarrassing loss for the labor unions who
have yet to see one of their legislative priorities be signed into
law.

Labels: health_care, state House, unions

Although I am excited about the potential for health care reform at
the federal level this year, we need to do what we can on the state
level as well. Last fall Congress passed Mental Health Parity
legislation which was signed into law. There is a bill in the Iowa
House, HF 234 requiring insurers in Iowa to cover mental health
conditions at the same level as they cover physical health conditions.
Although Iowa already has some mental health parity laws, the current
laws exclude some mental illnesses and alcohol or substance abuse
treatment. Likewise, the federal legislation exempts some plans,
whereas this Iowa legislation would apply to all plans (at least all
plans subject to state law, which is not really "all" plans).

Labels: health_care

For those of you who've been pondering the idea of this
row-of-dominoes -- President Barack Obama naming Iowa Senator Tom
Harkin to head the Department of Health and Human Services (the post
Obama originally asked Tom Daschle to take), then Governor Chet Culver
appoints himself to Harkin's seat in the U.S. Senate and then
Lietuenant Governor Patty Judge becomes the governor -- hold your
horses! Harkin has said some nice things about the idea of Howard
Dean as HHS secretary. Harkin, as you may recall, endorsed Dean's bid
for the White House in 2004 and wound up on stage, behind Dean,
holding Dean's coat on Caucus Night when Dean did "the scream."

Labels: health_care, Tom_Harkin

Great news, everyone! Today the House of Representatives approved an
expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). In
Iowa, this program is known as HAWK-I, and it provides coverage for
thousands of children whose families are not poor enough to qualify
for Medicaid, but not wealthy enough to purchase health insurance:
"The child health bill would provide $32.3 billion over four and a
half years to continue coverage for seven million children who now
rely on the program and to extend coverage to more than four million
who are uninsured." ... Representatives Bruce Braley and Leonard Boswell
joined Loebsack in voting for the bill, which passed by a comfortable
margin of 289-139. But as you can see from the roll call,
Representatives Steve King and Tom Latham voted no.

Labels: Dave Loebsack, health_care, Steve_King

We're almost there!! With your support, Iowa will pass monumental
health care reform this legislative session that will cover all of
Iowa's uninsured children and expand coverage to adults. Monday, the
Iowa Senate passed a health care bill that provides the needed
resources to cover Iowa's 45,000 uninsured children. The bill would
also improve our state's overall health care by offering more options
for adults to purchase coverage, encouraging the use of electronic
medical records, focusing on chronic disease prevention, and allowing
young adults to stay on their family's health insurance plans until
they are 25.

Labels: health_care

It was only last fall that Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on
the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, took an unpopular party stance
against Pres. George W. Bush's domestic health care policy. Grassley
took some hits on the Hill as a result of his stand, but one Iowa
group wants him to know they appreciate his effort. Iowa for Health
Care met Grassley during a stop in Linn County on Tuesday to thank him
for his "leadership on positive health care reform" and to ask him to
continue to fight for the issue. Grassley not only voted in 2007 to
expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover
nearly 4 million more uninsured children throughout the nation -- a
figure that included thousands in Iowa -- but took a notably activist
stance, circumventing House Republican leadership, to recruit
rank-and-file Republicans to rally against the wishes of the White
House.

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

Gov. Culver appeared before the General Assembly for the annual State
of the State and promptly abandoned any pretense of reality in pursuit
Orwellian socialism. Iowa is facing a horrible budget crisis. The
Democrat leadership (Vilsack, the Big Lug and the Lug Nuts) will have
increased spending between 7/1/06 and 7/1/08 by more than a billion
dollars, while revenues are hardly keeping pace. Even the Democrats
admit that the state will experience a shortfall of over $105 million.
The non partisan Legislative Service Agency predicts a shortfall of
over $344 million.

Labels: Chet_Culver, health_care

I'll be honest, I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing yet.
But you can see the highlights here… Skimming the plan, it appears
that Biden would not make health insurance mandatory, so this is not
quite a universal health care plan (as Edwards and Clinton have
proposed). Under Biden's plan, all children would be covered, and
steps would be taken to improve adults' access to health insurance,
including a Federal Employee Health Benefit Buy-In and a Medicare
Buy-In for adults age 55 to 64. This seems most similar to Obama's
health care proposal, which also would put us on the road toward
covering all children and more adults.

Labels: health_care, Joe_Biden

Joe Biden: "I am deeply disappointed first that the President chose to
veto this crucial legislation and second, that the House failed to
override his veto. Every single child in this country should have
health insurance. Instead of making progress toward this goal, the
President and Republicans in the House are turning their backs on 9
million children. Despite this blow, I am committed to continue
working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle until our kids
have the health coverage they need and deserve." Hillary Clinton: "It
is deeply disappointing that a small minority of Republicans in
Congress have put loyalty to this president ahead of healthcare for
millions of children. But we will not give up until a bill becomes
law. I will keep fighting to enact a bipartisan bill that provides
affordable coverage to America's children."

Labels: health_care

Dear George, I trust that I can call you George, since we've been
through so much together, right from the start. I was there at Jim
Nussle's barbeque in Amana where you first declared your candidacy for
president. (You probably remember me. We shook hands.) I gave you the
benefit of the doubt when you went to war to topple Saddam Hussein.
(At which you did succeed, lest we forget.) I voted for you
enthusiastically in 2000, then reluctantly, holding my nose, in 2004.
But still, I voted for you twice George. Since we've been buds for so
long, I feel I need to tell you something that might be awkward coming
from someone else: the fact that your recent veto of the bill
expanding the SCHIP "children's" healthcare program makes you look
like a complete hypocrite.

Labels: health_care

A battle over the President's policy view of using tax deductions to
afford private health coverage rather than helping uninsured kids to
Medicare coverage may lead to a desertion by Iowa's Chuck Grassley.
The Washington Post reports that our most senior Senator accused
President Bush yesterday of holding up a bipartisan three months,
along with campaign advertisements accusing Republicans of abandoning
children. That way, pressure would mount either on Bush to sign the
bill or on House Republicans to override the veto... Asked if Bush was
holding the children's health bill hostage, Grassley said, "Yes."

Labels: Charles_Grassley, health_care

Things move fast in Iowa. Within minutes of New York Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton's unveiling of a mandatory health insurance plan in Des
Moines critiques were rolling in from rivals on both sides of the
political fence. "While she talks about the political scars she bears,
the personal scars borne by the American people are far greater," said
Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who is also seeking the Democratic
presidential nomination. "The mismanagement of the effort in 1993 and
1994 has set back our ability to move toward universal health care
immeasurable. We've known what the problems have been for nearly 15
years, and what the solutions could be. What's been missing is
leadership that knows how to bring people together and get the job
done." Dodd went on to add that affordable health care will take more
than leadership "that simply knows how to fight -- it will take
leadership that knows how to bring people together and win."

Labels: health_care, Hillary_Clinton