| Some very cool news out of the two listening sessions I attended today, just listening in the back. First, at Senator Baucus's invitation, state Rep. Mary Caferro (D-Helena) gave a forceful defense of single-payer healthcare to a standing room only (and large) room at St. Pat's in Missoula. Anyone who knows Mary knows she is a smart, committed, and effective advocate on healthcare in general and for single-payer specifically. She was warmly received by the crowd.
After she spoke, the moderator specifically asked Jon Selib, Max's chief of staff, about Max's stance on a public health insurance option. Jon reiterated his boss's support for a public option and indicated their office's dedication to seeing it in the final legislation -- good news.
The mic then was passed to Jeff Fee, an administrator of St. Pat's (I'm not clear if he's President or a Vice President), who spoke ably indicating their willingness to make either a private system or single-payer work before talking about the changes to be made both in private insurance and in Medicare regarding provider reimbursement (basically arguing in favor of moving away from the current fee-for-service model) after stating their Catholic commitment to access to health care as a fundamental human right.
Anyways, very cool stuff, all-in-all. Jon Selib reiterated the importance of a public plan as one option under the final bill during the listening session in Hamilton this afternoon.
All of which is to say that a positive form of healthcare is very much moving forward this year.
Teabagging Healthcare Reform. As if this isn't all enough news, there's more! Some of the very people who brought us the tea parties are now buying TV ads across the country attacking healthcare reform, including right here in Montana with the buy in the Butte-Bozeman, Missoula, Great Falls, Helena, Billings, and Glendive markets, as well as the North Dakota market that dips into the state. Here's the transcript (from my inbox): Shona Holmes - Waterdown, Canada: I survived a brain tumor, but if I'd relied on my government for healthcare, I'd be dead. I am a Canadian citizen. And as my brain tumor got worse, my government healthcare system told me I had to wait six months to see a specialist. In six months, I would have died.
Announcer: Government runs healthcare in Canada. Care is delayed or denied. Some patients wait a year for vital surgeries. Delays that can be deadly. Many drugs and treatments are not available because government says patients aren't worth it.
Shona Holmes: I am here today because I was able to travel to the U.S. where I received world-class treatment. Government healthcare isn't the answer and it sure isn't free.
Announcer: Now Washington wants to bring Canadian-style healthcare to the U.S., but government should never come in between your family and your doctor. Learn more at patientsunitednow.com.
Shona Holmes: My advice to Americans - as patients, it's your care. Don't give up your rights. Now, here's the reality, via Health Care for America Now!:Americans for Prosperity, a lead group behind the lobbyist-organized "Tax Day Teaparties" of ultraconservatives around the country, has set up a new front group called "Patients United Now."
The group is right out of Frank Luntz's playbook, trotting out the now familiar horror stories (used by Rick Scott) of health care in other countries.
So, let's say it once again: The health care reform proposal from President Obama is not a copy of any other system in the world. We're not going to become Britain or Canada. With Obama's proposal, you can keep the insurance you have if you like it, period. Nobody will force you into anything.
Americans for Prosperity will be going up on TV with these lies anyway, proudly telling the world how much teabaggers oppose Obama's health care plan. Like I didn't know that already... Let me know if you see the ad run. Clearly, it is a load of crap on multiple levels. |
