Mouth Meets Money on Repealing Reform

So, Tom Daschle admits that the White House threw the public option - and any hope for genuine health care reform - under the bus to please the insurance giants. Everyone who hasn't known this since the summer of 2009, stand on your head.

And now, those "good Americans" at the health insurance companies are thanking Democrats for that bailout by - you guessed it - pouring millions into repug election campaigns.

Kevin Drum:

Noam Levey has a wonderfully revealing piece in the LA Times today about the health insurance industry's hopes and dreams for a Republican Congress next year. The insurers, it turns out, like the new healthcare reform rules that force everyone to get health insurance, but they aren't so keen on all those other pesky regulations:

The insurance industry, attracted by the prospect of millions of new customers as a result of the coverage mandate, initially backed President Obama's campaign to overhaul the healthcare system. And insurers scored a key victory when Democrats abandoned plans to create a government insurance plan, or "public option." But insurers are increasingly balking at the myriad new directives in the healthcare law.

Among other things, the law prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage to sick children and canceling policies when customers get sick. The law bars insurers from placing lifetime caps on how much they will pay when their customers get ill. Many consumers will also get new rights to appeal denied claims and win new access to preventive care without being asked for copays.

"The health reform law did not deliver the uninsured in the way that insurers wanted," said veteran healthcare analyst Sheryl Skolnick, senior vice president at CRT Capital Group.

That final quote is priceless. "The health reform law did not deliver the uninsured in the way that insurers wanted." Apparently they wanted the uninsured trussed up and delivered to their doorsteps wallet first, but without any actual obligation on their part to provide decent service in return. And they know just how to get their wish: "The industry would love to have a Republican Congress," says Wendell Potter, a former Cigna insurance executive. "They were very, very successful during the years of Republican domination in Washington."

But this is creating a wee problem for everyone. You see, Republicans are loudly proclaiming right now that they want to eliminate the part of the law that forces everyone to buy insurance. But that's exactly the part of the law that insurance companies like. In fact, they want to see it strengthened. At the same time, they want to get rid of the popular parts of the law that keep insurance companies from figuring out ways to screw patients. But those are the provisions that Republicans say they'll keep if we turn over Congress to them.

And yet, the insurance companies are massively funding Republicans this cycle anyway. Why would that be? It's almost as if they're sure that Republicans are just blowing campaign smoke and will support their agenda once they're safely in office. They're so sure, in fact, that they're willing to put their money where their mouths are to the tune of millions of dollars.

So which do you believe? Republican mouths or insurance industry money? Decisions, decisions.....

Digby is more pessimistic:

It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds. If I had to guess, I'd think that the Republicans will relentlessly chip away at the funding mechanisms for the big medicaid expansion wherever they can, even if it requires changing the law the first chance they get a Republican majority w/president again. I would think the mandate will stand but that the mechanisms requiring that they keep prices manageable will be tweaked in such a way that the insurance companies will have much more latitude for charging customers. And they will be relieved from having to create comprehensive policies and will be able to go back to the old expensive premiums for crappy coverage model they love so much. In other words, it will take a while, but they'll probably be able to go back to some version of the status quo, only with a mandate that all citizens buy shitty insurance.

The proof will be in the pudding about a decade from now when the court cases all finish and whatever is left of the program is in place. At this point we are dealing with theoretical outcomes even if the plan is unchanged for the worse (and I am very skeptical that it will be.) Politically, this is not a winner for the Democrats or Obama because average people don't see any positive change and until full implementation it's likely they will continue to see their rates going up. But then, that was baked in the cake as well. It is what it is.

And we can guarantee one thing: all the talk of "improving" the legislation will be a joke if the Republicans get the chance to gut it before it ever gets going. That long window to implementation is a land mine that was set when everyone was still singing Kumbaaya about the Permanent Democratic Majority. It doesn't look so smart right now.

Have you made calls for your Democratic congressional candidate today?