Why Obama Has to do What Letterman Did: Refuse to Pay Hush Money
By Robert Reich,
Robert Reich's Blog. October 20, 2009.
The former labor secretary says that by buying off Big Pharma in return for
its support on health-care reform, the president has succumbed to blackmail.
Last January, as I understand it, the White House promised Big Pharma, big
insurance, and the American Medical Association the moral equivalent of what
Joel Halderman allegedly demanded of David Letterman: hush money. The groups
agreed to stay silent or even be supportive of healthcare reform, as long as
they were paid off.
But now that it's time to collect, the bill is larger than the White House
expected, and it's going to fall like an avalanche on middle class Americans
in coming years. That could mean an ugly 2012 election (read Sarah Palin).
So the President has to do what Letterman did: Refuse to pay.
Big Pharma is on the road to getting its deal: not only 25 to 30 million
more paying customers, but also a continued ban on Medicare using its
bargaining clout to reduce drug prices, a bar on genetic drug manufacturers
introducing similar biologic drugs until the originals have been on the
market at least twelve years, and no public insurance option to negotiate
low drug prices. (Big Pharma did agree to $80 billion of cost cuts over the
next ten years, to be sure, but its hush money payoffs far exceeded that
sum.)
Big insurance is well on the way to getting what it wants: 25 to 30 million
more paying customers (many of them young and healthy), a requirement that
almost all businesses "pay or play," and no competition from a public
option.
Doctors (that is, the American Medical Association) are on the way to
getting what they want: Instead of a temporary patch on scheduled decreases
in Medicare reimbursements to them, a permanent fix that would change the
reimbursement formula altogether and reward them $240 billion over the next
ten years.
But when they all get paid off, who will do the paying? Middle-class
Americans who are already in a financial squeeze -- whose wages are lower,
adjusted for inflation, than they were thirty years ago, and whose jobs are
disappearing. They'll face still higher premiums, co-payments, and
deductibles; and they'll pay higher drug prices, Medicare premiums, and
taxes to cover the rest.
That's because these payoffs make it next to impossible to contain the
wildly escalating costs of health care. And 25 to 30 million additional
Americans will be covered.
The only thing in the emerging bills that's related to cost containment is a
proposed excise tax on so-called "Cadillac" insurance plans, priced over a
certain threshold amount (the threshold is now up for grabs). But because
the costs of health care are likely to rise faster than inflation, whatever
the threshold, the middle class will get socked again.
So Obama has to forcefully weigh in with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid as the
two try to cobble together passable bills for each chamber -- demanding real
cost containment.
The three big means of containing costs: (1) A true public option (better
yet, one that allows anyone now holding private insurance to opt into; (2)
authority for Medicare to negotiate low drug prices; and (3) lower Medicare
reimbursement rates to doctors (in other words, no "doctor fix").
In addition, the so-called "medical exchanges" in the emerging bills (as
well as the public option, which hopefully will be included) should give
preference to pre-paid heathcare plans, like Kaiser Permanente, whose
doctors are on salary and have every incentive to keep people healthy rather
than charge for more services and tests.
But if Obama doesn't weigh in forcefully and say "no" to the hush money for
Big Pharma, big insurance, and the AMA, America's middle class will get
walloped. And if the walloping starts before 2012, Sarah Palin or some other
right wing-nut populist will wallop Obama. And after she or he wallops
Obama, America will get walloped even worse.
***
From: Anthony Saidy
To: Ed Pearl
Subject: Healthcare for All WEDNESDAY 10/28 Los Angeles
Dear Anthony,
It was amazing to see such a spirited turnout at our Oct. 15th Health Care
Sit-in. You saw Democracy in Action, now we're asking you to become part of
that action and make MEDICARE FOR ALL a reality! Our next Sit-In will take
place on Wednesday, October 28, 10am - Noon, with our strategic LOCATION TBA
next week.
To hear inspiring words from Sam Pullen, who stayed in jail for 5 days after
our Sit-in go here:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/20/in_his_mothers_footsteps_california_man
My name is Laura Flanagan and I will be coordinating the sit-in in Los
Angeles on October 28. I am a volunteer organizer with the Center for the
Working Poor, which specializes in coordinating non-violent civil
disobedience actions and is one of the initiating groups for the HealthCare
For All campaign.
If you are willing to risk arrest , want to learn more before making that
decision, or want to protest in another capacity please join us at one of
our upcoming Action planning & Non-violence training sessions. I was
arrested for the first time last Thursday as part of the LA 12. It was a
decision that came with many emotions attached. But as we chanted 'This is
what Democracy looks like!' I knew it was what Democracy looks like. AND
what it feels like...and that feeling is GOOD.
We have three Action planning & Non-violence training sessions before Oct.
28th, we'd love for you to attend one or more. We will discuss, create,
implement and train for the following needs:
* Non-violence Sit-in training: In most cases, being arrested in an act of
nonviolent civil disobedience is a safe but challenging experience. Because
the police can't always be counted on to be reasonable and we may face thing
we didn't predict, it's important to prepare to minimize risk and
discomfort. We will go over what to expect and how to prepare.
* Non-violence Rally Monitors: help us maintain our mission of non-violence
by volunteering as crowd wranglers and police/crowd liaisons.
* Legal Support point person: work with our legal team as our person on the
outside once arrests have been made. Collect information & belongings of our
brothers and sisters who are arrested. Stay in contact with the legal team
and local organizer as to the current status of those arrested.
* Media Relations volunteers: prep participants on talking points & for
interviews; adapt & distribute press releases; make pitch calls to press;
sign-in and reach out to press at action; record action and create indy
documentaries to promote the cause, etc
* Action Volunteers: help create banners, posters, etc leading up to Oct.
28th. Legal protest volunteers will lead the rally in chants and songs once
the Sit-in has begun.
* Mobilization Volunteers: this is something we all can do by telling
everyone you know! But we need a few key volunteers to call people who have
already expressed an interest in joining our movement.
ACTION PLANNING & NON-VIOLENCE TRAINING SESSIONS:
Saturday, October 24th from 10am-Noon at the Center for the Working Poor:
1289 Bellevue Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90026.
Monday, October 26th from 6-8pm at the Plaza Methodist Church on Olvera
Street near Union Station in Downtown LA. A change from previous meetings at
this church, the action prep will take place in the basement, which you
access from the west side of the church building. The easiest way to arrive
during rush hour is to take the metro to Union Station and then walk across
the street to the Methodist Church. If you are driving, there is a parking
lot at the corner of N. Los Angeles Street and Arcadia St. off Alameda.
Please join us even if you are just thinking about doing the sit-in or want
to support it. Invite your friends, or anyone that is interested to show up
to a non-violence training as soon as you can. If you cannot make the
training, just call me or email me, and I will update you with action
details.
It is urgent that we send this message to everyone we know who wants to
change our broken health care system. Forward this message to everyone you
know, and encourage them to sign the pledge at www.MobilizeforHealthCare.org
Medicare For All!
Laura Flanagan
Organizer - Mobilize For Healthcare For All
www.mobilizeforhealthcare.org
leflanagan@hotmail.com
C 305.542.3570
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