Posted on 10/24/2009 12:27:34 PM PDT by Steelfish
October 24, 2009 House Leaders Woo Centrists to Back Public Plan
Pelosi Opens the Door to a Compromise on Payment Rates for Doctors and Hospitals, a Key Issue in Health-Care Legislation
By GREG HITT
WASHINGTON -- House Democratic leaders signaled flexibility Friday on how a proposed government-run health insurance plan would operate in the private market, in an overture to centrist lawmakers who want to limit the government's impact on the market.
The issue is at the heart of evolving House legislation that would overhaul the nation's health system, making good on President Barack Obama's call to expand insurance coverage to tens of millions of Americans.
For months, senior House Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, have pushed proposals that would give a government plan big leverage in the marketplace. They would tie payments to doctors and hospitals to the low rates paid by Medicare, the government health program for the elderly.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, left, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, center, and AARP's Nancy LeaMond leave a news conference Friday in Washington. Many liberals argue that such a plan has the best chance of forcing private insurers to lower premiums and out-of-pocket costs for consumers, while also lowering the cost of the health overhaul.
But the speaker and House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D., S.C.) suggested they were open to other ideas, including a proposal that would require the government plan to negotiate payment rates directly with health providers.
Meeting with reporters, Ms. Pelosi said, "There's no philosophical difference" between the more "robust" proposal she favors, and the competing proposal calling for negotiated rates. Requiring the public insurance plan to negotiate with providers would likely result in more generous payouts than under Medicare, and is preferred by many moderate Democrats.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
The fix is in. When the Kabuki Theater is over, the American taxpayer will get screwed royally.
My son and son in law are out of work.
Everyone who votes for Health Care Reform should have their names engraved in granite.
These so call moderates vote for this piece of trash; their careers are over.
Just remember dictators have no friends; only sacrifices.
I hope that the “Centrists” hold out for at least 50 million dollars apiece for their districts. They might even get 100. Don’t let Pelosi get cheap on you! (You bunch of morons.)
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