Five members of Congress from Pennsylvania—Representatives Jason Altmire, Chris Carney, Kathy Dahlkemper, Tim Holden, and Patrick Murphy—are part of the Blue Dog Coalition, whose demands for changes in the Health Care reform bill before the House of Representatives has gained a great of attention in the last week or so.
While at least one of those demands might actually improve the bill, others are deadly to the health care reforms we so badly need around the country. Indeed those demands are so deadly for reforms that will very much benefit Pennsylvanians, that it’s time for us start asking our Pennsylvania Blue Dogs, why are you running with this wrong pack?
There are two aspects of the HR 3200, the House health care reform bill, that are especially important to Pennsylvanians.
The first is a public health insurance plan that competes with private insurers on a level playing field. This is critically important in Pennsylvania because, as HCAN PA documented in a recent report, there is very little competition in the health insurance market in our state. In three of four regions in the state—and in every Blue Dog District except part of Representative Holden’s—private insurers controlled by one company holds has about 70% of the market. That is a main reason that insurance rates are increasing over three times faster than wages in our state. (And, in the part of Representative Holden’s district where there is competition, insurance premiums are substantially lower than elsewhere in the state.
The Blue Dogs Coalition leadership wants to create a weak public option at best. And only one Pennsylvania Blue Dog, Patrick Murphy, has come out strongly for the public option.
To judge by their position reimbursement rates for medical providers, the Blue Dogs Coalition wants to create a weak public option at best. HR 3200 calls for the public health insurance plan to initially begin with payments to physicians and hospitals at rates set 5% above Medicare reimbursement rates. After three years rates can be changed as necessary to ensure access, affordability and efficient delivery of care. Three major organizations of physicians, the AMA, the National Physician’s alliance and the American College of Physicians are satisfied enough with these rates that they have endorsed the legislation.
Our Pennsylvania Blue Dogs say that they joined the coalition in order because it stands for fiscal responsibility. But what is fiscally responsible about this effort to increase our premiums and taxes and cripple the public health insurance plan?
So our Pennsylvania Blue Dogs need to choose: will they stand with the Blue Dog Coalition and protect insurance companies from competition? Or will they stand with their constituents and keep our insurance premiums, budget deficits and taxes from increasing?
The second critical issue for Pennsylvanians is the affordability of health insurance for the middle class. HR 3200 includes credits that will help people with income up to 400% of the FPL, the federal poverty level, which is $88,000 for a family of four, afford health insurance.
The Blue Dog coalition leaders want to reduce those credits to 300% of the FPL, or $55,000 for a family of four. The median income in the country for a family of four is $72,168. So the Blue Dog proposal will eliminate federal credits for middle income families making $55,000 to $88,000 a year, which is about 14% families in Pennsylvania. Removing these credits will increase monthly payments for middle income families by $200-300 a month. They will pay $1052 a month, which is three times what members of the $357 per month that members of Congress pay for health insurance.
Yes it is true that we will have to raise taxes to provide these subsidies. But the House plan will only raise taxes by more than a token amount on families making more than $1,000,000 a year. Ninety-nine percent of Pennsylvanians will see no tax increase at all.
Again, the Pennsylvania Blue Dogs need to choose: will they stand with the Blue Dog Coalition or will they stand with their constituents and protect Pennsylvania’s middle class?
A vote is coming. And we are about to find out whether five Pennsylvania members of Congress will keep running with the Blue Dogs or will run with the people who put them into office.