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It appears Thomas Carper (D-DE), who has famously created a string of terrible “alternatives” and “compromises” for the public option, is at it again. This time, it seems Carper has completely reinvented (cribbed? copied?) Snowe’s trigger proposal, and must be hoping no one notices:
Senator Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat, said he is crafting a compromise that might be offered as a replacement for the public option during floor debate. The proposal would require states where insurance plans don’t meet affordability standards to offer an alternative, national plan run by a nonprofit.
The group running the national plan would be appointed by the president and would get a government line of credit with the idea that it would be repaid, Carper told reporters today. Details are still being worked out, though the new program wouldn’t be designed as a co-operative, he said.
Carper called the idea a “hammer approach” for states. The nonprofit board would include the Health and Human Services secretary in its initial years as an ex-officio member.
Does this sound familiar? It should because it is not just like Olympia Snowe’s worthless trigger, it is identical to Snowe’s trigger. There are some useless “affordability standards,” which, if not met, would trigger offering in that state some non-profit alternative run by individuals appointed by the president. Here is the plain text description of Snowe’s trigger:
Short Title: Provision of Safety Net fallback plan to ensure access to affordable coverage
Description of Amendment: This amendment establishes a non-profit government corporation through which a ―safety net‖ plan would be provided in any state in which affordable coverage was not available in the Exchange to at least 95% of state residents. An individual would be deemed to have affordable access if either of two conditions is met. First, two or more plans are offered with premiums – the cost of which does not exceed a specified percentage of the individual‘s adjusted gross income (AGI), after deducting any available tax credit or employer subsidy from the cost of such premium. The percentage contribution shall range from 3 percent of AGI at 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, to 13 percent at 300 percent and above.
Assessment of affordability shall follow submission of plan premiums filed one year in advance of the first day of each policy year, and should a state be found to not meet the 95% threshold, plans would be permitted to submit of any revised premium filings, after which a second assessment of affordability shall be performed. If, after that second assessment, a state still be deemed as not meeting the affordability standard, the safety net plan shall be offered within that state, and shall be available at the pending open season enrollment.
These two trigger proposals are essentially identical—and identically worthless. Do you know why people who are opposed to the public option claim to support a trigger? It is because the only trigger standards they support are designed to insure that the trigger is never pulled. A trigger is simply a way to kill the public option. Senate Democrats must believe the progressive base to be incredibly stupid if they think Carper’s worthless trigger—designed to kill the public option—would ever be acceptable as a “compromise.”
Who possibly could be helping Carper come up with all his terrible alternatives designed to kill the public option? Could it be his former chief of staff and current WellPoint lobbyist, Jonathon Jones?
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Looks like Carper is as much in thrall to the businesses “headquartered” in Delaware as Biden ever was.
And the govt is concerned about political corruption in Afghanistan?
THE DEMOCRATS NEED TO START OVER AND WRITE A BILL THAT EXPANDS MEDICARE TO THOSE 47 MILLION UNINSURED.THIS IS A WAY TO GET AROUND THIS ANTI-PUBLIC OPTION OBSTRUCTION.THEY NEED TO GET THIS TO A VOTE BEFORE THEY RECESS AGAIN FOR THE HOLIDAYS.WELL SEE HOW MANY WOULD VOTE AGAINST THAT,AND THEN WE WILL KNOW WHO OUR TRUE PROGRESSIVES ARE.
Pretty soon the corps will just eliminate the pols as middle men.
Added on edit: Goldman Sachs has already done it.
after the much skewed but still true AHIP report, and $1.6 million/day the chamber is spending to defeat health care reform, it is apparent the trigger is already here! as jane herself has said, anything less than a robust public option, will be no more than a taxpayer bailout for the already inflated health care mafia.
president obama was elected to truly reform health care; progressives should stand firm and tell those opposing democrats, regardless of the big tent analogy, either support the democratic platform or get out of the party!
The only thing I would accept about triggers is to acknowledge that it has already been pulled.
And he realized real quickly that that would be hard work, so he changed his talking point to “health insurance reform” and walked away.
Why are you screaming?
I thought Trigger was already stuffed and on display in the museum?
I haven’t visited that museum, but I have visited the Cowgirl Musuem in Ft. Worth.
Time is our enemy. We need to get moving.
Forget it pal! At this point we Dems are just waiting for them to pass a weak and watered down public option so that we can either stay home and watch them get their asses kicked in 2010 or, if there’s a viable candidate, well get behind him or her and watch you get your asses kicked out of office in 2010! We won’t be out there saying Yes We Can if they don’t. It’s as simple as that and any attempt at passing garbage off as healthcare reform will result in huge election losses for the Dems!
Jane has a new post up…
Suggestions that time is running out for so called reform of American healthcare is a false flag.
Let the politics go forward into 2010 and pass through 2010 elections.
Let democracy determine who the shunks are and vote them out.
This so called reform has become little more than a cash infusion via forced join and pay subsidized by WashingtonDC.
Lots of hollow talk about control of costs as if WashingtonDC never voted several hundred billion $$ packages on whim for occupation of Iraq during past six years.
Single Payer Plan/Medicare Universal Plan is where the real reform of American healthcare is going to be found. What is being shoved at the American voting public by WashingtonDC during past six months is a charade.
Barack Obama should have to face re-election in 2012 on the merits of what he did or did not do regarding American healthcare reform. So far it appears this Obama WH is more interested in comforting the already comfortable major players of current American healthcare for profit regime.
Suggesting this reform must be done this year or all is lost is baloney being nothing is scheduled to come into being until 2013. Which may prove more likely to be 2015 given the nature of WashingtonDC pay to play rules.
Why the false urgency? Make WashingtonDC squirm on the politics of trying to get through 2010 and 2012 elections on the merits or non-merits of what it does or does not to bring about genuine reform.
Obama WH got off way too easy with the slide it orchestrated on Single Payer being shut out. Barack Obama should have been caused some very real political pain for doing that. He should stop trying to use Washingtons Asian land wars as deflection for being a true and ardent reformer of American healthcare. When Congress had a big vote on this fake reform he flew to Dover. That kabuki dance was pure Obama WH misdirection.
Barack Obama take some responsiblity for your slacker positions on reform. You have not made any real current healthcare regime enemies so far which is a sure tell you are not in this fight in ways that matter.
Let democracy by vote do the job.
Insist on real progressive reform.
Otherwise do no reform and wait for current American healthcare regime to do crash and burn. It has been suggested it is good for about another 10 years at best as it is. Americans need real reform. Not this charade.
Allow for political carnage in WashingtonDC to take place.
Let the skunks perish.
Great. We are forced to spend 13% of our income on a worthless insurance policy that covers next to nothing. Is this why we elected Democrats?
I love the reactions of Democratic Senators when asked about Carper’s new proposal: some see it as confused, complicated, and unnecessary, while others react much the way one would when told a bad joke that they don’t quite get.
yup
I think it’s time that Jane points out to Rachel that Carper is such a clear thrall to WellPoint. I think a segment by Rachel on Carper might just get him to slow down, much as it caused Senator Wellpoint to 180 in less than 24 hours from his filibuster comments.
John
Tom is the Senator from WellPoint too from this account:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Tom-Carpers-old-chief-of-staff-now-a-WellPoint-lobbyist-70309467.html
“That may be why WellPoint, the nation’s largest health insurer, has retained Carper’s former chief of staff to lobby on health-care reform. Jonathon Jones became Carper’s chief of staff just a few weeks after Carper came to Washington in 2001, and served in that role until the end of 2006. With his boss reelected, and now serving in the majority party, Jones cashed out and went to work at the K Street firm Johnson, Madigan, Peck, Boland & Stewart.
In early 2009, Jones became a partner, and the firm changed its name to Peck, Madigan, Jones & Stewart.
Then, on September 25, insurer WellPoint hired Jones’ firm to lobby in the issue areas of health care, insurance, and Medicare/Medicaid, according to the lobbying registration filed last week, which lists the anticipated “specific lobbying issues” as “Healthcare reform legislation, specifically proposals affecting health insurance providers.”
Jones’ other health-sector clients include drugmakers Astra-Zeneca and Amgen, the trade groups Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America and the Biotechnology Industry Organization, as well as the American Insurance Association.
In his brief 22 months as a lobbyist, Jones has given $46,800 to Democrats, including White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Jones has also given to Majority Leader Harry Reid, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, health-care waffler Evan Bayh, as well as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
His clients in both insurance and drugs stand to profit handsomely from health-care reform’s mandates and subsidies, as long as there is no robust government option.”
Tom Carper actually had a presser sent out when Jones left for K Street in 2006. Carper told the world that since the DEMs took the majority, ‘it’s our turn now’. SLEEEEEEEEEEEZEEEEEEEEEY.
Here here!