My Congressmand Does Not, In Fact, Rock the Casbah

After almost a month of correspondence and petition signing, Congressman Stupak finally got around to having one of his aides respond to me. In fairness, this letter is fairly well tailored based on what I actually wrote, and yet, it is ridiculously condescending, and predictably skirting of anything that I said. Thanks for that.

It should also be noted, that my Congressman hates me. Yes. Me, specifically. He hates me as a Native Woman. There is no place for people like me in his world, because my health care needs won’t matter to him. Lest he forget, also, that there is a whole bunch of Michigan yet above the Mitten. “Northern Michigan” isn’t “above Traverse City”. There is a whole Peninsula left. It’s on the quarter and everything. HA!

So, Thanks for nothing, Mr. Stupak. Thanks for mansplaining that one. I’ll be sure to include this as the intro to your new Broadway show “Fuck You!: The Musical.

Letter after the jump.

Dear [OYD]:

 

Thank you for contacting me regarding health care reform. I appreciated hearing from you on this important issue.

 

After months of negotiations, Congress has moved a step closer than ever before to passing legislation that will provide access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) by a vote of 220 to 215 on November 7, 2009. I voted in support of this critical legislation.

 

I have long advocated for health care reform. In my role as Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, I have held numerous hearings over the past three years to highlight the need to reform our nation’s health insurance industry and health care system. My hearings exposed abusive insurance industry practices like purging small business from insurance coverage by raising rates so high businesses can no longer afford insurance. The Subcommittee heard from individuals who, due to no fault of their own, had their insurance canceled after they became seriously ill, a practice known as rescission. We heard from seniors who were tricked into purchasing Medicare Advantage plans that provided less coverage than they had through traditional Medicare. And we exposed nursing homes that put profits above patient care.

 

Almost 50 million people are living in the United States without health care coverage. Approximately 82 percent of these uninsured individuals have a full or part-time job. Unfortunately, it is becoming more difficult for employers to offer affordable health insurance to their employees. Coverage is becoming more expensive and less comprehensive, with high deductibles, high co-pays and coverage limits.

 

In my travels and town hall meetings around Northern Michigan, I have witnessed the struggles our families and employers face with our health care system. In Michigan, from 2000 to 2007, employer sponsored annual health insurance premiums rose from $6,817 to $12,151, an increase of 78.2 percent. Over the same period, the median earnings of Michigan’s workers increased from $25,910 to $27,096, an increase of only 4.6 percent. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan customers are seeing their health insurance premiums increase 22 to 40 percent this year even as inflation remains flat. Clearly these skyrocketing health care costs are unsustainable for families, businesses and our government.

 

Health care is not a privilege it is a basic right that should be afforded to all Americans. In reforming health care, Congress is building on the existing framework by making it easier for employers to provide health insurance through government-sponsored programs.

 

The health care bill went through the committee I sit on, Energy and Commerce. On July 31, 2009, I voted against the committee “mark” of the bill. Although the bill included positive reforms that would ensure health care coverage for 97 percent of Americans and would fully pay for health care reform without increasing the federal budget deficit, I still had concerns that were not addressed during committee consideration. These concerns included the bill; did not effectively control rising health care costs, did not do enough to encourage true competition in the health insurance market, and built on a system that rewards ineffectiveness instead of quality and value. I was also concerned that the bill opened the door for public funding to pay for abortion.

 

After the committee work, I continued working to improve the legislation. For the next five months, I worked as part of a small group of Members to change the way the federal government reimburses health care providers by focusing on quality health outcomes rather than the quantity of procedures performed. Because of our work, health care reimbursements will now transition from a traditional fee-for-service system that rewards health providers for the number of procedures they perform to a system based on quality health outcomes. This approach is widely seen as an effective way to lower health care costs and ensure that patients in all regions of the country are treated equally. The quality care proposal is included in H.R. 3962.

 

An agreement was also reached with the Speaker to include a provision to strip the health insurance industry of its anti-trust exemption. With anti-trust protection, the federal government is powerless to protect consumers from collusion, price fixing and other abusive practices engaged in by our nation’s health insurers. Health insurance is one of the few industries not subject to federal anti-trust laws and it is consumers who pay the price. For six years I have offered amendments to repeal the anti-trust exemption and I am pleased the Speaker included a repeal of the anti-trust exemption in H.R. 3962.

 

By working with my Pro-Life colleagues and with Speaker Pelosi, I was able to secure an up or down vote on my amendment with regards to federal funding of abortion. My amendment does one very simple thing: It applies current law (the Hyde Amendment), which bars federal funding for abortion except in the case of rape, incest or life of the mother, to the health care reform bill. The Hyde Amendment has been the law of the land on federal funding of abortion since 1977 and applies to all other federally-funded health care programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, the VA and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). My amendment is not new federal abortion policy but continues current law.

 

My amendment has no impact on those individuals with private insurance who do not receive affordability credits and in no way prohibits any individual from purchasing a supplemental abortion coverage policy. Health insurance companies can still offer policies that cover abortion; insurance companies just can’t sell those policies to individuals using affordability credits to pay for the policy. My amendment was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 240 to 194 on November 7, 2009 and was included in H.R. 3962. Without the votes of 41 Democratic Pro-Life supporters of my amendment, health care reform never would have passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

 

In addition to these changes, the bill already included many important provisions that benefit Northern Michigan. The health care legislation would result in key improvements to Medicare for seniors including improved prescription drug coverage beginning with an additional $500 in benefits next year and fully closing the “donut hole” in 2016. Seniors on Medicare will also, for the first time ever, have preventative care, such as check-ups, routine exams and screenings such as mammograms, prostate exams and diabetes tests, covered at 100 percent cost.

 

The Veterans Administration (VA) would be exempt from any changes under the legislation, ensuring that care is unchanged for veterans.

 

Most importantly, the health care legislation is paid for and will not add to deficit spending or the national debt. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) agrees that the bill does not add to the federal budget deficit.

 

The bill includes three separate provisions to prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving taxpayer assistance for health care coverage. Section 347 of the bill prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving federal subsidies to purchase health insurance. Section 1786 of the bill, also known as the Space Amendment that I supported during Committee consideration, prohibits Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage for illegal immigrants. The manager’s amendment to H.R. 3962 included additional strong requirements for verification of citizenship or proof of being lawfully in the country before receiving any benefits.

 

H.R. 3962 is supported by numerous organizations including AARP, the American Medical Association (AMA), the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, American Cancer Society, American Nurses Association, Communications Workers of America (CWA), UAW and the United Steel Workers.

 

The health care debate now moves to the U.S. Senate. The Senate proposal contains insurance regulatory reforms similar to those in H.R. 3962, such as preventing health insurance companies from discriminating against individuals on the basis of pre-existing conditions and eliminating lifetime caps on coverage.

 

One key difference between the House and Senate bills is that the Senate bill includes a state “opt-out” provision for the public option. Once the House and Senate pass their respective bills, negotiations will begin to craft one final health care bill in a conference committee.

 

Every day I hear the stories of my constituents – the insured, the uninsured and the underinsured – about how the current health care system has left them helpless, bankrupt and disillusioned. By passing H.R. 3962, Congress has moved the first step toward ensuring that the cost of health care in America never results in our citizens having to file bankruptcy because of illness, disease or injury.

 

A great deal of confusion exists regarding the House health care reform proposal. To help clear up some of the myths surrounding the legislation, I have prepared answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about the bill. I have enclosed a copy with this letter and the document can be viewed on my web site at www.house.gov/stupak.

 

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to contact me again if my staff or I can be of any assistance.

 

Sincerely,

 

BART STUPAK

Member of Congress

You betcha, buddy. We’ll be in touch.