08/12/09

On August 11, four Watauga County Democratic Party Officers/activists drove two hours to Charlotte to meet with Senator Kay Hagan’s Legislative Assistant for Health Care, Michelle Adams.

We were very impressed with Michelle. She was clearly up to speed on both the content and status of the bills in the House as well as the Senate HELP bill. She toted large notebooks and her own worksheets.

We were only scheduled for a half-hour meeting, but once Michelle realized we were very familiar with the HELP bill and wanted to talk real details, she extended the meeting for another half hour and took extensive notes.

Of course, we talked about the necessity of a public plan, concerns we had with some of the small business language in the HELP bill, and the need for Senator Hagan to stand up on this issue. The conversation was friendly enough most of the time, but we were extremely firm with where our bottom line was and the ways in which we planned to hold our legislators accountable. We said we knew exactly how much money Senator Hagan was taking in from the insurance companies and Big Pharma, and that we intended to publicize this information if Hagan folded on the public option. We said there could be no mandates without a public option, and we discussed the “firewall” built between employer insurance plans and the public option. Michelle said, “But we have to have the firewall because if we don’t then many people will abandon employer-based insurance and jump to the public plan.” Our response was, “And now why do you suppose that would happen?” Michelle started to answer and then laughed since the answer was, of course, that people would run for the public plan because it would offer as good a product or better, and at a cheaper price, than would private insurance.

We reminded Michelle that the Democratic Party was the Party of the People, and if Hagan voted for the insurance companies over the interests of the people, we would work to defeat the bill and hold her accountable.

We insisted there could not be mandates without a public option, as that would be a giveaway to the insurance companies; we handed over a pledge we have asked Senator Hagan to sign that says she will forgo her federal insurance if a bill passes that is not as good or better than the one we’re supplying for her; we told her that Sen. Baucus was setting her up.

We asked Michelle which of the two Senator Hagan was more interested in: a bi-partisan bill? Or a bill that would be effective in holding down costs and offering choices.

Michelle talked up the importance of bi-partisanship and mentioned co-ops as a compromise. We shot both down hard. We told her that Hagan’s vote would show in the end whether she was working for the people or for the insurance companies.

Our best guess, based on our meeting in Charlotte: we believe Kay Hagan will vote for whatever bill is eventually put forward by the Democrats in the Senate. We do not believe she will push for a public option, nor will she push against one. In other words, we do not believe she will be a leader on this issue. Those are our impressions.

There was much more to the meeting. Here is the followup e-mail we’ve sent to Michelle:

Dear Michelle,

Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us yesterday.  We were impressed with your knowledge about the HELP Senate health reform plan and your taking the time to answer our questions and consider our suggestions.

As a recap, we want to offer what we consider to be the most important parts of our discussion with you yesterday:

(1) The Watauga County Democratic Party believes there are serious problems with the small business provisions in the HELP bill. Specifically, we believe too many micro businesses will be shut out of opportunities for offering health care to their employees as the language exists in the bill at this time. We hope you will consider increasing the ceiling amounts in the bill for small businesses and, more importantly, that net income, as opposed to gross income, be the driver for this part of the bill.

(2) The Watauga County Democratic Party strongly opposes the implementation of mandates without a strong public option.  Individuals and small businesses cannot be expected to pay for insurance they simply cannot afford.  Without a public option in the Exchange, there is nothing to bend the cost curve downwards and force competition among and with private insurance companies.  While polling shows that Americans have questions about the proposed reform plans currently on the table, polling is consistent that a large majority of Americans want a public option to compete with private insurance companies. The only argument against a public option is that insurance companies should not have to compete to offer a better product at a better price. This is not an acceptable argument.  The Watauga County Democratic Party intends to work against any bill that mandates insurance buys but does not offer a strong public option.

(3) The Watauga County Democratic Party strongly opposes co-ops (as opposed to a robust public option).  As we discussed yesterday, there is no evidence anywhere that a co-op will work.  Co-ops are not strong enough to compete with large insurance companies; this is why the insurance companies are encouraging co-ops as opposed to a public option. Co-ops are a cop out.

(4) The Watauga County Democratic Party is one of the strongest county parties in the state.  We work hard to represent the interests of the hard-working people of our county and the region.  Our record shows we work hard on behalf of candidates and office holders who represent strong Democratic values, and we work just as hard (or harder) against candidates and office holders who do not represent those values.

(5) The Watauga County Democratic Party left with you a “pledge” for Senator Hagan to sign. This pledge commits that the Senator will forgo the Federal insurance she has in the event a health reform bill passes that does not offer the same or better options and prices for her constituents.

(6) The Watauga County Democratic Party plans to inform its membership as well as county and regional citizens through radio and other means of Congressional activity on this bill.  The Party has collected information regarding the sums of money that individual legislators of both parties are taking from insurance and pharmaceutical interests and intends to publicize this information should a legislator move towards representing those special interests as opposed to the interests of the American people.  The Watauga County Democratic Party also intends to inform citizens whether or not a legislator is willing to sign the pledge mentioned in #5 above.

(7) The Watauga County Democratic Party believes that passing an effective health reform bill that will prove its worth in cutting costs and increasing options for the American people is far more important than passing a bi-partisan bill.  As we discussed in our meeting, Medicare and Social Security were both passed without Republican support. The Republicans will work to weaken the Democrats’ bills, and then they will vote against them.