Where are the myths coming from? Follow the $$$.

There is so much misinformation about health care reform being circulated by those who are more focused on their profits (or satisfying big campaign contributors) than on what's best for the rest of us that I hardly know where to start the debunking.

A general piece of advice for Involved Voters: If you hear something about health care reform that sounds outrageous - it's likely to be a half-truth or even a complete lie. This is especially true when it comes to those who are against giving us the option to have health insurance that's administered by the federal government - just like Medicare and the health plan that Congress has.

I can think of many circumstances in which people would welcome an option for health insurance that wasn't driven by a profit motive. For example, someone who is starting their own business but either can't get coverage from private health insurance companies because of a pre-existing condition - even a minor one that can be controlled by diet and exercise - or can't afford the premiums.

The question I have not been able to find a satisfactory answer for is: How exactly does having private health insurance driven by a profit motive benefit the person who is covered by that insurance? Some of us have public health insurance options now - Medicare and the plan available to members of Congress. These are well-administered, have low overhead costs and give people their choice of doctors and hospitals. Why shouldn't more people have a similar public health insurance plan available to them?

As a person who owns a small business, this particular bit of myth-busting caught my attention, so I'm passing it along:

Health Insurance Reform - DAILY MYTHBUSTER: Impact on Small Business

07/28/2009

Myth: The House bill pays for health care reform with a “small business tax” that will kill jobs.

Fact: Small businesses benefit enormously from America’s Affordable Health Choices Act.

• Reform dramatically reduces small business health costs. The Small Business Majority recently released a report that showed that without reform, small businesses will pay nearly $2.4 trillion in health care costs over the next 10 years. If health insurance reform is enacted, the report found that small businesses could save as much as $855 billion over 10 years, nearly 36 percent. This money can be reinvested in the business and jobs.

• Reform eliminates price and benefit discrimination against small businesses. A Commonwealth Fund study found the smallest firms pay an average of 18 percent more in health insurance premiums for the same benefits than larger firms. By creating a pool and offering assistance, the House health insurance reform bill will lower small business costs and increase options. Alternatively, those who would rather contribute than offer will have a discrete, predictable contribution and the knowledge that their employees will have decent affordable health care.

• Reform can save and increase jobs. Phillip Cryan, an economist from the University of California-Berkley, estimates that the 8 percent employer responsibility requirement in H.R. 3200 would result in a net gain of 55,365 jobs, a rise in productivity, and a slowing in the rate of health inflation.

• Most small firms are exempt; others are subject to lower rates. 76 percent of all businesses are exempt altogether from the employer responsibility requirements. An additional 7 percent of these firms would pay a graduated rate of 2 to 6 percent if they do not offer coverage. More than 72 percent of firms with payrolls of $250,000 to $500,000 and less than 250 employees already offer worker health coverage today – and will have better options under HR 3200.

• Small business owners and their workers account for the largest share of the uninsured. An estimated 27 million of the 47 million Americans without health insurance are small business owners and their workers, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. H.R. 3200 provides market reforms and assistance to ensure coverage for small business owners and their employees.

That is why employers of all sizes are supporting the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act. The Main Street Alliance, a small business group, supports the bill because it “will help make America's small business more competitive by giving them greater control over one of the most costly and unpredictable aspects of doing business: the spiraling costs of providing quality health coverage.” [7/15/09]

Health Insurance Industry - Putting Quarterly Profits before Patients' Health

If you care about health care, you owe it to yourself to check out what a recently retired health care executive, turned whistle blower, says about the industry and why it opposes our having the choice of a public health insurance option. Here's a place to start - a post on the Washington Monthly blog with some video clips an interview conducted by Bill Moyers.

Long story short: For-profit health care is focused on making quarterly profits that satisfy their investors. The more money spent on patient care, the less available for profit. In the trade, this is known as the Medical Loss Ratio - and it has decreased from 95% during the early 1990's to ~80% today. That means LESS of the money taken in by for-profit health insurance companies is being used to pay for health care for those they insure.

In contrast, the overhead cost of government-administered health plans is about 3%. No wonder for-profit health care with its 20% overhead (administration and profits) doesn't want to be in competition with a public option!

Please make sure our 7th District Representative and Michigan Senators listen you instead of the health care lobbyists. Call or write them while there's still time and tell them you want to be able to choose from among insurance options that include a public one.

Rep. Mark Schauer at 202-225-6276

Senior Senator Carl Levin at 202-224-6221

Junior Senator Debbie Stabenow at 202-224-4822

National Day of Health Care Service - June 27

The fight for health care reform isn't something that will just happen in Washington, D.C. We know that for so many people in our communities, America's broken health care system is a daily crisis -- and there are ways that we can help right now. Join the National Health Care Day of Service on Saturday, June 27th. Sign up to serve here.

If there is no service event near you on Saturday, you can still help by talking with family, friends and neighbors about the importance of our having the choice of a public health care option in any reform bill that comes out of Congress. For an informed opinion about why the critics of a public option for health care are wrong, please read this article by Robert Reich, a former US Secretary of Labor.

We Care About Health Care

Yesterday morning I spent two and half hours talking about health care reform with vendors and visitors at the Chelsea Farmers' Market. I must have approached 40 or 50 people, most of them local residents, to find out what their concerns are. The theme that ran through all my conversations was "our health care system is broken and needs to be fixed - now!"

Thirty people signed a petition to our US Congressional Representative, Mark Schauer, and Michigan's US Senators, Levin and Stabenow, urging them to make sure legislation for quality, affordable health care passes this year and that it includes a public health care option. About a dozen more asked for printed information so they could look it over and decide what action to take. I was happy to oblige.

The public health care option (think of something like Medicare, or the plan that covers US Senators and Representatives) will reduce costs, be reliable and would test the idea of a single-payer system. It is being opposed by health insurance lobbyists. Only the concerted action of lots of Involved Voters can counter their considerable influence.

For information: www.healthreform.gov and www.healthcareforamericanow.org

Health Care Reform - Get Informed

Today Organizing for America is holding kickoff activities around the country to help Involved Voters get up to speed about what's needed to get health care reform passed this year and why.

For a good summary of the economics of health care, I recommend reading this article: "Health Care Reform is an Economic Necessity".

Local elections are elections, too.

Did you participate in your local school board election on May 5? According to the Washtenaw County Registrar's Office, Elections Section, less than 5% of registered voters did.

Involved Voters have a lot of work to do to keep informed about these local elections. It's often the case that decisions made at the local level have the most direct impact on us and our families.

The demise of the print version of local daily newspapers is going to make keeping up with local government even more difficult. We've got to come up with creative, effective ways to gather information about what's happening in our communities and share it with others.

In the 2008 General Election, we proved we could get out the vote. We need to apply what we learned then to our local elections.

Four Principles for the Federal Budget

In case you missed President Obama's weekly address on March 21, here is a transcript of the part that lays out the four principles he expects the Federal budget to meet. (I've added the bold type to highlight a few key points.) The President needs your support to make sure the budget measures up to these standards. As an Involved Voter, you can pledge your support at Organizing for America.

...I expect a budget that meets four basic principles:

First, it must reduce our dependence on dangerous foreign oil and finally put this nation on a path to a clean, renewable energy future. There is no longer a doubt that the jobs and industries of tomorrow will involve harnessing renewable sources of energy. The only question is whether America will lead that future. I believe we can and we will, and that's why we've proposed a budget that makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy, while investing in technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and fuel-efficient cars and trucks that can be built right here in America.

Second, this budget must renew our nation's commitment to a complete and competitive education for every American child. In this global economy, we know the countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow, and we know that our students are already falling behind their counterparts in places like China. That is why we have proposed investments in childhood education programs that work; in high standards and accountability for our schools; in rewards for teachers who succeed; and in affordable college education for anyone who wants to go. It is time to demand excellence from our schools so that we can finally prepare our workforce for a 21st century economy.

Third, we need a budget that makes a serious investment in health care reform - reform that will bring down costs, ensure quality, and guarantee people their choice of doctors and hospitals. Right now, there are millions of Americans who are just one illness or medical emergency away from bankruptcy. There are businesses that have been forced to close their doors or ship jobs overseas because they can't afford insurance. Medicare costs are consuming our federal budget. Medicaid is overwhelming our state budgets. So to those who say we have to choose between health care reform and fiscal discipline, I say that making investments now that will dramatically lower health care costs for everyone won't add to our budget deficit in the long-term - it is one of the best ways to reduce it.

Finally, this budget must reduce that deficit even further. With the fiscal mess we've inherited and the cost of this financial crisis, I've proposed a budget that cuts our deficit in half by the end of my first term. That's why we are scouring every corner of the budget and have proposed $2 trillion in deficit reductions over the next decade. In total, our budget would bring discretionary spending for domestic programs as a share of the economy to its lowest level in nearly half a century. And we will continue making these tough choices in the months and years ahead so that as our economy recovers, we do what we must to bring this deficit down.

I will be discussing each of these principles next week, as Congress takes up the important work of debating this budget. I realize there are those who say these plans are too ambitious to enact. To that I say that the challenges we face are too large to ignore. I didn't come here to pass on our problems to the next President or the next generation - I came here to solve them.

The American people sent us here to get things done, and at this moment of great challenge, they are watching and waiting for us to lead. Let's show them that we are equal to the task before us, and let's pass a budget that puts this nation on the road to lasting prosperity.