Code Blue
by digby
The patient is in cardiac arrest:
A Senate source just passed me the latest outline of the Senate Finance Committee’s health reform proposal. This is the post-CBO revision. Apparently, after the committee staff received the scores, they dug deep and quickly developed this proposal to circulate among members and then send back to CBO. It was presented to earlier today at a closed-door meeting. Sources say that it’s a major scale-back of the outline they had before. Specifically, subsidies have dropped from 400 percent of the poverty line to 300 percent. Medicaid eligibility has been tightened to 133 percent of poverty for children and pregnant women and 100 percent of poverty for parents and childless adults. The plans being offered in the exchange have seen their actuarial values sharply lowered. Beyond the changes, this is also the clearest look we’ve had at the specific policies being considered. There’s a fairly strong individual mandate, albeit with exemptions for those beneath the poverty line, those who would have to spend more than 15 percent of income for a plan, and undocumented workers. There are a variety of options for an employer mandate, or the absence of one. Sen. Kent Conrad’s co-op idea is up for discussion. There’s no public plan mentioned anywhere in the document.
It’s a good day to be an insurance company CEO. An mandate from the government forcing people to buy your product and no serious competition from anybody but your monopolistic buddies in the industry, all of whom look after each other very, very well.
Start looking at new yachts and vacation homes in Gstaad, CEOs. The party’s back on!
* United Health Group
CEO: William W McGuire
2005: 124.8 mil
5-year: 342 mil
* Forest Labs
CEO: Howard Solomon
2005: 92.1 mil
5-year: 295 mil
* Caremark Rx
CEO: Edwin M Crawford
2005: 77.9 mil
5-year: 93.6 mil
* Abbott Lab
CEO: Miles White
2005: 26.2 mil
5-year: 25.8 mil
* Aetna
CEO: John Rowe
2005: 22.1 mil
5-year:57.8 mil
* Amgen
CEO: Kevin Sharer
2005:5.7 mil
5-year:59.5 mil
* Bectin-Dickinson
CEO: Edwin Ludwig
2005: 10 mil
5-year:18 mil
* Boston Scientific
CEO:
2005:38.1 mil
5-year:45 mil
* Cardinal Health
CEO: James Tobin
2005:1.1 mil
5-year:33.5 mil
* Cigna
CEO: H. Edward Hanway
2005:13.3 mil
5-year:62.8 mil
* Genzyme
CEO: Henri Termeer
2005: 19 mil
5-year:60.7 mil
* Humana
CEO: Michael McAllister
2005:2.3 mil
5-year:12.9 mil
* Johnson & Johnson
CEO: William Weldon
2005:6.1 mil
5-year:19.7 mil
* Laboratory Corp America
CEO: Thomas MacMahon
2005:7.9 mil
5-year:41.8 mil
* Eli Lilly
CEO: Sidney Taurel
2005:7.2 mil
5-year:37.9 mil
* McKesson
CEO: John Hammergen
2005: 13.4 mil
5-year:31.2 mil
* Medtronic
CEO: Arthur Collins
2005: 4.7 mil
5-year:39 mil
* Merck Raymond Gilmartin
CEO:
2005: 37.8 mil
5-year:49.6 mil
* PacifiCare Health
CEO: Howard Phanstiel
2005: 3.4 mil
5-year: 8.5 mil
* Pfizer
CEO: Henry McKinnell
2005: 14 mil
5-year: 74 mil
* Well Choice
CEO: Michael Stocker
2005: 3.2 mil
5-year: 10.7 mil
* WellPoint
CEO: Larry Glasscock
2005: 23 mil
5-year: 46.8 mil
* Wyeth
CEO: Robert Essner
2005:6.5 mil
5-year: 28.9 mil
TOTAL 2005: 559.8 mil
TOTAL 5-Year: 14.9 billion
You can donate to Blue America’s Campaign For Health Care Choice, here. It’s getting harder every day, but it’s not over. Blanche Lincoln is on the health sub-committee of the Senate Finance Committee and she’s running for re-election in 2010. Let’s see if her constituents think she should be handing out government goodies to these health industry fat cats and getting nothing in return while they struggle with health care premiums and growing unemployment.
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