Unborn are left unprotected in health care bill

Nelson agreed to a so-called “compromise” on abortion language giving the Democrats their much needed 60th vote to pass their government takeover of health care bill.


Americans for Prosperity wants voters to know what is in the bill. Below is a brief summary of what the Manager’s Amendment includes and egregious provisions that still remain:


Ø Still allows for the funding of abortion, and is far from the Stupak language that passed the House with the support of 64 Democrats.

o Specifically Nelson’s “compromise” would mandate that every state provide an insurance plan option that does not cover abortion while giving each state the right to pass a law barring insurance coverage for abortion within state borders. However, the provision still allows for state taxes to go toward abortions in other states, and there is no prohibition on abortion coverage in federally-subsidized exchanges.

Ø Still contains the new unsustainable long-term care entitlement program – the CLASS Act, which faced major opposition from Senate Democrats, including Senator Conrad, the Chairman of the Budget Committee.

Ø Still contains unfunded mandates to states through the expansion of Medicaid but this time with new special treatment for the states of Nebraska, Vermont, and Massachusetts (which appears to be an attempt to get the “yes” vote from Sens. Nelson and Sanders). These states will receive FMAP bonuses such that:

o Nebraska will receive 100% FMAP for newly eligibles indefinitely.

o Vermont will receive a 2.2% FMAP increase for 6 years for their entire program.

o Massachusetts will receive a 0.5% FMAP increase for three years for the entire program.

Ø Still cuts Medicare, including cuts to home health care services which were opposed by Democrats on the Senate floor. If those cuts were unacceptable to them then, they should reject them now.

Ø Still contains the Independent Medicare Advisory Board (IMAB) made up of non-elected government bureaucrats that are empowered to make arbitrary cuts to Medicare providers that will limit access to care for seniors.

Ø Still raises taxes on middle class families and breaks President Obama’s pledge not to tax Americans earning less than $250,000.

Ø Raises the Medicare payroll tax by 0.9% (an additional 0.4% increase from the underlying bill which raised it by 0.5%) on individuals making $200,000 and families making $250,000 (thus maintaining the marriage penalty).

Ø New carve outs for physician-owned Hospitals in Nebraska.

Ø Removes the temporary “Doc Fix”. The underlying bill provided for 0.5% increase in Medicare reimbursements to physicians for 2010. The Manager’s Amendment removes this doc fix without addressing the problem. The temporary payment freeze passed in the DOD bill to avoid the 21.2% cut effective January 1, 2010 will expire March 1, 2010 and thus the Senate must enact a separate SGR fix. Some members may be concerned that such an important health priority should have been included in a “health care” reform bill and that this change is simply a budget gimmick to eliminate the $11.3 billion cost of the patch.

Ø Contains a new form of a government-run plan. Although the government-run plan with a state-opt out has been removed, the Manager’s amendment still allows for the federal government through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), to run, oversee and “negotiate” with non-profit plans that must be available nationwide.



The Manager’s Amendment Language can be found at:

http://www.democrats.senate.gov/reform/managers-amendment.pdf



The CBO cost estimate can be found at:

http://cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=10868



The JCT cost estimate can be found at:

http://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=3641