Democratic Senators Backpedal On Universal Health Care (UPDATED)»

Our guest blogger is Adam Jentleson, the Communications and Outreach Director for the Hyde Park Project at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

The Hill had an article today in which Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) appear to go soft on universal health care. Rockefeller said, “We all know there is not enough money to do all this stuff,” while Schumer seconded: “Healthcare I feel strongly about, but I am not sure that we’re ready for a major national healthcare plan.”

Come on guys – let’s not give up so easily! The arguments are wrong on both facts and principle.

First of all, on cost: what we can’t afford is the health care system we have now. Universal health care is a necessary step for bringing skyrocketing costs under control. As Robert Rubin and Jason Furman write, “It is impossible to address fully the problems of affordability and effectiveness without covering everyone.”

Second, when it comes to costs, the elephant in the room is the Iraq war. The entire cost of enacting universal care - that is, of extending coverage to the 47 million Americans who don’t have it and lowering costs for everyone – amounts to one half of the cost of a single year of the Iraq war. We have the money – the question is, how do we choose to spend it?

Finally, to wax philosophical for a moment, it’s disheartening to see our leaders responding to a big challenge like achieving universal health care by lowering the bar well before the national conversation has started in earnest. No one doubts that enacting universal care will be a big challenge. But in the face of big challenges, we should expect bold leadership from our elected leaders – not hedging.

UPDATE: Ezra Klein reports that Rockefeller is actually saying the opposite of what was presented in The Hill. According to a Rockefeller spokesperson, the Senator believes that universal health care is so important that it must be taken “off budget” so we aren’t “tying our hands with budget rules.” Ezra explains, “Rockefeller isn’t saying we can’t pay, so we shouldn’t try. He’s saying, essentially, money shouldn’t be the object here.”

UPDATE II: A spokesman for Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) issued this statement:

Baucus’s perspective is that this year in Congress, though you can’t get much done legislatively, you can lay the groundwork to start a major discussion on reform in 2009. He’ll hold hearings, have a major summit [on comprehensive reform] in June, and host a great deal of discussion so members of Finance and Congress more generally can dig into both the problems and the possible solutions, leaving Finance ready to fully partner with any president. He wants Finance ready to fully engage on this.

UPDATE III: Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office has responded to our post:

Senator Schumer is highly supportive of providing health care coverage for as many of America’s 46 million uninsured as possible.

He has a long history of fighting for high-quality, affordable health care, particularly for affordable prescription drugs. Senator Schumer believes this is a top priority for the new administration, but understands the political challenges caused by Republican obstructionism in today’s Congress.

Goodman Misfires In Response To Elizabeth Edwards»

Elizabeth Edwards has gotten a lot of attention lately for her statement that neither she nor Sen. John McCain would be able to get coverage under McCain’s health plan because they have both had cancer. Recently, a conservative blogger tried to counter Edwards, but he just misses the point. The comments of John Goodman, President of the National Center for Policy Analysis, are either uninformed or just intentionally misleading:

GOODMAN: “Elizabeth Edwards apparently thinks insurance companies should have to insure cancer victims even if they were willfully uninsured and paid no premiums during all the years when they were healthy.”

Wrong. Edwards has said time and again that everyone should be expected to take responsibility for themselves and enroll in affordable health insurance. Goodman wants to ask Edwards a series of questions about the kind of health system she wants, but it’s easy. It’s called universal coverage.

GOODMAN: “In the Elizabeth Edwards’ world, by contrast, health plans would try to avoid the sick and if they failed at that, their incentives would be to under provide care.”

Wrong. That’s the world we live in today; the world that Edwards wants to change. The reality is that pre-existing conditions make it hard, if not impossible, for people to get health insurance in the individual market that McCain is promoting. The Democratic reform proposals call for guaranteed issue, so everyone can get insurance, regardless of their health status. And even though McCain has turned his back on patients by supporting a marketplace free of insurance company oversight, Democrats still support a Patient’s Bill of Rights to make sure managed care plans put people before profits.

GOODMAN: “Any Senator or Senator’s spouse who has been participating in the federal employee’s health program cannot be denied coverage by any subsequent employer plan or in the individual market. This guarantee also applies to every other American who is currently in an employer plan under federal law.”

That’s overstated. The Federal government has a 52-page guide explaining insurance coverage protections, and it is clear how individuals’ legal protections are limited. For many Americans, their ability to retain coverage as they change jobs or move from group to individual coverage are determined by the type of coverage they have and the benefits it covers. And for those who can’t afford coverage as they leave a qualified employer plan, those protections disappear completely after 63 days.

Edwards makes an excellent point. John McCain is promoting an individual market with few protections. By pushing more people into that market, McCain puts everyone at risk. Sure, US Senators and their spouses, as Goodman points out, have strong protection. But we need a system that works for everyone.