The Opinion Blog

Tethered to the Cost Curve

Thursday’s editorial contemplates the fact that, in a disheartening illustration of how Washington works, the “massive overhaul” of health care just isn’t going to have much effect on most Americans.

Democrats have made much hay this week over a report released Monday that says their health-reform legislation won't do much to increase health insurance premiums for the vast majority of Americans, contrary to the frightening claims made all year by Republicans.

But the report is not actually such great news. Why? Because the Democrats are right; the premiums won't change much for most workers: They're going to keep going up.

Food Card Use Soars

Wednesday’s editorial highlights the fact that more S.C. families than ever need help buying food.

The number of Horry County residents using federal food cards (still popularly known as food stamps) increased by 28.7 percent in August from August 2008.

Not Across the Board

Wednesday’s editorial argues that Congress should send an extra Social Security check to the people who depend on it the most, but not to all recipients.

It's now official although by no means unexpected: There will be no automatic cost of living increase for Grand Strand seniors receiving Social Security and other federal retirement payments. To ease the impact a bit, President Obama and congressional Democratic leaders propose $250 payments to 57 million Americans. This would be a second $250 payment, the first coming earlier this year as part of the economic stimulus package.

The health bill the President will sign?

I don't normally do this, but I'm going to post the entirety of an item from Congressional Quarterly. So if you read what's below, give a courtesy click to http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=cqmidday-000003201570 so that neither you nor The Opinion Blog is stealing.

Senate Finance Committee negotiators neared completion Monday of a health care bill that would cost an estimated $880 billion over 10 years and include language aimed at reducing medical liability lawsuits.

The cost of the bill, newly estimated by the Congressional Budget Office, would be fully offset by spending cuts or new revenues, said Kent Conrad, D-N.D. “In fact, we’re a little bit to the good.”

The six negotiators — three Democrats and three Republicans — were expected to meet again later in the day, Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said, and remain on track to produce a draft bill by the end of the week. Baucus also planned an evening meeting with other Finance Committee Democrats to bring them up to date on the talks.

The six negotiators plan to talk Tuesday with state governors to discuss how much of the cost of a Medicaid expansion the states would be required to pay.

Baucus said the bill’s programs “are not going to cost states as much as originally feared.” The lower costs, which Baucus has not detailed, result from changes to the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid drug rebates.

Conrad said the draft bill would enable states to run demonstration projects with federal support to reduce medical liability lawsuits. One proposal is to require lawsuits to have a “certificate of merit” from experts before they can proceed.

The significance of this is that it's the first health-reform bill to emerge with significant political traction that the nonpartisan CBO has judged won't add to the deficit (other than the sadly neglected Wyden-Bennett bill, of course), thus fulfilling a major pledge Obama made in his speech. Before you jump down the CBO's throat, remember that this is the same agency that scored the Senate Health and House bills as costing well over $1 trillion, dealing them major blows.

What is the Senate Finance bill? It's basically what Obama outlined in his speech, minus the public option. It's got all the reforms to the insurance industry that end exclusions for people with pre-existing conditions and so forth. It has a mandate that all Americans buy insurance. It creates co-operatives so people without employer-sponsored insurance can band together and bargain for lower premiums from insurers. It gives subsidies to poor Americans so they can buy private insurance. I believe it'll have a handful of Republican ideas, such as the cost-controlling Medicare advisory committees and malpractice reform experiments. And in recent days, they've stripped out benefits for end-of-life counseling (ie "death panels") and hardened citizenship requirements for subsidies (thank Joe Wilson). (More complete summary here: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/09/baucuss_framework_summary.html)

And, with the blessing now of the CBO, it's likely to pass, and the President will likely sign it. The CBO's report doesn't seem to have been made public yet; I assume it'll be released after the official unveiling of the Senate Finance bill on Wednesday.

Your thoughts?

Time ripe for health reform

Saturday's editorial considers some of the health-care reforms gaining the most traction in Congress.

In contrast to the adversarial atmosphere that dominated the health care debate of the 1990s, a new consensus is emerging that systematic reform is necessary, because rising costs now appear to threaten the country's long-term financial stability. Doing nothing, it seems, is no longer affordable.

Start Talks on Social Security

Today's editorial considers the urgency of reforming Social Security and presents one possible option for moving forward.

Although flashier issues - the war in Iraq, illegal immigration and blame for the choking economy - tended to dominate the campaign trail in 2008, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham made his own unsuccessful attempts to fix a drying-up Social Security system one of his key stump issues. When he was a 22-year-old college student, both of his parents died, leaving him to raise a 13-year-old sister on Social Security survivor's benefits.

"I know what it's like to need it," Graham said during a televised debate in October, echoing comments he had made earlier to a crowd of supporters at Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort.

On Tuesday, as if the economic news about the present day were not gloomy enough, the U.S. Treasury told us what the future holds: In seven years, Social Security will begin paying out more money than it takes in, and by 2037, that deficit will devour what is now a $2.4 trillion trust fund for Social Security. Exacerbated by the recession, these grim dates are several years sooner than previously expected.

When the Mayo's in trouble, health care IS broken

Ripped from the wires ... In case you doubt that the U.S. health-care-delivery system needs reform, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune sets you straight:

Few commented on one chilling irony of the U.S. government's bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler. Not only are the carmakers grappling with shortsighted leadership and dated products, they've also shouldered massive costs for retiree health benefits.

The United States has the same health care problem _ only bigger. Costs for the sprawling Medicare program for seniors are already unsustainable, with the biggest demographic group of all about to enroll. The first wave of baby boomers becomes eligible for Medicare in 2011.

'Dynastic succession' for Caroline Kennedy?

Ripped from the wires ... Charles Krauthammer debunks the notion that Carolina Kennedy deserves the inside track to Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat"

"I don't know what Caroline Kennedy's qualifications are. Except that she has name recognition, but so does J-Lo.''
-- Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y.

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER

Right idea, wrong argument. The problem with Caroline Kennedy's presumption to Hillary Clinton's soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat is not lack of qualification or experience. The Senate houses lots of inexperienced rookies -- wealthy businessmen, sports stars, even the occasional actor.