For reference

[kierthos]

House Democrats who voted against the health care bill.

It also lists how much they won their last election by, what percentage of non-insured elderly there are in their districts, and some stats on how their district voted in the last presidential election.

Side note: One (and only one) Republican broke ranks in the House to vote for the health care bill. His name is Anh Cao (R-LA), and he's probably not your typical Republican.

Comments

[morinon.livejournal.com]

You do realize that, as the bill is currently worded... This bill simply makes you required by law to buy insurance from those evil evil insurance companies?

It doesn't even fix the problems.

[kierthos.livejournal.com]

I already have insurance through my job. And if you're below the poverty level (defined for 2007 here (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_poverty_level_in_america)), you're not required to purchase it, and there's a tax credit for low income families that helps them if they do purchase health insurance. And the Department of Health and Human Services is supposed to create three levels of coverage in public options (i.e. not through the evil insurance companies).

And it does fix some of the problems. It prohibits "pre-existing condition" exclusions and prohibits cancellation of policies except in instances of fraud. Which, by the way, the "evil insurance companies" use as justification to limit or deny paying for things all the time anyway. (The whole 'health care rationing' argument is a fallacy, as health care is already rationed by what your insurance company will pay for.)

[mierandra.livejournal.com]

All of that is well and good, but it could go a little further on what the insurance companies are allowed to do price-wise. I heard an NPR story on Maryland's state health care system. They have a board made up of people from insurance, health care, pharma and patient advocates that determines a price for every procedure with a standard medical procedure code and drug legal to prescribe and sets the price there. That way, insurance has to compete using the things they can control- premium prices and quality of service- and doctors have to do the same. It stops being about the cost and starts being about what you can do for the patient.

[kierthos.livejournal.com]

That would be nice.

Considering that the large part of the Republican party doesn't seem to actually want to help people, fat chance of it happening. (It would also help if the fucking Democrats had spines instead of strawberry jello.)

Frankly, the most irritating thing about the whole health care debate is when one of these Congress-critters says there's nothing wrong with the health care system. Of course, they have one of the paid tax-payer paid systems available to them for as long as they are in office, so why should they give a fuck about the little guy?

I'd love to see those bastards have to worry about whether their insurance would allow or deny procedures and how much of it they would have to cover out of pocket.

[mierandra.livejournal.com]

It's nice to see a new face so far as Republicans actually doing work. Not that any politician from Louisiana is "normal," but still.

[kierthos.livejournal.com]

Shit, give it time. Once the Glenn Beck/Sarah Palin crowd read that a Republican broke ranks (and even worse for those ultra-right wingers, he's not a white 'mercan), they'll do whatever they feel is necessary (i.e. lie, cheat, and fuck things up) so a "real Republican" gets elected to that seat.

[mierandra.livejournal.com]

They'll find that harder to do in Louisiana than anywhere else in the country. Remember, this is the state that still writes, visits and calls its former politicians while they're in federal prison. :)

[kierthos.livejournal.com]

This is true. But I won't be a bit surprised if Cao gets called all kinds of names by the right-wing talking heads.