Progressive Breakfast: CBO Sez Public Plan Option Cuts Cost

CBO: Public Plan Option and Employer Mandate Cuts Cost Of Reform

AP reports complete Kennedy-Dodd bill receives lower cost estimate from CBO: [1] "The two senators said the Congressional Budget Office put the cost of the proposal at $611.4 billion over 10 years, down from $1 trillion two weeks ago. The revising also "virtually eliminates" an earlier forecast that the proposal would cause many companies to drop coverage for their workers ... The letter indicated that the cost and coverage improvements resulted from two changes: the government-run health insurance option, which has drawn intense opposition from Republicans, and ... a $750 annual fee on employers for each full-time worker not offered coverage through their job. The fee would be set at $375 for part-time workers. Companies with fewer than 25 employees would be exempt. "

Change.org's Tim Foley assesses the political and policy ramifications: [2] "First of all, this kills the sticker shock stories, at least for a few days. Second, it restores the notion that you can have health care reform without some version of pay or play or the public plan, but it’s cheaper to include them, no matter how politically problematic. Third, it shows the Senate Finance Committee’s reaction to the initial incomplete estimate was, to be blunt, wrong. They immediately began to cut subsidies and then cut them some more. But if I’m reading this correctly, the HELP bill hasn’t cut any subsidies – they’re still funded on a sliding scale at up to 400% of the Federal Poverty Line. The cost of the bill is down anyway. This is also good news for the House draft bill’s ultimate score, since the two bills have much in common."

Jonathan Cohn notes that cost estimate does not include costs and savings from Medicare & Medicaid reforms: [3] "...if you want the true cost of reform, you have to account for that Medicaid expansion, too. If my back-of-the-envelope calculations are correct, that puts real price tag somewhere between $1 and $1.3 trillion. Again, that's a rough guess, based on just a few conversations, although it is is more or less what the experts have predicted all along. (On the plus side, also outside HELP's jurisdiction--and thus not part of the CBO estimate--are Medicare/Medicaid savings. Those would offset some of the price tag, even before factoring in new revenue.)"

Like this one. The Hill: [4] "The Obama administration proposed a regulation Wednesday that would shave as much as $87.5 billion from the cost of one expensive component of healthcare reform ... altering the [Medicare] payment formula to exclude the cost of prescription drugs administered by doctors in their offices, such as those that must be injected."

Schumer to push public plan option in Senate Finance Cmte. Politico: [5] "Insiders say there’s a real possibility that the more conservative Finance Committee will end up proposing a co-op plan. But with the House staking out a public plan option further to the left than Schumer’s and the co-op leaning further right, Schumer is working to ensure his option becomes the middle ground."

Lieberman organizing to thwart public plan option. New Haven Independent: [6] "U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman has a bipartisan group of senators ready to help pass health care reform — minus a government-run insurance plan."

Sanders organizing a "Coalition of the Unwilling" to ensure inclusion of public plan. Walker Report: [7] "...thanks to the reconciliation measure adopted as part of this years budget, Sanders' 'Coalition of the Unwilling' doesn't need to [filibuster]. If there is no bill by October 15th health care reform must go through reconciliation ... All they need to do is slow down the whole process."

Activists and bloggers organize breast cancer survivors for public plan. HuffPost: [8] "On Wednesday, a coalition of progressive groups, including Democracy for America, MoveOn, and Change Congress, released a 60-second television ad in Louisiana ramping up the pressure on Sen. Mary Landrieu to support a government vehicle for insurance. In addition to shining a spotlight on the $1.6 million Landrieu has received from health and insurance companies in the form of campaign contributions, the spot also elevates the story of Karen Gadbois, a breast cancer survivor who had won the title of 2008 New Orleanian of the Year by exposing corruption after Hurricane Katrina ... [FireDogLake's Jane] Hamsher adds that -- in coordination with the progressive group BlueNC and fellow blog, Pam's House Blend -- she will be reaching out to 'my fellow breast cancer survivors in North Carolina' to put the pressure on Sen. Kay Hagan."

Health Care for America Now's Alex Thurston puts CNN poll numbers in context: [9] "...levels of support change based on whether the pollster explains the policy they are asking about or simply associates it with a political figure ... Americans tend to balk at the idea that one powerful individual could reorganize the health system in our country. "

Time's Karen Tumulty says Obama's town hall remarks indicate willingness to accept limits on health benefits tax deduction: [10] "On Tuesday, Obama himself sounded almost resigned that taxing health benefits is now front and center in the health care debate ... The President, says he still wouldn't go as far as McCain proposed and completely eliminate the exclusion that now exists on taxation of employer-provided health benefits ... But Obama is now indicating a new willingness to go at least part of the way there."

AP reports private insurance coverage is at 50-year low: [11] "About 65% of non-elderly Americans had private insurance in 2008, down from 67% the year before, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

Climate Bill Still Reverberates

W. Post's E.J. Dionne highlights newly elected Dems who stepped up to vote "Yea": [12] "That some highly vulnerable Democrats in the House were willing to face tens of thousands of dollars worth of Republican attack ads as the price of supporting a bill to curb global warming is the untold story of what, so far, is the year's most dramatic legislative showdown ... another factor is changing the political calculus: the rise of a substantial alternative-energy business that encompasses wind and solar. For the first time, the political meaning of the word 'energy' is not confined to oil and gas, even if old energy is still far more connected politically."

Wonk Room's Lee Fang debunks conservative attacks: [13] "Swimming Upstream Against Public Opinion, NRCC Running Anti-Clean Energy Ads Laced With Misinformation"

New international agreement. Bloomberg: [14] "The U.S. is joining other developed countries for the first time in saying global greenhouse gases should peak by 2020 and the average worldwide temperature shouldn’t rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, according to a draft document of the Group of Eight industrialized nations. "

Kerry more optimistic on Senate bill than international treaty. Bloomberg: [15] "'Sixty-seven votes is a big target here,' Kerry said last week, before Congress left for a one-week break. 'We may be able to pass something that puts America on track to accomplish our set of goals. But we may pass it with 60 votes, or 61 or whatever, and that’s not 67 [need to ratify treaties.]'"

Krugman tweaks Prez on opposition to carbon tariffs: [16] "So the economics are right; it’s WTO-legal; and it would neutralize a major political argument against controlling greenhouse gases. Why, oh, why, would Obama say 'Ni'?"

Stimulus Update

Biden advances $4B in broadband stimulus. W. Post: [17] "Vice President Biden yesterday announced guidelines for $4 billion in stimulus funds to expand high-speed Internet access across the nation, jump-starting a program that has been criticized for taking too long to get off the ground ... While many other stimulus projects are already in the works, the first dollars for broadband expansion won't be spent until the end of the year at the earliest. Some analysts and telecommunications industry insiders have said that orders for telecommunications network equipment and services have been delayed as potential applicants for broadband funds wait for the government to push forward with the grants and loans."

Announcement made on WH rural tour: [18] "10 Cabinet secretaries are being dispatched to nine states over the summer. Locations include several districts that Republicans are targeting in next year's midterm elections ... [Rep. Kathy] Dahlkemper said that stimulus funds could be an important tool in winning over rural voters, showing them that the federal government is pumping resources into their regions."

Stateline: Stimulus eases community college troubles: [19] "States are digging into their federal stimulus money to help finance community colleges, where rising tuition, soaring enrollment and budget cuts threaten to shut students out of the system. But the $144 billion in stimulus money for state and local fiscal relief won’t make up for budget cuts in every state."

Terrance Heath contributed to the making of this Breakfast