We’re gearing back up for some news from the Legislature and the federal reform “end game” coming up. So, start checking back in! We’ll have some more great info, including some polling we’ve completed on health reform in Puget Sound.

Download the full briefing memo here.

Download the full briefing memo here.

For those curious about Rep. Brian Baird’s vote to break with his party, the New York Times created a couple of graphics today which help to illustrate just how much of an aberration Baird was.

This map, graphically detailing the nation’s no and yes votes, shows the overwhelmingly rural make-up of the health care bill’s opponents.

Meanwhile this chart goes into a little further detail, and reveals Baird to be one of just three no-voting, non-freshman Democrats whose districts were carried by Obama and aren’t part of the Blue Dog coalition. The others are Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), arguably the most liberal member in the House.

In the first press event since the passage of the House health bill, H.R. 3962, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi joined Congressmen Jim McDermott (WA-7) and Jay Inslee (WA-1) at Seattle’s Swedish Medical Center. That bill passed 220-215 in the House on Saturday.



“It’s important that we would come here, to Swedish, on the first public hearing for many of us since this legislation passed,” said Pelosi. “I say appropriate because Swedish has been in the lead, and what is being said here is nothing to be taken for granted. When we’re talking about admiration among healthcare professionals… when we’re talking about a Medical Home, when we’re talking about reducing infections, Swedish has been in the lead.”

The press event was not without disruption, though both were minor. A woman tried to enter the press briefing while McDermott spoke, shouting, “I have Stage 4 kidney cancer – arrest me!” At the end of the conference, a man shouted to Pelosi, “Please don’t send me to jail for not buying health insurance.”

Both were in reference to the health insurance mandate that is part of the bill. Pelosi responded to a question about the mandate, saying, “Well, the point is that we want to make sure people have access to healthcare.”

When pressed, she continued, “I think the legislation is very fair in this respect. It gives people an opportunity to have healthcare, access to quality healthcare. If they can’t afford it, it provides subsidies for them to do so. But do you think it’s fair if somebody says, I’m just not going to have any if I get sick and I’ll just go to the emergency room and hand the bill to [taxpayers]?”

Read the rest of this entry »

In a previous post, DJ asked the question:

What are the practical economic impacts of the Stupak amendment limiting coverage of abortions? There are some persuasive politics at play, but will this have a measurable “real world” impact on plans, providers or patients?

Let’s take a look. Read the rest of this entry »

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), fresh of her victory with the passage of a House healthcare reform bill, will tour Swedish Medical Center in Seattle today with Washington Representatives Jay Inslee (1st), Norm Dicks (6th), and Jim McDermott (7th).

All four voted in favor of the H.R. 3962.

Late Saturday night the House voted to approve H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, by a narrow margin of 220-215.

One Republican, Representative Joseph Cao (R-LA), voted for the bill, and 39 Democrats voted against the bill.

Cao cited his conscience as the reason for his vote. “Twenty percent of the people in my district are uninsured and we have tremendous health care issues in the district,” Cao said.

Representative Brian Baird (D), of Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, voted against the bill. “Until more information is available on premium estimates and Medicare impacts, I will vote against the legislation in its current form. I will wait to make a decision on final legislation until this critical information becomes available and when the House and Senate together produce one bill,” Baird said.

Here is how the rest of Washington Congressional Delegation voted:

1st: Jay Inslee (D) — Voted Yes
2nd: Rick Larsen (D) — Voted Yes
3rd: Brian Baird (D) — Voted No
4th: Doc Hastings (R) — Voted No
5th: Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R) — Voted No
6th: Norm Dicks (D) — Voted Yes
7th: Jim McDermott (D) — Voted Yes
8th: Dave Reichert (R) — Voted No
9th: Adam Smith (D) — Voted Yes

Well, one chamber has now passed a bill. It’ll get reworked considerably I imagine before it comes back to the House. The Senate bill, after all, is widely divergent in many areas from the House bill, which is why we have Conference Committees.

But here are some things we’re thinking about this week and what we’ll be working on in the aftermath of the House vote.

- What was Brian Baird’s rationale for voting against this bill? Not just what he says in the press statement, but what are the real politics at play there?

- What are the practical economic impacts of the Stupak amendment limiting coverage of abortions? There are some persuasive politics at play, but will this have a measurable “real world” impact on plans, providers or patients?

- What will it take to get the Senate to bring their bill to the floor?

- What are the consequences of Lieberman standing athwart this effort to his future with the Senate Dems?

- Perhaps the most intriguing thing we’re thinking about: what are the impacts of this reform package on Washington State’s efforts at reform? This sets the stage for a real effort at reform in 2011. What will this mean for that?

When the dust settles from reform at the end of the day, I have the sneaking suspicion we will have just as many questions then as there are today. More from us as our brains wake up to the week.

Yesterday President Barack Obama spoke for a few minutes on the late Saturday night passage of a healthcare reform bill in the House. Watch that video here, courtesy of MSNBC.