On health-care bill, Bond feeling like “mosquito in a nudist colony”
Sen. Bond
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats looked to be on the verge of advancing legislation to overhaul the nation’s health insurance system despite spirited protests today by Missouri Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond and a unified Republican Party.
With a a key procedural vote scheduled for tonight, Senate Democrats opened their rare Saturday session with a blistering attack on insurance companies and assertions that Republicans “are living in a different world” for failing to understand Americans’ problems in paying for insurance.
Senate President Harry Reid, D-Nev., argued that more than half of the 750,000 bankruptcies in the naiton were due to the cost of medical expenses and asked: “Don’t we need to do something on health insurance reform? Of course we do.”
The GOP filibuster plan seemed destined to fail with Democrats marshalling the 60 votes they need to break it.
“I’m afraid that this bill is likely to move forward,” Bond told reporters this afternoon, adding that he and Republican colleagues already were planning a strategy of amendments.
Referring to Reid, Bond said “he’s had to spend $100 million in Medicaid payoffs to win the 60th vote.”
He went on to describe a special provision in the health-care legislation that applied only to Louisiana inserted to win the support of Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, one of a handful of Democratic moderates who had been reluctant to join her party in supporting the legislation.
Bond called it “the Louisiana Purchase.”
Reid spokesman Jim Manley responded that the proposed special payments to Louisiana are designed to address a problem there that arose in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“They had an influx of money coming into their state to rebuild and many poor people leave temporarily, so their match rate became skewed … as if Louisiana is a much richer state than it is,” he said in an email.
In response to a question from Political Fix, Bond said he had no intention of bargaining away his vote to obtain a similar bounty for Missouri.
“My vote is not for sale,” he asserted.
On the Senate floor, Bond contended that the legislation would “put a bureaucrat between you and your doctor” and lead to higher health-care costs when insurance companies pass new taxes on to consumers.
“We call this a pig in a poke,” Bond said.
“They say there’s only two things certain in life, death and taxes. I didn’t think we’d see them both in the same bill.”
Missouri’s senior senator said he felt “sort of like a mosquito in a nudst colony. There’s so many targets in this bill, we don’t know which ones to hit.”
Are you democrats nuts?? Do you realize how crazy the new insurance bill is no mammograms till 50 no pap smears for two years?You all have daughters.Your killing your own daughters.God have mercy on your souls.
momama,
Why don’t you get serious?! First, we are all small “d” democrats. Only some of us are capital “D” Democrats. Second, Missouri state law mandates the requirements of insurance company in regards to mammograms and pap smears. Healthcare reform legislation will do nothing to change this.
Now, can you please stop the scare tactics?
“put a bureaucrat between you and your doctor”…“We call this a pig in a poke,” ….as it is now Senator Bond I have a private insurance industry bureaucrat between me and my doctor. Thanks for protecting us from a pig in a poke Senator Bond, I’d much rather have my private insurance company pig in a private jet between me and my doctor.
i support medicare for all, medical care should not be a for profit enterprise
Suzyjax,
Missouri laws that mandate certain coverage in health insurance policies only apply to policies that are subject to state law. About 2/3 of folks with private insurance in this state are covered through plans that are exempt from state law. Most of the health coverage offered by large employed are only subject to federal laws such as ERISA. So, the content of the federal health reform legislation re mandated benefits, such as, mammograms, will have a significant impact on Missourians.
To me, being nude is being the same person but in a sensually charged ambience that is very pleasurable. Indeed I prefer being with with my family and other sociable mixed gender naturists in clubs and resorts for all of our recreation or relaxation. My personal best was three weeks vacation at Euronat resort in France, with everything except sandals put away for the entire duration. The strangenes of shirt and shorts to depart there was almost as strange as becoming a naturist many years before. As regards sex-life; being nude together promotes an appreciation of the pleasure that gan be given one to another. Enjoy our clothing free lifestyle! naturistspace.org
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn
Have sight of Proteus coming from the sea,
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
Enjoy our clothing free lifestyle!
naturistspace.org
With the major insurance companies stuffing the back pockets of both the physicians and the politicians, it is astounding that any health care reform may actually happen. We need our “health care” to change as much as we need the regulation in within the insurance industry. According to Eva Mor author of (Making the Golden Years Golden), “The administration of the existing health delivery system is bloated with waste and unnecessary cost. If information was shared by all providers of health services and all insurers by using computerized systems to store all medical records, it would cut costs and reduce errors that would save and improve lives.” http://www.ourblook.com/component/option,com_sectionex/Itemid,200076/id,8/view,category/#catid107
Preventative care is something we need desperately in this country so the real question is going to be, how do we get it? Especially when there are so many back pocket deals being made to benefit the drug companies.