By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-11-04 12:28:50 | Word Count: 574
If Congressional health-care reform observer R.J. Pirlot had a crystal ball, it would be murky at best. Where are they going to wind up? I don't know," Pirlot, legislative affairs director for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, told a luncheon audience Wednesday during the Manitowoc County Business Summit at Fox Hills Resort.
Part of Pirlot's challenge in trying to decipher the smoke signals coming out of Washington, D.C., is the nature of the discussions by members of the House and Senate.
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"We're on the cusp of changing a pretty big portion of our nation's economy, but negotiations continue to go on behind closed doors," said Pirlot, an Appleton native who has a bachelor's degree in biology and earned his law degree from the University of Wisconsin.
Pirlot told the 125 people attending the program he doesn't "have any reason to quibble" with President Obama's eight goals of health reform, which include:
# Protecting the financial health of all Americans;
# Ensuring that coverage is affordable;
# Aiming for universal coverage;
# Achieving portability, with insurance coverage following the individual from job to job;
# Providing a choice of plans and providers;
# Improving patient safety and quality of care;
# Investing in prevention and wellness; and
# Enacting reforms that are fiscally sustainable and responsible — with reform to be budget neutral and funds coming from changes to Medicare and Medicaid and tax code revisions.
'Budget trickery'
But the devil is in the details of the five plans working their way through Congress. Some include a so-called "public option," offering citizens the ability to buy health insurance from the government and others. Some plans utilize "pay or play" provisions, mandating most employers to offer health insurance or contribute to the cost that would be borne by their workers.
It is understandable if there is information overload on the part of many Americans, as different spin linked to the legislative bills runs more than 1,000 pagesIs Congress close to the finish line? Pirlot quoted Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson: "We just finished the first quarter. There are three quarters to play. The bench is worn out. The quarterback keeps getting sacked. And the crowd has about had it, too.Pirlot is concerned some senators are misinterpreting cost estimates provided by the Congressional Budget Office for different reform packages over the next 10 years.
"We've already seen some budget trickery from the Senate Finance Committee," Pirlot said.
He shared polling data from earlier this month indicating 42 percent of voters nationwide favor health-care reform proposed by Obama and Congressional Democrats, with 54 percent opposed.
While voters are skeptical of reform plans, 54 percent say major changes are needed in the health-care system and 61 percent say it is important for Congress to pass some reform.
Pirlot quotes pollster Scott Rasmussen as identifying the key stumbling block to public endorsement or major change.
"The most important fundamental is that 68 percent of American voters have health insurance coverage they rate good or excellent," Rasmussen said. "Most of these voters approach the health-care reform debate fearing they have more to lose than to gain."
