Now that Sen. Ted Kennedy is no longer with us to guide us through the process of health care reform and to be the strong voice that we need, we have Sen. Al Franken to take his place! Of course, we progressive liberals did have the chance in getting Caroline Kennedy in the Senate after Hillary Clinton vacated her New York seat, but if we all remember correctly, it was ‘progressive liberals’ such as Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake who decided to have a non-stop public temper tantrum against Caroline to the point Caroline decided to opt out. Anyway, I am so thrilled to have another real progressive liberal in the Senate in Al Franken! He’s the greatest.
Here’s part of what he wrote on his Senate website today:
To earn my vote, health insurance reform must improve access to affordable health care for Minnesota families – and this bill clears that bar with room to spare. This bill does not fix all the problems with our health care system, and I will not stop working to improve the quality and lower the costs of health care for all Americans. But progressives can be proud of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and take a large measure of credit for important provisions it will codify as the law of the land.
Requiring insurance companies to spend 85% of premiums on actual health services — not administrative costs, TV ads, or gargantuan CEO bonuses — is a big victory. Senator Rockefeller and I worked hard to get that provision included because it holds insurance companies accountable and will put an end to exploding premiums and obscene profits – a huge win for progressives.
Like many of you, I supported a public insurance option to increase competition. I’m disappointed that provision isn’t in this bill. But what is in this bill is a significant step toward our goal of universal coverage.
This bill will end annual and lifetime limits on the dollar value of your benefits. Eliminating preexisting condition exclusions for all new medical plans and funding high-risk pools to insure those with preexisting conditions who are currently without insurance means Minnesotans won’t be locked in their jobs or afraid to start their own businesses for fear of losing coverage. Requiring that 85 cents of every premium dollar go toward coverage will limit insurers’ profits and skyrocketing insurance premiums.
These are all real, strong reforms that this bill enacts with the urgency this crisis demands. Small businesses will immediately receive tax credits to make covering employees more affordable, and insurers will have to cover recommended preventive services at no cost to the patient. Again, these changes take effect immediately.
You can read all of his post by CLICKING HERE.
By the way, Ted Kennedy’s wife is now speaking out for health care reform ON BEHALF OF THOSE AMERICANS WHO NEED THE VOICE. Love her too!
Here’s what Sen. Russ Feingold is saying about the public option being taken out:
“But while the loss of the public option is a bitter pill to swallow, on balance, the bill still delivers meaningful reform, and the cost of inaction is simply too high. This bill significantly expands coverage and helps protect Wisconsinites from high costs and insurance company abuses, such as denying or restricting coverage based on pre-existing conditions. The bill also improves a flawed Medicare formula that denies Wisconsin fair reimbursement rates, encourages the kind of low-cost, high-value care practiced in our state, increases access to home and community-based long-term care, and reduces federal budget deficits by $132 billion over the next decade.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/20/feingold-obama-responsibl_n_398658.html
The now right leaning Huffington Post has this as their headline.
SEN. FEINGOLD HOLDS OBAMA RESPONSIBLE FOR LOSS OF PUBLIC OPTION
They’ve become sensational over at Arianna’s place. The headlines are getting more and more tabloid-like, the article doesn’t match the screaming sensational headlines a lot of the time.
The same kind of vile hatred is being witnessed over on FireDogLake too. Sad.