HUMBOLDT, Iowa — Sen. Chuck Grassley signaled growing skepticism about the likelihood of Democrat-led health care reform passing this year at a town hall meeting on Monday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Grassley is the Republican leader of the Senate Finance Committee — the three Republicans and three Democrats who are making a serious run at health overhaul legislation that has support from both political parties. Speaking in front of a mostly friendly audience of about 250, Grassley stressed the distance between the two parties and what wouldn’t work, the Wall Street Journal said.
“Government is not a competitor, it’s a predator,” Grassley said of the public option health care plan that has been embraced by Democratic policy makers, according to the Journal. “We’d have 120 million people opt out [of private insurance], then pretty soon everyone is in health care under the government and there’s no competitor.”
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Estimates of how many people would leave private insurance plans for the government’s public plan, should it arise, have been much lower, according to the Journal. A study by the Lewin Group (pdf), a unit of UnitedHealth Group that operates independently from the health insurer, estimates that premiums would be between 20 percent and 25 percent lower under a public option plan, making 33.6 million people likely to switch to the public option, according to FactCheck.org, the Annenberg Public Policy Center project. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, however, estimates premiums would be only about 10 percent lower under a public plan, attracting 11 million to 12 million people, FactCheck.org said.
Grassley’s criticisms echoed those of other Republicans who have decisively turned against Democratic led legislation in recent days, according to the Wall Street Journal. Sen. John McCain said during a town hall meeting in Sun City, Ariz., on Tuesday that creation of a government-run health plan would threaten the quality of medical care and pit the needs of consumers and older Americans against national interests including the pharmaceutical and medical industries, according to the Dayton Business Journal.
Grassley, 75, is running for a sixth Senate term in 2010 and faces the prospect of a challenger in the GOP primary, the Wall Street Journal said. He is typical of Republicans whose resolve against a public option has hardened during the congressional summer recess. During that break, conservatives have mobilized nationwide to express their distrust of a government-run health insurance plan, the Journal said.
As the prospects of passing bipartisan legislation dims, Democrats are looking at several options, including a parliamentary maneuver called reconciliation, Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” according to the Journal. Senate rules require 60 votes to stop a filibuster, but reconciliation, usually used for budget matters, requires a simple majority, the Journal said.
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Gabby Everett, the site director for BioLabs Pegasus Park, offered a tour of the space and shared some examples of why early-stage life science companies should choose North Texas.
More stories worth a read:
- Sen. Edward M. Kennedy — health care champion — dies (Kaiser Health News)
- Drug industry’s support depends on what’s in the final bill: Health care fact check (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
- Iowa drug card a huge success with Iowans (PRNewswire)
- FDA moves forward on implementation of tobacco law (Food and Drug Administration)
- Tobacco kills 6 million annually: Report (HealthDay News)
- Biopharm executive: Biotech’s dog days (BioSpace)
- Franklin County cuts $10.8 million from addiction programs (Columbus Dispatch)
- Liquidia raises $7 million venture capital financing (VentureDeal)
- GE Healthcare about to market wider MRI for obese and claustrophobic patients (Becker’s Hospital Review)
- Report: Hospitals would see $16 billion net gain in health reform rather than $155 billion cut (Becker’s Hospital Review)
- Top 10 states with the fewest community hospitals (Becker’s Hospital Review)
- Top 10 states with the most community hospitals (Becker’s Hospital Review)
- Lawsuit claims Celgene Corp. misappropriated the idea behind its multiple myeloma treatments (PRNewswire)
- Zoll shares jump on FDA defibrillator vest approval (Boston Business Journal)
- College of Nursing receives more than $2 million from the Michigan Nursing Corps initiative to spur increase in state’s educators (Wayne State University)
- Report: University of Minnesota surgeon leaves board post over Medtronic probe (Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal)
