The Virginian-Pilot
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VIRGINIA BEACH
As Congress pushed to reach a compromise on an overhaul of the nation's health care system, U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye spoke with small-business owners in Virginia Beach on Monday to gauge what the folks back home want him to do.
At the same time, the National Republican Party targeted the Norfolk legislator and dozens of other Democrats in radio ads critical of the Democratic leadership's health care plan.
Half a dozen business owners told Nye that they had concerns about some taxes proposed to pay for health care but also voiced strong support for Congress doing something soon about the rapid increases in medical insurance and treatment costs.
"One thing that is not negotiable is that we can't keep paying increases of 15 or 20 percent a year," said Michael Barrett, chief executive officer of The Runnymede Corp.
Marty Hierholzer, who hosted the session at his company's office, MJL Enterprises, said a current proposal to levy an additional tax on people earning $280,000 a year or more punishes business owners who are successful and makes them pay a "double tax" because they also pay for employee health care insurance.
Nye said the tax, or "surcharge," on incomes of $280,000 or more needs to be adjusted so it doesn't hurt business owners who flow their business income through their own income. There is strong bipartisan consensus that health care changes should not harm small businesses, he said.
Nye predicted that a major overhaul of the health care system likely won't be voted on in the House before its members take a scheduled month-long break Friday. Nye said he is willing to forgo the August recess to continue trying to hammer out a health care bill but that it's not his decision.
Nye restated his position that any health care overhaul has to preserve an individual's ability to choose his or her own doctor, cannot increase the federal deficit, and must include specific reforms that significantly lower health costs.
He said the current Democratic legislation doesn't do enough to cut costs by addressing waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare.
While Nye is attempting to make his case at home, the Republican National Committee has targeted him and 59 other House Democrats - including two other Virginians - in new customized radio commercials that remind residents that the legislators voted for the multibillion-dollar stimulus package earlier this year. The GOP announcer calls the Democrats' health care plan a "dangerous experiment."
Bill Bartel, (757) 446-2398, bill.bartel@pilotonline.com
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Set up to fail. People pay taxes not corporations or businesses
How did business get involved in the health care industry to begin with?
-Government regulation
"Few companies provided benefits before World War II. During that war, the government imposed wage and price controls. Labor markets were extremely tight, and companies with their books full of war production contracts could not bid up wages to get needed workers. So they offered noncash fringe benefits was a way to evade the government’s wage controls.
The government cooperated by not treating the value of the benefits as taxable income.
Today, many people think employer-provided noncash benefits come out of corporate profits rather than holding down wages. But economic theory and studies show that noncash fringe benefits largely do reduce wages, not profits."
http://www.edlotterman.com/RWE/Articles/HealthCare.htm
Government Role
The governments role is to regulate NOT pay for healthcare. Of course the business community will try to push healthcare costs off to the taxpayer. It's in their best interest and will bloat their bottom line if taxpayers get a bill. I'm not being critical of their business practices, capitalism works, just saying, we might want to take what they say with a grain of salt.
The Health Care Fix
I want to urge every one of you who wishes to actually solve this problem for all time to read a book called, "The Health Care Fix, Universal Insurance for All Americans."
By
Laurence J. Kotlikoff
Press release:
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11380
No lost opportunity this time
As the Congressman stated yesterday, there is no silver bullet; there are numerous conflicting trends. But one thing is clear; costs are rising much faster than in any other sector of the economy, and second, the health of americans is getting worse and worse. Fact is, for the average person in this country, access to health care is already rationed. Now, even those covered by health insurance at work often decline to seek preventive care because of the co pays. And we all know that our costs for insurance are inflated by the "free care" provided in hospitals. So this is a unique time; all the major players, ie the doctors and health care professionals, the drug companies, the insurance companies, the hospitals, business groups like the Chamber of Commerce, small businesses, all agree that the current system is failing and must be reformed. That is an incredible difference from the last time around and this opportunity must not be lost.
Healthcare is not a right under the Constitution
The federal government should have NO business in any aspect of healthcare. Medicare was a big mistake. The Constitution limits the authority of the Feds..try reading it.
Better the devil you know...
This "rationing" that many point to looks nothing like the "rationing" that will occur if Obamacare passes. Currently, claim denials are made subject to defined agreements, covering what the policy will and won't pay, all in writing, in advance. They are overseen by state insurance boards, with rights of appeal. There will be no such appeals under a single payer plan -- bureaucrats words will be final, much like dealing with the IRS.
Sorry, doesn't work for me. I won't give up what I have to cover 10M illegal immigrants, 17M with incomes > $50K, 8.4M 18-25s who decline coverage at their employer, thinking themselves indestructable, and 11.5M eligible for SCHIP or Medicaid who haven't signed up. There are plenty of ways to get costs down -- reduce state imposed mandatory coverages for things like marriage counseling, and get affordible bare-bones policies. Create regional licensing so we don't have 50 different standards to introduce economies of scale. Impose individual mandates, for at least catastrophic coverage. Introduce state run "gap" coverage for periods of unemployment, much like unemployment insurance. But don't tell me the solution is to limit the care in
Do you want the gov't to cap the cost?
Mike -- I understand the desire to hold down benefit cost inflation -- I've run my own business and faced that very issue. But I'm pretty close to someone who's life has been spent in senior positions in health care who puts the blame on demand for cutting edge services. Even the CBO (headed at the time by Obama's new budget director) said last year "approximately half of all long-term growth in health care spending has been associated with the expanded capabilities of medicine brought about by technological advances." Those that want to demagogue this -- on both sides -- have their favorite whipping boy. Folks on the left blame greedy insurance companies, folks on the right blame greedy trial lawyers. But the real truth is that we have expensive new technology (including new drugs), your employees want access to that technology, and they want you to pay for it.
The only solution is to reduce access to this new technology -- sorry, but that doesn't work for me. And if those pushing the current proposals were honest, they'd admit that the only way to reduce costs is to cap access.
Composition of the Group
No, the meeting was not set up by the chamber, and I don't believe this is the only group with which Congressman Nye will meet. I got the impression he intends to meet frequently with divergent groups during the coming recess as well. It was not my meeting, so I don't feel comfortable naming the other firms, but I will say they included an accounting firm, a law firm, a government contractor, and a civil engineering consulting firm. A few of the Congressman's local staff were present as well. My impression was that Nye is well informed on these issues, and I think he realizes that real reform that meets his stated principles is necessary. He is a quick study and seemed well versed on the issue.
Uh, WHICH small business exec's ?
It makes a difference.
If it was the same CoC cabal forcing light rail and the expanded Town Center TIF on us, then Nye has called on the foxes to guard the henhouse.
So, Mike, who else was there.
I know I wasn't invited.
Congressman Nye's Principles
The Congressman says he wants reform that complies with basic principles; first, that it be real reform and reduce overall cost; second, that it be deficit neutral; third, that it preserve individual choice of a plan and a physician,; fourth, that ii protect tri care and VA benefits; and fifth, that the impact on small business be positive, not negative. All present agreed that these principles were excellent objectives to be achieved, and I think all of us commended him for his effort to focus on cost control and reduction throughout the system. Many of the participants stressed that we could not continue to provide insurance choices for our employees if costs continued to escalate faster than any other component of our business; that is, doing nothing was not a commendable result.