Progress Report: Health Care

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Wed, 25 Jan 2006 10:36:08 -0500 (EST)

" American Progress Action Fund "

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Progress Report: Health Care

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMERICAN PROGRESS ACTION FUND

 

The Progress Report

by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney

Amanda Terkel and Payson Schwin

 

 

www.progressreport.org

1/25/2006

 

For news and updates throughout the day, check out our new blog at

ThinkProgress.org.

 

STATE OF THE UNION

Health Care

 

The American health care system is broken. Skyrocketing costs have

placed enormous burdens on families and small businesses. The United

States spends approximately $1.7 trillion -- over 15 percent of the

nation's economy -- on health care, yet the nation still falls behind

on basic health care measures. " Health care costs are seen as the

primary threat facing our country's economy, " and the Bush

administration has only made the situation worse. During President

Bush's term, " the number of Americans without health insurance has

increased by 6.2 million, " now totaling nearly 46 million.

Three-in-four Americans, including 62 percent of those who voted for

Bush in the last election, feel the Bush administration and Congress

have failed to address the growing health care crisis in our country. "

The American health care system needs fundamental reform to be fixed

-- " reform that provides affordable coverage to all Americans,

controls costs and makes prevention a national priority. " American

Progress has progressive solutions for real changes.

 

46 MILLION UNINSURED AMERICANS: In his 2004 State of the Union

address, Bush promised to " extend the benefits of modern medicine

throughout our country. " But the President has not kept his promise;

the " number of Americans without health insurance rose by 800,000 last

year, reaching a record high of nearly 46 million. " The number of

uninsured Americans now exceeds " the cumulative population of 24

states plus the District of Columbia. " Unless the nation drastically

changes course, approximately 52 million are expected to be uninsured

for the entire year in 2010. California leads the nation with the

largest number of people without health care (7.1 million people),

followed by Texas (5.9 million people).

 

SKYROCKETING HEALTH CARE COSTS: The number one reason people are

uninsured is because health care coverage is too expensive. Medical

bills account for half of all personal bankruptcies. Health insurance

premiums for workers have increased by 73 percent, while wages have

grown by only 15 percent and inflation by 14 percent. Bush's 2004

State of the Union promise to work with Congress to " control those

[health care] costs " has run hollow. Between 2001 and 2003, national

spending for prescription drugs increased by 14 percent. Employees are

increasingly being left to find coverage on their own; nearly half of

all small businesses no longer provide health coverage for their

workers. Employee contributions for health care have increased 126

percent over the last five years, compared to a 76 percent increase

for employers.

 

PAYING MORE, GETTING LESS: America spends 2.5 times more per capita

than the average of other wealthy nations on health care -- who

provide health care to all their citizens -- yet the nation still

ranks 34th in life expectancy, 41st in infant mortality, and 37th in

overall health system performance. Total national health expenditures

increased by 7.7 percent in 2003 over 2002, " four times the rate of

inflation in 2003. " Despite high spending and technological advances,

" Americans have lower odds of surviving colorectal cancer and

childhood leukemia than Canadians, " and the confusing American health

care system has resulted in " 30 percent of adults in the U.S. -- more

than the rate in comparable nations -- have problems with coordination

of care. " " We are wasting money by paying top dollar for mediocre

results. ... We need to move beyond ideology and partisanship and meet

our common health care system challenges with commonsense answers to

provide affordable quality health care to everyone in this great

nation, " said American Progress Distinguished Senior Fellow Tom Daschle.

 

RACIAL AND INCOME INEQUALITIES PERSIST: Racial, ethnic, and

socioeconomic disparities still pervade America's health care system.

Nationwide, African-Americans continue to have higher death rates from

chronic diseases than any other U.S. racial or ethnic group. The

infant mortality rate for African-Americans is twice the rate for

whites and the life expectancy for African-American males is seven

years less than for white males. Among " Medicare beneficiaries, white

patients were more likely to receive high-cost procedures than black

patients, and the disparity had increased, in some cases and places,

between 1992 and 2001. " People with lower incomes continue to have

worse health. A failure to address these problems " will inevitably

keep us in the lesser ranks of nations in terms of health and health

care. "

 

ADMINISTRATION HAS NO REMEDY: The Bush administration's

" consumer-driven health care " plans -- health savings accounts -- are

doing more harm than good by shifting costs from the healthy to the

sick, undermining group health insurance, and allowing prices to rise

unchecked. " 'Consumer-driven' is a nice slogan, but it turns out

buying health care isn't at all like buying clothing, " said New York

Times columnist Paul Krugman. The Bush administration's implementation

of its new Medicare prescription drug plan has been an " unmitigated

disaster " and Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) said, " The new federal program

is too complicated for many people to understand, and the

implementation of the new program by the federal government has been

awful. " But the Bush administration's policies have been friendly to

one group -- drug manufacturers. While many Americans cannot afford

coverage at all, drug companies made more profits in 2002 than the

other 490 companies in the Fortune 500 combined.

 

KATRINA

Breach of Trust

 

First, the Bush administration -- with Michael Brown, former horse

association chairman, at the helm of FEMA -- badly mismanaged the

federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Now, the Bush administration is

blocking efforts by Congress to figure out exactly what went wrong.

According to Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) -- someone whom the

administration " can't stop gushing over " -- the White House " is

dodging questions about Hurricane Katrina response and has instructed

other agencies to join it in fending off investigators. " Lieberman

said yesterday that the Department of Homeland Security " has engaged

in a conscious strategy of slow-walking our investigation in the hope

that we would run out of time to follow the investigation's natural

progression to where it leads. " White House Press Secretary Scott

McClellan says, " We are working with [Congress] in a cooperative way

and we will continue to do so. " Meanwhile, the White House has

" declined requests to provide testimony by Andrew H. Card Jr., the

White House chief of staff; Mr. Card's deputy, Joe Hagin; Frances

Fragos Townsend, the domestic security adviser; and her deputy, Ken

Rapuano. " Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said of the White House refusals:

" I completely disagree with that practice. "

 

BROWN WAS PAID TO COOPERATE WITH INVESIGATION, NOW REFUSES: After

Brown was forced to resign after the Katrina debacle, he retained his

full salary for weeks, working as " a consultant. " According to FEMA

spokesperson Nicol Andrews, Brown was retained so he could fully

cooperate with investigators. Andrews said Brown " works from home,

where he is 'pulling all the documentation together' to aid in the

investigations into the government's response to Katrina. " Brown has

cashed his checks but " refused to answer even the simplest questions "

related to the investigation.

 

THE BREACH OF THE LEVEES WERE ANTICIPATED: After Katrina devestated

the Gulf Coast, President Bush said, " I don't think anyone anticipated

the breach of the levees. " Actually, people did. The Department of

Homeland Security delievered a report to the White House situation

room " at 1:47 a.m. on Aug. 29, hours before the storm hit [that] said,

'Any storm rated Category 4 or greater will likely lead to severe

flooding and/or levee breaching.' " Other documents show that the

weekend before the storm hit, " Homeland Security Department officials

predicted that its impact would be worse than a doomsday-like

emergency planning exercise conducted in Louisiana in July 2004. "

 

WHITE HOUSE CLINGS TO 'DODGED A BULLET' MYTH: Defending Bush's

comments, McClellan said yesterday, " As the President said, what he

was referring to was that there was a sense by many, once the

hurricane hit and had passed, that the worst-case scenario did not

happen. There were numerous media reports saying that New Orleans had

dodged the bullet. " That's not what media reports were saying after

the storm hit. On Tuesday, August 30 -- the day after the storm hit --

the New Orleans Times-Picayune led with a banner headline reading,

" CATASTROPHIC: Storm Surge Swamps 9th Ward, St. Bernard; Lakeview

Levee Breach Threatens to Inundate City. " Â Other newspapers around

the country had the same message. The Washington Post: " Storm Thrashes

Gulf Coast. " The Washington Times: " Katrina Pounds Gulf Coast, Big

Easy Flooded. " The New York Times: " Hurricane Slams Into Gulf Coast,

Dozens Dead. " See more newspaper headlines from that day at the Newseum.

 

INTERNSHIPS

 

The research team that brings you The Progress Report and Think

Progress needs interns! Click here for more information.

 

GOOD NEWS

 

The Bush administration has " agreed to help repay states that stepped

in to buy prescription drugs for poor seniors whose coverage failed

under the beleaguered Medicare prescription drug benefit. "

 

STATE WATCH

 

MAINE: State's clean elections initiative low on funds.

 

GEORGIA: Georgia senate approves much-criticized voter ID law.

 

EDUCATION: High schools nationwide consider elective courses in Bible

literacy.

 

BLOG WATCH

 

THINK PROGRESS: Video: MSNBC's Chris Matthews slobbers all over Rep.

Tom DeLay (R-TX).

 

TPMCAFE: Blog focusing on Medicare drug bill debacle launches.

 

JUAN COLE: Top ten mistakes of the Bush administration's reaction to

al-Qaeda.

 

TALK LEFT: Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) proposed FISA amendment in 2002 and

was rejected.

 

DAILY GRILL

 

" FEMA spokeswoman Nicol Andrews confirmed that [former FEMA Director

Michael] Brown is still on FEMA's payroll as a consultant. She said he

works from home, where he is 'pulling all the documentation together'

to aid in the investigations into the government's response to Katrina. "

-- Baltimore Sun, 10/21/05

 

VERSUS

 

" While FEMA has been helpful, Mike Brown -- the former FEMA director

who resigned amid intense criticism of his agency's response -- has

refused to answer even the simplest questions, [sen. Joe] Lieberman

added. "

-- CNN, 1/25/06

 

UNDER THE RADAR

 

ADMINISTRATION -- BUSH MINE SAFETY CHIEF WALKS OUT OF HEARING ON SAGO

DISASTER: On Monday, the acting head of the Mine Safety and Health

Administration, David Dye, appeared before a Senate subcommittee on

mine safety to address the recent disaster at the Sago mine in West

Virginia. As the Progress Report has documented, and as Senate

Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) pointed out, the

Bush administration has consistently underfunded mine safety while

failing to enforce the regulations already on the books. Dye " rejected

the criticism, " claiming it was " far too early to identify the cause

of the accidents. " Then, after an hour, he announced that he had

" pressing business to attend to " and needed to leave the hearing.

Specter " responded with frustration, " according to the New York Times.

" I can understand your pressing other business. It may well be that

some of the senators here have pressing matters, too. We don't think

we are imposing too much to keep you here for another hour. " After

Specter added, " That's the committee's request, but you're not under

subpoena, " Mr. Dye stood up and walked out. " I can't recollect it ever

happening before, " Specter said of the departure. " We'll find a way to

take appropriate note of it. "

 

CIVIL LIBERTIES -- BUSH'S FALSE DEBATE ON THE PATRIOT ACT: The Bush

administration refuses to accept a bipartisan proposal to reform the

Patriot Act in a way that will achieve a better balance between

protecting our national security and preserving our civil liberties.

Bush has argued that a renewal of the Patriot Act is necessary because

terrorists want to " inflict even greater damage than they did on

September the 11th. " But this is a false debate. A Justice Department

document released last week argues that the Patriot Act debate has

little relevance to the fight against al Qaeda. The Boston Globe

reports that a footnote in that document states that the

administration " does not need Congress to extend the USA Patriot Act

in order to keep using the law's investigative powers against terror

suspects. " The power to use full investigative powers against al Qaeda

is retained by the administration as a result of the 9/11

authorization of force and would not diminish if the Patriot Act were

not revewed, according to legal experts. Bruce Fein, a constitutional

law expert and former Reagan administration lawyer, said, " Under the

position they are staking out in the footnote and throughout the memo,

the debate over the Patriot Act is superfluous. "

 

MILITARY -- MURTHA'S ASSESSMENT OF OVER-STRETCHED ARMY CONFIRMED BY

THE PENTAGON: A Pentagon study finds that the Army has become a " thin

green line " that could snap because it has been so stretched by

frequent troop rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan. Andrew Krepinevich,

a retired Army officer who wrote the report under a Pentagon contract,

concluded that the Army cannot sustain the pace of troop deployments

to Iraq long enough to break the back of the insurgency. The report

confirms the assessment made by Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) in December

when he said the Army is " broken, worn out " and " living hand to

mouth. " Partly because the military is in such bad shape, Murtha

argues that " staying the course [in Iraq] is not a policy " and that

U.S. troops will be out in a year. The Bush administration engaged in

a public relations offensive to blast Murtha's comments. The truth,

according to the study, is that the Army is " in a race against time "

to adjust to the demands of war " or risk 'breaking' the force in the

form of a catastrophic decline " in recruitment and re-enlistment.

 

CORRUPTION -- MORE RIGHT-WING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS CAUGHT UP IN

ABRAMOFF SCANDAL: Roll Call reports this morning that Reps. Don Young

(R-AK) and Steven LaTourette (R-OH) " sought to intervene with a

federal agency in September 2002 on behalf of American Indian clients

of lobbyist Jack Abramoff as part of Abramoff's effort to gain control

of the Old Post Office Pavilion in downtown Washington, D.C. " In

September 2002, Young and LaTourette both wrote to the head of the

General Services Administration requesting preferential treatment for

Abramoff's tribal clients. Only weeks after the letters were sent,

Abramoff's clients gave $7,000 to Young. Federal investigators are

examining the Old Post Office Pavilion issue as part of their case

against former GSA chief of staff David Safavian, who later worked as

the Bush administration's top procurement official.

 

IRAQ -- MASSIVE FRAUD, INCOMPETENCE, WASTE UNCOVERED IN STUDIES OF

IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION: The " first official history of the $25 billion

American reconstruction effort in Iraq, " assembled by the office of

the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, has determined

that the program was " hobbled from the outset by gross understaffing,

a lack of technical expertise, bureaucratic infighting, secrecy and

constantly increasing security costs, " the New York Times reports. The

document, now in draft form, described " what almost looks like a

spoils system between various agencies, " said Steve Ellis, an

authority on the Army corps at Taxpayers for Common Sense. In related

news, the Times reports today that a new audit of American financial

practices in Iraq has uncovered massive irregularities, expanding on

previous findings of " fraud, incompetence, and confusion. " Among the

many irregularities uncovered are " millions of reconstruction dollars

stuffed casually into footlockers and filing cabinets, an American

soldier in the Philippines who gambled away cash belonging to Iraq,

and three Iraqis who plunged to their deaths in a rebuilt hospital

elevator that had been improperly certified as safe. "