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In a letter to Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner, Senate Democratic leaders today made explicitly clear what has been long assumed about House GOP efforts to repeal the health care law.
"If House Republicans move forward with a repeal of the health-care law," they wrote, "we will block it in the Senate."
The letter was signed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin, Vice Chairman Chuck Schumer, Conference Secretary Patty Murray, and Policy Committee Vice Chair Debbie Stabenow.
The leaders reminded the Boehner that "several key provisions" of the law became effective with the start of the new year on Jan. 1. They specifically highlighted how the law helps seniors fill the so-called "donut hole" in the Medicare prescription drug benefit (i.e., the gap in coverage where seniors must pay the full cost out of their prescriptions).
"Thankfully, the federal health care law signed in 2010 fully closes the so-called "donut hole" by 2020. The new law provides that seniors will receive a 50-percent discount on the brand name drugs that they purchase while stuck in the 'donut hole' and thus will save them thousands of dollars starting in 2011."
The full letter is below....
January 3, 2011
Speaker-elect John Boehner
Office of the Speaker of the House
H-232, U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Speaker-elect Boehner,
As you know, several key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became effective on January 1, 2011. We write out of concern for one particular measure that addresses a loophole in the Medicare prescription drug benefit.
Ever since it was first enacted in 2003, the Medicare Part D program has come with a catch. Once an initial coverage limit is reached, beneficiaries have to absorb 100 percent of their drug costs until catastrophic coverage kicks in. This gap in coverage, known as the Medicare "donut hole," totaled $3,610 in 2010. That means that approximately 3.4 million U.S. seniors with the heaviest reliance on prescription drugs faced the prospect of paying up to $4,000 out of pocket before they qualified for further assistance from Medicare.
This gap in coverage has been a defect in the Medicare Part D program since its creation. It poses a hardship for all seniors, and for some, it has even bankrupted them.
Thankfully, the federal health care law signed in 2010 fully closes the so-called "donut hole" by 2020. The new law provides that seniors will receive a 50-percent discount on the brand name drugs that they purchase while stuck in the "donut hole" and thus will save them thousands of dollars starting in 2011. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, seniors who have high prescription drug spending will save as much as $12,300 over the next 10 years and seniors with low drug costs will save an average of $2,400 over 10 years.
This is no minor reform. But almost as soon as it has taken effect, it is already in jeopardy.
The incoming House Republican majority that you lead has made the repeal of the federal health care law one of its chief goals. We urge you to consider the unintended consequences that the law's repeal would have on a number of popular consumer protections that help middle class Americans. The "donut hole" fix is just one measure that would be threatened by a repeal effort. Taking this benefit away from seniors would be irresponsible and reckless at a time when it is becoming harder and harder for seniors to afford a healthy retirement.
If House Republicans move forward with a repeal of the health care law that threatens consumer benefits like the "donut hole" fix, we will block it in the Senate. This proposal deserves a chance to work. It is too important to be treated as collateral damage in a partisan mission to repeal health care.
Sincerely,
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin
Senate Democratic Vice Chairman Charles E. Schumer
Senate Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray
Senate Democratic Policy Committee Vice Chair Debbie Stabenow
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They complained that Obama spent too much time and political capital on getting Health Insurance Reform passed into law, and the first thing they want to waste time on is attempting to repeal legislation which they have no hope of ever accomplishing. Mr.Boehner, where are all the American jobs?
It really won't take much time at all Paul. Just don't fund the programs needed to implement ObamaCare. You do know Paul that all funding bills originate in the House? The heavily GOP House.
Hampering implementation of an existing law, and repealing it are two different activities. One is an act of sabotage, the other is called legislating. I look forward to Obama explaining the difference to the Republican EX-house members on their way to GITMO. That Patriot act is a real B!TCH !
Repeal and replace. If that fails, then defund the progams. It's what we voted for Nov. 2. Many of us do not consider this a "waste of time."
The GOPTP claims to be listening to voters, claim they learned a lot from the election yet are doing the opposite of what voters want--it's the economy, stupid. They'll have a hard time taking away the benefits which started Jan 1 especially those for seniors. And to the JoAnna Smith's of the world--defunding means placing the burden on the states which is what Bush 43 and the GOP did with No Child Left Behind. Want voter anger, go for it; the GOP is placating its base and that's all. They know they can't do it, this is for symbolism. Where are the jobs, Boehner?
Sabotage? Wow. Does Congress have no free will of it's own and must it fund programs even if there is no money to do so? Maybe a few public executions of some of these saboteurs will get the others in line?
You do realize Nancy and Harry could have defunded the two wars anytime they felt like it.
The states are already broke John B. Their public pension plans are severely underfunded, and that is the cause of much of the states debt. Load them up with more and more mandates, and soon enough you'll have no state services. You'll have great health care, but no other state services.
Just wondering John, if you and other Liberals thought the Bush mandates were so horrible, why were none of them addressed in the last two years by Obama, Reid, and Pelosi? It seems that Triangle of Dope had a lot (bad) to say about the Bush Tax Cuts, and did nothing about those either. Well, except extend them all at the last moment.
The Republicans have done such a superb job demonizing this Health Care bill, I had to read the article describing the changes twice, expecting to see something I might object to. But, basically, as I read it, middle class Americans on Medicare will get better coverage, doctors seeing Medicare patients will get more money, people with Flexible Health Accounts will not be able to use them to cover non-prescription drugs, except for things like insulin drugs and eyeglasses, premiums will go up for wealthier people on Medicare who can afford to pay more, and seniors will not have to choose between buying food or filling their perscriptions. The stuff about nutrition data on vending machines is a little silly, but hey, we are in an obesity epidemic, and we gotta do something! I think this bill is great!
All I want to know is whether the majority Senate Democrats (with the backing of their leadership)...are really going to make a serious effort to change the cloture and filibuster rules on Wednesday, the first day of the new Congress.
Hypocrites...
I'm betting on the status quo.
Any takers?
The GOP accomplished this mysterious and amazing feat by reading the bill aloud.
...and they found that it was chock full of GOP ideas.
I do so enjoy reading the conservative spin. And just why are the states bankrupt, "it's the economy, stupid". Pension funds suffered huge losses because of the Wall Street and financial system collapse in Sep 2008. That's why those funds are short. Want to blame someone, blame the lack of regulations that allowed Wall Street and the banking system to run amok with no controls. I have one thought for those who continue to rant against health care reform even though they know nothing about it except what FOX and the GOP feeds them--be prepared, because without it, only that 2% richest who get the biggest share of the tax cuts will be able to aford it. When did Americans become so selfish that they dismiss any and all things that are of benefit to everyone as unnecessary. I'm also convinced that if President Bush and the GOP had passed health care reform, it would be considered a great achievement for society (which it is but as with all other historic legislation, democrats did it....again).
No...we need fewer regulations on the financial sector...unless you're names are Fannie and Freddie...then we need to crack down!
thank you joann for the limbaugh side of things there is not one republican that read the bill they all got there marching orders from rush and his one goal to make sure a black man serves only one term and goes down as a failure like bush
My RepUGLIcan friends - defund the Military stupid and stop the wars. We'll be back on track in no time. How much koolaid can these conservatives digest - apparently truck loads.
Exactly Boner - where are the jobs. It's your problem now cry baby. By the way newly published on the conservative mind - telling on how these craniums work off fear.
"Researchers studied the brains of liberal and conservative people and found that those who were conservative in their ideology has "larger amygdalas, almond shaped areas in the center of the brain often associated with anxiety and emotion, and smaller anterior cingulates, an area at the front of the brain associated with courage and looking on the bright side of life."
And in other news, Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown was sworn in as California's governor.
So Moonbeam, where are the jobs?
ASIA. Thanks to Bush.
Ask Arnold, he's been the GOP Governor for 7 years but I agree with Paul--the jobs were shipped to Asia. US companies created 1.8 million jobs last year...overseas.
All just to provide the US consumer with the low cost goods they demanded US companies to provide them with. Yep, the consumer got what they wanted and listen to them howl!
Arnie is gov no more.
So Moonbeam, where are the jobs dude?
I dunno poor JoAnna: perhaps we should ask Boehner.
I would think there would be plenty of jobs for people with a shovel and truck. Lots of mud out there that needs to be moved. They could get California's mud, take it to New Orleans. Clean up one place, raise another.
Bigbear - sounds like a plan, well done!
where are the jobs sunbeam boehner
So the dow is fully rebounded (the market has grown more under President Obama than any other President), 1.1M jobs added (more than the entire Bush tenure), donought hole is being filled and the GOP wants to roll back to the Bush days! Thank God for the sane senate.
WRONG!
Under the Bush Administration--in his first term 4.2 million jobs were created, and during his 2nd term, 1.9 million jobs were created.
Since Obama took office, his administration has lost 3.2 million jobs--as of November 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobs_created_during_U.S._presidential_terms
I don't know about the stock market either--considering that after 9/11 that the market crashed to below 7000 and then went up to over 14,000 during the Bush years. But the market did fall again, after the Democrats won control of both houses in 2006.
But if you look at just the 1st day of a presidency and the last day, then Bush lost about 2000 points on the Dow Jones, But I would have to argue it has grown more under Obama, since it did go from 3300 in 1993 to 10,600 under Clinton. 1st to last day.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x18030
So I guess you are WRONG on both cases. What has Obama really done?
nadeen - Dow fully rebounded - not hardly.
Dow has grown under obama more than under any other president? - no. When you start on the down hill slide there is nothing left but to hit bottom and work ones way back to the top regardless of president.
More jobs added than during the entire bush tenure, again when on a downhill slope the only thing one can do is hit bottom and work back up to the top. Want to see two divergent takes on the matter check these out...
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/249516/job-creation-bush-vs-obama-veronique-de-rugy
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/01/09/bush-on-jobs-the-worst-track-record-on-record/
Just goes to show, opinions are just like azzholes, everyone has one. BTW - other than obama retaining/creating government jobs where are the private sector jobs? Apparently no one was offering "shovel ready" jobs to pay the taxes required to pay for the government workers salaries being added by obama.
Republicans want to roll back to the bush days? You must mean bush #1 when he left clinton with a BOOMING and GROWING economy.
As the global markets have changed I am sure that the republicans want Americans out of this slow growth economy (obamas fault) just as much as the democrats or independants want to be out of it.
bigbear - can't speak for your or nadeens home page but mine lists the daily activities of the dow, s&p500 and nasdac. I can click on "DOW" and see what the daily activity is. I can click on "historical graphs" and review its history from a month back to the twenties. Growth started to slowly increase under reagan, increased more under bush #1 and clinton and then exploded in 1994 only to stall and crash in 2000 before rebounding under bush #2 to record levels in 2007.
BTW I don't think that any president has any major influence on what the stock market does. The president can only hang on for the ride, good or bad.
One cannot blame the repUGLIcans. New study puiblished this week proves it:
:Researchers studied the brains of 92 people and found that those who were conservative in their ideology has "larger amygdalas, almond shaped areas in the center of the brain often associated with anxiety and emotion, and smaller anterior cingulates, an area at the front of the brain associated with courage and looking on the bright side of life."
Lighten up god fearin, gun protectin, fear mongerin, doomsday awaitin repUGLIcans. I rest my case.
So what else is new about the democrats being the new obstructionists and the party of NO!
Health care still has to be funded and the house writes the budget.
BTW, watched the McLaughlin group last night on PBS and it seems that former white house chief of staff rahn emmanual recommended to obama that health care legislation be incrementally introduced over his term rather than introduced as over 2300 pages of good points and bad. If true, Rahm sounds pretty smart about life and politics.
However as bev of chicago pointed out on a previous FR thread today, most americans want the focus to be on jobs followed by the economy and spending. In my opinion both will be hard to seperate from one another, so we shall see.
OMG please dont get the hormonal weeper of the house Boehner crying ...It's so embrassing for the people of the USA to see this bozo get all weepy ! This guy is creepy !!!!
I'm just glad the political pendulum swung to the right in a mid-term year. Have fun de-funding prescription drug subsidies for seniors. Thats about all House leadership can realistically accomplish on this issue. I'm guessing that in 22 months the average swing voter will be growing tired of this House.
Judging from some of the polls out there - they already are and the new Congress hasn't even been sworn in yet!
The instant gratification crowd are a restless bunch!
Good to see you around Charles - trust you had nice holidays!
Really Fisty Redbush, what polls would that be... The right doesn't need to repeal Healtchare, they need to replace the bad parts and replace them with a more common sense approach. For starters, get rid of insuring adult children until the age of 26...
That's right JFK. Go ahead and waste time on a repeal that is not going to happen. Remember, VETO.
It should never even get through the Senate. They are wasting everyone's time.
Hey Job 1, read by post dumb@ss...
Hey JFK, the right isn't going to repeal or replace health care. All they want to do is take care of the insurance companies.
JFK, This is exactly what I'm talking about. I couldn't find the poll but I've read in many places that this is one of the popular parts of the HCR. I'm not arguing that it is a good idea, what I'm saying is that this part is very popular, much like the doughnut hole fix is popular among senior. My point is that the average Joe (not the plumber!) doesn't understand HCR but they like some of the individual parts once they understand them.
So let the Republicans raise prescription drug prices on seniors and kick young adults off their parents insurance plans. That should help the Democrats make up some lost ground in 2012.
My favorite one is the individual mandate, which I believe a majority of Americans are against. I'd love for the Republicans to craft a bill that removes only this part of the law and see how the CBO scores it. If that was a stand alone bill I prety sure it would have price tag of hundreds of billions of dollars or more. The Tea Party should love that one!
I'm not sure if either party " gets it ", though I'm inclined to think the Republicans do. The country is, by and large, tired fo the same old BS talking points. The Democrats blew an opportunity to hold onto power the same way the Republicans did. Apparently, the Democrats don't seem to believe they got fired becuase of their policies ( as the Republicans have admitted ). They think they got fired because they didn't talk long enough or loud enough. If they want to play the same old politics, the Republicans have nothing to fear, assuming they deliver anything close to responsible legislative performance. Compromise is not a dirty word, unless you're selling out the principles which you stood on to get elected.
Go GOP... the party of MAKERS not takers...
The rise of the Tea Party will doom the Republicans...where have the moderates gone...many thanks to self serving conservatives like Roger Ailes, Rush Limbaugh, and ideological liberal pursists like Keith Obermann. Obama may not be perfect, and he isn"t, but compared to crybaby Boehner and 'defeat the enemy at the cost of all americans'-McConnell Obama is a voice of sanity, calm discourse and middle of the road ideas.
The rise of the American Tea Party has doomed the Dems instead of the Republicans. The American Tea
Party is the American people. Moms, Dads, Children, Veterans, in-laws, sister, brother, friends and
relatives and extended family. The Dems have paid a huge price for demeaning these Americans. If the
Repubs don't live up to their expectations , we are going to replace them and your sawdust President.
Ha Juven, you can't be serious. Put Crazy Palin in the race for President on the Republican ticket, PLEASE.
to vote
If the Republicans want to repeal Heath Care reform for everyone, they first need to step up and repeal their government paid health care benefits. Can't have it both ways. I'd rather pitch in for health insurance for myself than pay for theirs.
Lets not get caught up in mindless babble.
It's funny how the Republican-Tea Party people keep saying wait until they take power and repeal health care that some magic event is going to happen and suddenly the country is going to be all better as far as they are concerned. All they will be doing is wasting time and money on a repeal that is not going to happen.
They think their people can come to Washington and not work with the Democrats and the President and just say we are going to block you and not fund anything and create even more of a stale mate, while the country slides off track even more.
I have yet to hear of any plan that the Republican-Tea Party has for solving the problems. Oh, you will hear cut spending and take the country back. But, there is no plan, just general talk of, "Stop Obama." But, in reality their main funders are fighting to keep big corporations interest ahead of the American People.
In the real world President Obama is still the President and he will veto any crazy bills or repeals the Republicans try to push, and second the Republicans will have to get off their butts and do some real work like working with the President and Democrats instead of saying "NO," and trying to make the President a one term President.
Also, any talk of shutting the Government down, like defunding, would have terrible repercussions for all and would seriously damage our country. If you remember old Bill Clinton, who lost the House to Newt Gingrich and the GOP in 1994 and who was predicted by big mouths such as Rush Limbaugh and others on the far right to be a one term President. Well, we all know what happened there, where Newt and his boys tried to push the President around by shutting down the government, and it backfired and the President won reelection.
Actually, I'm hoping that these obstruction actions in the long run will strengthen health care reform as it's again debated on the national stage and people see all of the good reform is doing, and people start to realize the true colors of the Republican-Tea Party.
Researchers studied the brains of conservative and liberal people and found that those who were conservative in their ideology has "larger amygdalas, almond shaped areas in the center of the brain often associated with anxiety and emotion, and smaller anterior cingulates, an area at the front of the brain associated with courage and looking on the bright side of life."
Such brains are ideal for manipulation by the fear mongerers, corporate profiteers and crying representatives.
The 10% unemployment during the Dems reign of terror in the Congress has condemned to the dustbin of
history. Now, in some circles they are disowning what they have sown. Another deception is that they are
trying their level best to pin the Death Panels on the Repubs. These Dem Death Panelers are trying their
best to wriggle out from the misery they have caused the American people and some are now disowning
their sawdust President.
Juven
I do believe you're delusional.
Juven, there you go talking silly. There are no death panels so drop the nonsense. You and the Republicans wish we would disown our President. Last, how high was unemployment before the President took office. Lets not forget the free fall of our economy immediately when the President took office. This mess certainly didn't start the second he took office.
I realize that you and your kind will continue to rant on, regardless of proven facts, because you really don't have anything positive to say about our country's situation prior to the President being elected. Why do you think he won by such a wide margin?
The Party of No threw this country into a tail spin. Some were panic stricken and voted for the Republicans. Believe me, during these next 2 years everyone will see what the Republican and Tea Party really stand for. It will have nothing to do with the American people.
I am looking forward to 2012 when this country will be able to vote the bought Republicans and crazy Tea Party OUT.
"The 10% unemployment during the Dems reigm of terror in Congress has condemned to the dustbin of history"
The over 9% unemployment rate came about the following year after Bush/Cheyney left this country in a recession headed for a depression. Sorry to disappoint you but Obama was not in office long enough to create this disaster. Virtually impossible. So we're changing that to "the GOP's reign of terror."
You must make truth and accountability a higher standard in you thinking.
btw - I gave you a vote by mistake. Was trying to reply.
Very interesting logic Juven. What church do you belong to? FauxPrey Methodist?
Juven,
Remember, you guys had Bush for eight years and he came so close to destroying our country. Thank God, for President Obama. Now we are re-building
It's a little to late now, but I believe that the American people are seeing the true colors of the Republicans and it doesn’t look like they will gain any ground in the 2012 elections.
Say bye, bye to the tea party.
Jobs1, you can't blame Juven. It's not his fault. I requote the study published yesterday:
Researchers studied the brains of conservative and liberal 92 people and found that those who were conservative in their ideology has "larger amygdalas, almond shaped areas in the center of the brain often associated with anxiety and emotion, and smaller anterior cingulates, an area at the front of the brain associated with courage and looking on the bright side of life."
Amen!
Good Research. Thank You, RKapoor
Put aside ideology and listen to some daily reality. I became self-employed after I lost my job. I found that health insurance companies either would not cover me because of a pre-existing condition (I take medication for high blood pressure) or would charge me $1,200 per month. I could not afford $1,200 per month, so I went without health insurance. During that time I deferred regular health checkups, and stopped taking some of my prescription meds because of their cost. (Bad idea). Then Obama's healthcare program came along, and it has a special provision for people with pre-existing conditions. It costs $557 per month for people my age (55-65), which I can afford. Dude, walk a mile in my shoes and then talk about healthcare legislation.
Morris, I don't think there's anyone on either side of the political aisle who would deny that you having medical coverage is a good thing, but the cost of your now affordable coverage has increased the heck out of premiums for the rest of us. I work for a small firm where 9 people on staff participate in our insurance program. My youngest staffers in the 25-30 age group are paying higher premiums with no pre-existing conditions than you are. I don't for a moment begrudge you your affordable coverage, but the coverage for people who use almost no coverage over the course of the year are paying more than people with chronic conditions because of how the health insurance industry is structured. This is my problem with HCR- there are many good points, but what it neglected to do was implement any sort of change over the insurance industry itself. That is where the brunt of our increased medical expenses stems from and instead of doing something to manage that rising expense, HCR handed them a bumper crop of new customers to further increase profits while our costs continue to increase.
Can someone please toss me a scorecard on Medicare Part D because it's just impossible to keep up on it without one. Passing Part D was irresponsible because it created a huge unfunded program to provide seniors with some prescription coverage (help me out, I'm no where near retirement age so I haven't a clue, were prescriptions covered through Medicare prior to the passage of part D?), then Part D was bad because it created the donut hole so the poor people who now have at least some coverage didn't get enough coverage even though that would have cost more money. So now, the unfunded evil coverage provided by Part D is suddenly supposed to be the greatest thing ever since we're going to throw more money at it through HCR to close the donut hole and we can't repeal it because that would be irresponsible? Do I have it all straight?