Wonder what your senators were up to all weekend as Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to ram his health bill through by Christmas?
Filing 59 amendments, that’s what. And as might be expected, not many of them, mostly filed by Democrats, had much to do with providing health insurance for the uninsured, which is supposed to be the reason for healthcare reform in the first place–but they sure did involve spending plenty of taxpayers’ money.
My favorite pork-tastic additions to the bill (taken from Politico’s list) come from Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan:
• SA 2883 Stabenow – Centers of Excellence for Depression
• SA 2884 Stabenow – heart disease education, analysis research, and treatment for women
• SA 2885 Stabenow – telehealth programs
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• SA 2925 Stabenow – state health access program grants
But here are some doozies from Sen. Tom Carper of Deleware:
• SA 2889 Carper – penalizing plans that have “excess health plan costs”
• SA 2890 Carper – dissemination of advanced care planning information
• SA 2891 Carper – workplace wellness grants for small businesses
• SA 2892 Carper – penalizing plans that have “excess health plan costs”
I like these from Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota:
• SA 2907 Klobuchar – remote monitoring pilot projects for home health agencies
• SA 2908 Klobuchar – support for family caregivers under Medicare and Medicaid
Klobuchar’s fellow Minnesotan, Sen. Al Franken weighs in:
• SA 2910 Franken – health plan reporting requirements on how premium dollars are spent and payment of rebates for non-claims costs exceeding 10%
• SA 2911 Franken – national diabetes prevention program
Don’t forget Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey:
• SA 2931 Lautenberg – disclosure of insurance company executive compensation
• SA 2932 Lautenberg – diabetes in minority populations
• SA 2933 Lautenberg – study by HHS Secretary on geographic variation in application of federal poverty level
Last but not least, from Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas:
• SA 2939 Pryor – enrollee satisfaction survey for plans offered through the exchange
See what our Dem senators care most about? Diabetes, depression, and making sure that nobody who works for an insurance company takes home a nickel. I’m depressed already about how many extra millions all this will cost on top of the current $1 trillion bill. Sign me up for a Center of Excellence!