Scott Brown For Health Insurance Reform Before He Was Against It?
Posted: Wednesday, January 20, 2010
by Yamileth Medina
VitalOne Health
Senator-elect Scott Brown won his seat largely due to voter discontent over healthcare reform. The newest Massachusetts senator is a symbol of populist anger, and a possible harbinger for more wide-ranging Democratic defeats in the fall mid-term elections. He has vowed to be the 41st vote that will stand in the way of health insurance legislation. Ironically, it turns out that Brown voted in favor of his state's healthcare reform legislation, which was enacted in 2006.The most controversial portion of those back-room deals was a compromise drafted on behalf of Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. Nelson, a centrist Democrat, was ambivalent about the health insurance reform bill. He was concerned with both cost controls and limitations on abortion coverage. In exchange for his vote, Nebraska was granted an exemption from paying its share of federal Medicaid public insurance funds. Even with that concession, Reid barely scraped together the 60 votes needed to prevent a Republican filibuster.
Obviously, such a move is not politically popular with most people in the other 49 states. Some state Attorney Generals even threatened to file a lawsuit against the federal government if the bill passed, claiming that the Nebraska exception is unconstitutional. For Brown, who continually referred to Ted Kennedy's old seat as "The People's Seat", going along with such internal Washington politics would be career suicide.
Beyond those ethical concerns, Scott Brown has used the standard party line talking points. Instead of providing affordable health insurance to millions of uninsured Americans, he says, the healthcare reform currently on the table will lead to an increased national deficit and higher taxes while simultaneously worsening the quality of medical care. However, the health insurance plan he supported several years ago in Massachusetts shares many traits with President Obama's current proposal. It includes a mandate to buy individual health insurance, in addition to subsidies for those unable to afford it. There are public programs for those under the poverty level (Medicaid), senior citizens (Medicare), and children (Healthy Families), but there is no overarching public option.
That healthcare reform bill, signed by former Republican Governor Mitt Romney, has had mixed results. Cost increases are an issue that must be dealt with in the state budget, but nearly all Massachusetts residents now have affordable health insurance. Brown is not running from his support of the state legislation. In fact, Brown touts his state's system as an example of why national healthcare reform is unnecessary: according to him, Massachusetts is home to some of the best hospitals, doctors, and nurses in the nation. Confusingly, that statement somewhat undercuts his argument of medical insurance reform resulting in decreased quality of care.
Moreover, Brown claims that he does not want his state to subsidize those states that have failed to do something about their own costly health care systems. He also says that the congressional healthcare reform bill is too generic, unlike the Massachusetts system. The seemingly one-size-fits-all national health insurance exchange market does not appeal to small-government Republicans. Therefore, Brown believes it is best to scrap the entire bill entirely and start over. Whether or not his request is genuine remains to be seen. Although he received support from so-called "tea party" members against health insurance entirely, Scott Brown's campaign website admits that he supports reform under certain conditions: "I support strengthening the existing private market system with policies that will drive down costs and make it easier for people to purchase affordable insurance." As for his old vote as a state Senator, Brown continues to "support the 2006 healthcare law that was successful in expanding coverage, but [recognizes] that the state must now turn its attention to controlling costs."
Such seeming transparency has not allowed Brown to avoid being considered in some corners as a "flip-flopper". The term helped cost Brown's new colleague, fellow Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the presidency in 2004: he initially voted in favor of the war in Iraq, but later reconsidered and apologized for his former vote. The criticism has come mostly from liberals, who see little difference in the state affordable health insurance proposal he supported and the national one he does not--other than their respective popularity in the polls.
(Image: University of Central Oklahoma)
Yamileth Medina is an up and coming expert on Health Insurance and Healthcare Reform. She aims to help people realize that they can find quality medical insurance right now. Yamileth lives in Miami, FL.
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