I am not political. But I couldn’t help but laugh at a story the Associated Press ran on August 27th. The article was about the health care reform efforts and comments made by Congressman Pete Stark (he heads the health subcommittee on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee) regarding members of his own political party. The Associated Press reported that Congressman Stark said that the so-called Blue Dog Democrats are “brain dead”, they just “want to cause trouble” and they are just out for insurance company campaign donations.
The reason I laughed about it is that last year, it was Congressman Stark who at the 23rd hour objected to the regulations put out by the government on Medicare Advantage products. We agents, after spending hours and hours in education regarding a program that runs from November 15th to December 31st had the regulations pulled on November 14th due to a letter Congressman Stark wrote. (And if I remember correctly, the revised “final regulations” did not come out until sometime the following February).
This is just another reason why there will be no health care bill – at least one that does ANYTHING to control out of control spending passed. And it will not be due to people who have honest objections to portions of the bill, but rather due to the fact that ones who are running things feel as Congressman Stark expressed – you are brain dead if you don’t agree with them. But the proof is in the pudding, as they say. If you advocate something, you should be able to point to something similar that has worked as intended. If you are unable to get simple regulations in final form by the deadline you set, a “brain active” person may have legitimate concerns about your position on other things.
There is no doubt that health care costs are a problem. Its a problem for all of us. Unfortunately, nothing in the current bill or anything else that has been done in my 30 years in this business seriously approaches things from the angle of controlling costs (other than rationing care). And if the only way you can save money is DON’T PAY FOR IT, how is that an improvement over anything?
Are you having problems finding “solutions that work” for you in the area of health insurance? Don’t just think nothing can be done. If you live in California or Nevada, call me and let me help you in this area. I can do nothing about the law or what is going on in Washington, but I can offer you my experience in making decisions now with what there is to choose from. I’ve been providing “solutions that work” for nearly 30 years. I can be reached at 209-390-1163.
