Liberal Activists Do Not Like Baucus Bill

The gigantic conglomeration of liberal activists and interest groups Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is not a fan of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus's health care bill, which was released this morning. HCAN and its member organizations have accounted for almost all of the activist and advertising push behind President Obama's health care reform effort this summer--it comprises nearly every influential liberal group one can think of--and it has decided that Baucus's attempt at a compromise does not pass muster.

HCAN National Campaign Manager Richard Kirsch had this to say about it, in a statement emailed to press:

The Baucus bill is a gift to the insurance industry that fails to meet the most basic promise of health care reform: a guarantee that Americans will have good health care that they can afford. The Baucus bill would give a government-subsidized monopoly to the private insurance industry to sell their most profitable plans - high-deductible insurance - without having to face competition from a public health insurer.

Under the Baucus bill, employers would have no responsibility to help pay for their workers' coverage and would be given incentives to have workers pay more for barebones insurance. Americans who don't get health benefits through work would still not be able to get good, affordable coverage.

We urge Senators on the Finance Committee to replace the Baucus plan with legislation that will do what the Senate HELP Committee and three House committees have done: guarantee that Americans have good health insurance that they can afford with the choice of a strong national public health insurance option.

It's not surprising that liberals don't like Baucus's plan; they've long demanded a public option, which Baucus's plan does not include, and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) announced yesterday that he won't vote for it as is. The institutional weight of the left has come down hard on Baucus's efforts, perhaps partly due to the frustration of waiting so long while a moderate Democrat tried, and failed, to craft a bill that would garner GOP support, as Obama's hard August deadline was completely blown and conservatives hammered the overall project.

Now that the bill is out, the Senate will likely start the amendment process next week, and as senators will offer their own changes, health care legislation could go in almost any direction, or it could grind completely to a halt. For everyone involved, the goal is now to push that direction as close to his/her own liking as possible.