Durbin's Reply to 11-8-09 post on Health Care

His reply to my email about how our interns could put together better proposals than congress can. I don't think he really addressed that concern, but here is his response anyway:

Thank you for contacting me about the health plans available to other federal employees and me. I appreciate hearing from you.

Senators have the same health insurance options as other federal employees. The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) offers a menu of health insurance plans, and federal employees can choose the plan that is best for them. Senators have the same choices and pay the same premiums and co-payments as any other federal employee.

I have been working to give all Americans a similar opportunity. Two years ago, I introduced legislation that offers small businesses the same range of choices available to me and other federal employees. President Obama has proposed to extend the choice of private health insurance plans to millions of individuals who have few options today.

Too many Americans cannot afford the health plans offered by today's for-profit insurance companies. A public option will provide competition that will hold private plans accountable and help moderate the price of health insurance. No one will be forced to join a public option - it will be a voluntary choice available in addition to existing plans.

If health care reform gives Americans a chance to choose the public option, I believe federal employees also should be given that option. Since the public option is intended to be a voluntary choice, no one should be forced into it. Any federal employee who does not want to choose the public option should have the right to remain in the private plan of his or her choice.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please feel free to keep in touch.

Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator

RJD/kg

More Health Care questions for Senators

Below is an email I sent to both our senators.

I have a few questions about the public health care option.

1. What will the limits on coverage be under the public option? Since we obviously can't spend an infinite amount of money curing every disease, how much coverage will each person have under the public option?

2. If the premium is less than the expected costs (such as the limitations proposed in section 213 of HR 3962 and section 222.a.3), where will the remaining premium come from?

3. In section 222.a, paragraph 5 and paragraph 3 seem to be in contradiction. Can you please explain this?

4. What is the difference between the Health Insurance Exchange and the Public Health Insurance Option?

5. From reading the bill, it looks like the Basic Plan of the Health Insurance Exchange will offer the same benefits as those outlined in title II. With no limitations on annual or lifetime benefits, how will this type of unlimited coverage be paid for? Will we spend an unlimited amount of money on health care claims? If not, what will the limits be?

6. What problems are the proposals in title I and title II attempting to solve? How will Title I and Title II solve those problems? What are the pros and cons of these solutions?

7. What are the health insurance Cooperatives in Section 310?

8. Section 322.a.1.b.i says that the premiums for the public health insurance option will fully finance the costs? How will individuals that can't afford health insurance benefit under the current systems benefit from a public option that still requires them to pay the entire premium?

9. Section 343 seems to say, basically, that the premium will be lowered depending on the households income. Am I understanding this correctly?

10. It doesn't seem like there will be enough money to pay for this public health insurance plan. Can you explain that part to me?

HR 3962 - Affordable Health Care for America Act

A letter to Senator Durbin:

Senator Durbin,

We have college interns where I work and we give them research projects to work on. The projects have a clear, well-defined problem that need to be solved and these college students provide us with well-documented research that provides us with all the information about the problem. Then the students put together a clear proposal that outlines the pros and cons of choosing that solution and give us an explanation as to why they have come to conclusion that the solution they chose will best meet our objectives. Why is it that college students are better at putting together proposals than our congress is? You and the rest of congress are so loyal to your respective political clubs, that you seem to have forgotten that it's your job to develop the best solutions to problems that meet the needs of the entire country. But instead, you vote on the first bill that you think will please slightly more than half your constituents and the rest of the members of your political club. Before you vote for HR 3962, please provide me and the rest of your constituents with a proposal that is as good as (but hopefully better than) what our college interns could do. If our college interns proposed solutions like congress did, they'd all be fired.

I'll let you know if he repsonds.