Humor day in the Senate
Scary single payer and a halt to Alaska energy projectsBy Mark Trahant
TrahantReports.Com Today is humor day in the Senate. But at least the healthcare debate will go on and on without a conclusion. And no matter what happens today and Friday there is still a long way to go. The Senate has at least ten more hours of official debate on a House bill that’s been substituted with language that neither we nor senators have yet seen. (Leading to great theatrics by the Senate Democrats who said they’d offer no more amendments until there was an actual bill with, you know, like words in it.) But even without an actual bill Democrats sent the framework of the so-called “Skinny Repeal” to the Congressional Budget Office for a score and the answer is more of the same, the number of uninsured would increase from 28 million to 44 million in a decade. Nonetheless by Friday there will be some sort of proposal that’s designed to get 50 votes so the legislation will go to a conference committee with the House. This Skinny Repeal strips the individual mandate (causing a mess in insurance) but leaves Medicaid alone. For now. Basically this means the House will get its way and senators will be forced to vote for that approach or nothing. It’s a risky strategy when the Republican majority is so slim. Actually in both houses. Today the Senate will consider a proposal for universal health care, Medicare for all. Consider is not the right word here because the proposal is already doomed. But Montana Sen. Steve Daines wants Democrats on record voting for this scary, scary idea.
But as Pat Bagley, the cartoonist for The Salt Lake Tribune tweeted yesterday, not one country that’s gone down the single payer path has reversed course. It’s the United States that is the outlier with our incomprehensible health care “system.” Even Bernie Sanders, who is for Medicare for All, said he won’t vote for this amendment because it’s a ruse. Daines won’t be voting for his own amendment either. That’s not the point. Daines told the Helena Independent Record Wednesday night: “It’s time for every senator to go on the record on whether or not they support a single-payer system.” So, while we are at it, let’s be clear about what Single Payer could do for the Indian health system. Indian Health Service funding would jump by at least 40 percent in a Medicare for all approach. The agency (and the tribal and nonprofit operations) would be equal with other healthcare providers; getting paid for every patient instead of worrying about appropriations or tracking down insurance payments from companies, Medicaid, and other third-party payers. So it would be a financial boom. Big time. But as I said: Medicare for all is really not on the table. The Senate vote is just supposed to frighten Democrats. So. Be careful. Or Congress will give you health care. Aye..@SenateMajLdr just called up my amendment to put Senators on the record on whether or not they support a single-payer healthcare system.
— Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) July 26, 2017
Speaking of bad jokes, I laughed at the Trump administration’s threats to Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski. According to the Alaska Dispatch News, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke warned Murkowski that Alaska energy projects could suffer because of her vote (and her leadership) against the GOP health care proposals. (I do think she could lose her Energy Committee chairmanship, but that, too is a silly move by Republicans in a narrowly divided Senate.) So the Trump administration that wants Energy for All is telling a Senator who’s pro-energy that Alaska development is in trouble because she’s against their destruction of health care. Now that’s some weighty logic. Nonetheless Alaska Senator, Dan Sullivan reported this threat with a straight face. He told the Alaska Dispatch News that it’s a “troubling message … I’m not going to go into the details, but I fear that the strong economic growth, pro-energy, pro-mining, pro-jobs and personnel from Alaska who are part of those policies are going to stop.” So oil companies be warned. You could be punished. As will we all. Be afraid. And remember universal care for all is up today. So keep the children away from the Senate TV. Mark Trahant is the Charles R. Johnson Endowed Professor of Journalism at the University of North Dakota. He is an independent journalist and a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. To read more of his regular #NativeVote16 updates, follow trahantreports.com On Facebook: TrahantReports On Twitter: @TrahantReports
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