Allison Bricker

WASHINGTON D.C. – Congressional leaders from the Democrat majority met with President Obama in a closed door meeting yesterday to discuss the possibilities of forcing health care legislation through the House of Representatives, Senate, and onto the President’s desk before the end of the year. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) met in Private with the President in preparation to his speech on Wednesday night before a Joint-Session of the United States Congress.

According to insiders on Capitol Hill, President Obama impressed upon both the Speaker and Senate Majority Leader the absolute necessity of getting health care legislation passed as soon as feasibly possible. The President and Congressional leaders are optimistic despite vocal and persistent opposition faced by members of Congress during their summer recess at town halls across the country. This comes as no surprise to political analysts since Speaker Pelosi and other Congressional members from the majority sought to cast opposition as “racist” in an attempt to discredit critics of the Central Authority’s push for control over the health care industry.

In preparation for his address before Congress and the nation, the President spent the weekend working through the night at Camp David located in Frederick County Maryland penning his speech long hand, which at last report, totaled ten pages before then turning it over to aides in his administration for revision.

Expectations are that during the President’s speech, he will seek to correct what are by his view mischaracterizations and fabrications surrounding the government’s health care plan. In addition, there is a strong likelihood that the President will clarify the Administration’s stance on whether or not a public option will remain after remarks by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told CNN’s John King:

“it [public option] is not the essential element”

Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary of Health and Human Service

In the coming weeks “The Smoking Argus Daily” will further delve into the details of the government’s health care plan offering comprehensive reports, editorial, and, analyze key features of the plan such as:

Allison Bricker

Members of Congress Free to Sue Insurance Companies if harmed, the Public Cannot.

WASHINGTON D.C. – Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), refused to allow a vote on an amendment to H.R. 3200 designed to strip Tort immunity granted to insurance companies in cases of injury or wrongful death. During the fifth and final day of debate in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative Waxman in his role as Chairman, cited a “jurisdictional” point of order, despite several colleagues and parliamentarians advising to the contrary.

The amendment, authored by Representative John Shadegg (R-AZ/3), sought to remove what he referred to as a “stealth provision” in the bill. Specifically, Section 151 of “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009″ (H.R. 3200) extends immunity to all health insurance policies under the “Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974″ (ERISA) which result in injury or death due to a denial of coverage. The main point of contention arises due to the fact that plans under ERISA, prevent injured parties from recovering any type of damages via the courts. One notable exception to ERISA is members of Congress and their families, who are free to pursue damages unabated.

Currently, plans fall under the jurisdiction of ERISA if offered as a benefit of employment or are a negotiated provision under a union contract. However, insurance plans purchased by an individual for themselves or family from the private sector offer no such civil immunity to the insurance companies.

Representative Frank Pallone Junior (D-NJ/6) who in his career has received millions in campaign contributions from the health care and insurance industries originally raised the point of order. Thus consequently, the bill passed out of committee by a vote of 31 to 28 with the tort immunity in tact. The full house will have a chance to vote on the bill upon returning from their August recess.

If this provision of the bill remains unchanged, all Americans will be unable to seek any remedy for a denial of care, whether experienced due to the fiduciary constraints of all “fixed cost” systems or from health care bureaucrats determining a procedure is unnecessary.

That is, unless they become a member of Congress first.

Other Related Material
	GPO certified version of HR 3200 (PDF 1.78mb)
	Full Text of ERISA Act of 1974
	Committee Hearing over Amendment to HR 3200 (7/31/2009)