Clem’s Chronicles: Health Care Bill/Swine Flu/Limbaugh and the St. Louis Rams

Happy Monday night folks. Here's what we're working on……

HEALTH CARE BILL/INSURANCE INDUSTRY WEIGHS IN AT 11TH HOUR ON BAUCUS BILL-With the Senate Finance Committee scheduled to vote on the Baucus Health Care bill tomorrow, the health-care insurance industry releases a report throwing their two cents in: It’s gonna cost ya!  Jake Tapper, reporting live from the White House for WORLD NEWS, explains: “The head of the health insurance industry’s powerful lobbying group said the Senate Finance Committee bill will raise annual insurance premiums for a typical family by $4000.” $4K? You got my attention insurance man. Mr. Tapper explains how they arrive at this conclusion-Tapper: “Among other reasons they say it does not impose enough penalties to require every American to get health insurance. And without those tens of millions of new customers to help defray costs, the insurance industry will have to raise premiums.” Karen Ignagni, the president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the group that issued the study sounded a much different tune seven months ago when she was quoted during a meeting with President Obama saying “you have our commitment to play, to contribute, and to help pass health care reform this year.” White House/Democratic reaction? Tapper: “White House officials today said they feed broadsided…today the White House called the study ‘self-serving” and a spokesman for Senate Democrats called it a ‘hatchet job’.” The White House take is a wee bit different…Tapper: “White House officials argued the study ignores several measures in the bill that would bring in millions of new customers and would reduce costs.” The ABC NEWS MEDICAL UNIT reached out to industry experts for their take on the study. Tapper: “Health care experts with whom ABC NEWS spoke overwhelmingly rejected the methodology of the insurance industry study by accounting and consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers with one of the experts saying ‘the numbers seem to show a worst-case picture. In that sense, they could be considered alarmist.” But Tapper adds “other experts agree with some of the group’s conclusions”. Charles Gibson asked George Stephanopoulos what he thought the impact of today’s release of the study would be. Stephanopoulos: “This report could feed into the fears of the public about increased costs. But it’s also likely to stiffen the spine of Democrats who wanted to get tougher on the industry with premium caps.” What about tomorrow’s vote in the Senate Finance Committee? Any Republican going to support? All the Democrats behind the bill? Stephanopoulos: “(Maine Republican) Olympia Snowe is the big question mark…she hasn’t told anyone how she is going to vote. There are a couple of Democrats as well-Jay Rockefeller (WV) and Ron Wyden (OR) haven’t said how they’re going to vote either.” While both the Senate Dems and the White House tell Stephanopoulos that they have enough votes to get the bill out of the Senate Finance Committee tomorrow, the bill is certainly not done “evolving” Stephanopoulos: “Now the hard part starts. You got three committees in the House that passed the bill and two committees in the Senate. Nancy Pelosi is going to take those house bills and put them into one unified bill (as is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid). They hope to bring these (unified bills) to the floor of their bodies around October 26th and there could be fierce floor fights then.”

SWINE FLU PREPAREDNESS:  An editorial released today by the Journal of the American Medical Association questioned hospitals’ preparedness for an influx of H1N1 patients, and said that hospitals must prepare their staffs and develop policies to deal with scarce resources. “While the vast majority of H1N1 flu cases are mild, severe cases often worsen rapidly…from respiratory failure to shock, to multi-system organ failure.  Today’s editorial questions whether intensive care units are prepared to handle a surge of these cases,” John McKenzie reported on WORLD NEWS.  Grace Huang’s H1N1 note states that JAMA’s editorial was “written in response to an article finding that during the first wave of H1N1 swine flu in Canada, 14.3% of critically ill swine flu patients died within 28 days of critical illness onset and an additional 3% died within 90 days.”  McKenzie reports that “there are even questions about whether many US hospitals have enough ICU doctors and nurses to treat an influx of severe cases…health officials say hospitals not only need to be stocking more antibiotics and antiviral medications, mask and ventilators…they need to start addressing the worst-case-scenarios: When there’s still not enough to go around, how would hospitals ration scarce resources?”  McKenzie tells us that JAMA’s editorial “does suggest some creative new approaches, including designating specific influenza hospitals in a region to treat the most severe cases, and a greater use of video conferencing so experienced doctors could oversee the most difficult cases, wherever they may be.”  For the latest editorial on H1N1, please see Grace Huang’s note to the Medical DL. (thanks to Marisa Bramwell for this entry)

LIMBAUGH-ST. LOUIS RAMS CONTROVERSY:  Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson joined the push against conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh becoming part owner of the St. Louis Rams.  Rev. Sharpton fired off a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell requesting Limbaugh be prevented from bidding on the football team because Limbaugh has been “divisive and anti-NFL on several occasions,” more recently with his “statement that the NFL was beginning to look like a fight between the Crips and the Bloods without the weapons.”  Rev. Sharpton’s response to the bid is just the latest in a string of public protests against Limbaugh’s bid on the team.  “What’s wrong with Limbaugh buying a team?” David Muir asked on WORLD NEWS. “Some of the players point to comments like this one, about quarterback Donovan McNabb in 2003: ‘I don’t think he’s been that good from the get-go.  I think that we’ve had here a little social concern in the NFL.  I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback to well.’”  Limbaugh responded to the criticism today on his radio show: "Now, this saddens me as well this disappoints me…I know Rev. Sharpton. Sharpton is better than this. He knows better than this. You know, I didn't judge Al Sharpton's fitness to be in radio when he wanted to earn an honest living for once, given his well-documented past as the author of the Tawana Brawley hoax. I believe in freedom and I also don't discriminate."  NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league is aware of the concerns over Limbaugh’s bid, but that “it is very early in the process and no transfer of ownership of the Rams has been presented to the league for review." (thanks to Marisa Bramwell for this entry)

PAKISTAN-A succession of bombings that have taken place recently in Pakistan have military analysts wondering just how safe Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are. Nick Schifrin, reporting for WORLD NEWS from Rawalpindi, Pakistan expounds on recent events: “Today, in a place which an Army offensive had supposedly made safe, a man was able to drive a car right next to a military convoy and blow himself up. This comes within days of a suicide bombing in Peshawar that one victim said looked like doomsday…an explosion inside a UN building, an attempt to intimidate foreigners…and the most audacious attack-an assault on military headquarters designed to humiliate the country’s most powerful institution. It’s as if the Taliban broke into the Pentagon.” And it sounds like things aren’t going to be getting any better any time soon. Schifrin adds that “the reason the attacks have gotten more sophisticated and deadly is a Taliban nexus with militants from Pakistan’s heartland.” Schifrin explains, introducing us to Dr. Usman, a former Army member who “became a militant working with al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other Islamic militants. Those groups are now teaming up to topple Pakistan’s government, seen as too close to the U.S….and turn (Pakistan) into a terrorist safe haven.” And how about those nukes? Schifrin with a less-than-reassuring answer: “Pakistan insists its’ nuclear weapons are safe, but admits it’s impossible to stop militants everywhere.”

DYLAN KLEBOLD’S MOTHER SPEAKS OUT FOR FIRST TIME-“For the rest of my life, I will be haunted by the horror and anguish Dylan caused. Dylan changed everything I believed about myself, about God, about family, and about love.” Those were some of the words of Susan Klebold to Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine. Why is she speaking out now? Dan Harris, who filed for WORLD NEWS, says that according to “a spokesperson for O Magazine, Susan Klebold hopes to raise awareness for suicide prevention programs.”
 
MUDSLIDES- Southern California communities near wildfire burn areas are preparing for the possibility of mudslides as a strong Pacific storm remains on course for the West Coast. The National Weather Service says there's a potential for widespread rain tomorrow and Wednesday, with the possibility of mud and debris flows from the burn areas. (AP)

OTHER STUFF-
–KARZAI INTERVIEW-Diane Sawyer has a 6:15am ET pre-tape with Afghan President Hamid Karzai tomorrow morning. Karzai is in Kabul and will join us via remote.
–TRIBAL NATIONS CONFERENCE- On the campaign trail, Barack Obama vowed to appoint an American Indian policy adviser to his senior White House staff to work with tribes and  host an annual summit at the White House with tribal leaders.  He fulfilled the first promise in July, naming Kimberly Teehee as senior policy adviser for Native American affairs and a member of his Domestic Policy Council.  Next month, he’ll make good on the second part of this, hosting a White House Tribal Nations Conference.
It will take place on Thursday, November 5th. (Yunji de Nies)
–BASEBALL PLAYOFFS/SWEEPS COST TBS MONEY-First the good news for MLB division series playoff broadcaster TBS-ratings are up 10% from the same round last year. Now the bad-with three out of the four series ending in 3-game sweeps, TBS has many fewer games to sell advertising on. At most, if the Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies needed a fifth game in their series, TBS would have 14 division series games to show, instead of a possible 20. TBS has to hope for some help in the next round. TBS is set to broadcast the National League Championship Series between the Dodgers and the winner of the Phillies-Rockies series starting Thursday. Fox, a News Corp. division, broadcasts the American League Championship Series between the Yankees and Angels starting Friday. (AP)