Blackburn: Health Care By the Numbers
EmailIf the devil is in the details, he may have met his match in Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
Many in Congress have ridiculed the size of the health reform package. But this morning on "This Week," Blackburn put her command of the 2,000+ page bill on full display:
"And, George, this is exactly how it happens. If you go to page 1,296 of the House bill, the engrossed copy, and you began to read in title three of that bill, on preventive and wellness services, and you get down to section 2301, this is what happens. In section 3131 of that bill, it changes the Preventive Services Task Force to the Clinical Preventive Services Task Force. Then, you go back and you see that that task force on preventive clinical services is tasked with rating A, B, C, D, or I all preventive services. Then you go back into section 222 of the bill…"
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKBURN: Yes, I have read this bill. And that indicates what would be paid or covered. And this is where the actual link comes, and I'll read it for you. In section 2301, it says, "All recommendations of the Preventive Services Task Force" — that's the group that did the mammograms — "and the Task Force on Community Preventive Services, as in existence on the day before the date of the enactment of this act, shall be considered to be recommendations of the Task Force on Clinical Preventive Services."
…
BLACKBURN: And when you look at what is going to happen with these 118 new bureaucracies with 62 directives that are given by the health choices commissioner on what insurance can be offered in this country after 2013 and what is going to be paid, you know that this is the bureaucrat in the exam room. This is how it's going to happen.
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If you watched the program today you could sure see who had read the bill and who had not. Why would anyone vote for a bill that she had not read and didnt konw what was in it, finally George had to read a part of the bill to her to show her that what she kept saying no to was actually in the bill. I hope all the democrates did not vote for a bill they had not read.???
Posted by: earl | November 22, 2009, 12:03 pm 12:03 pm
Blackburn was incredibly well-versed in this healthcare bill. How can congress ignore what she is saying? How can they ignore the collective will of Americans? Why do they insist on this horrible bill?
Posted by: hunterandmax | November 22, 2009, 12:07 pm 12:07 pm
Thank you Rep. Blackburn. I think they made the legislation so convoluted and incredibly long in hopes that nobody could read or understand it. I know Tennessee has been dealing with the problems their states health care legislation has caused. I so appreciate her input on the panel.
Posted by: wow | November 22, 2009, 12:16 pm 12:16 pm
Boring!!!!!!!
The real issue is that it is true that there is a lot of government waste and a lot of lobbyists influencing the politics, but the truth be told, I am sick & tired of hearing people complain about there health care plan & how expensive it is & how unfair it is when you are denied coverage for a trumped up charge of pre-existing conditions. Stop complaining and help the government push this health care bill. I want my tax payer money to go to treat all Americans instead of earmarked money, lobbyist money, war to fight terrorism {Ask Halliburton how much money they made from the Iraqi & Afghan war}. I hate being at the bottom of the list when it comes to good health care as compared to other third world countries. Wake up America. Here is your chance to better the lives of all of us. The biggest threat to human life is sickness & death.
Posted by: Eddie Quintero | November 22, 2009, 12:20 pm 12:20 pm
Blackburn was incredibly well-versed in this healthcare bill. How can congress ignore what she is saying?
hunterandmax | Nov 22, 2009 12:07:39 PM
Just as easily as Blackburn ignores the medical experts who have been working for years (they started under a Republican Congress and President, not that it really matters since they are independent and non-partisan) analyzing the data and studies on mammogram effectiveness.
Do you now want politicians to decide on where the balance is between screening for cancer an exposure to x-rays, which are known to actually be a cause of cancer? That’s the line Blackburn is pushing – ignore the experts to score a partisan point.
Posted by: jhw539 | November 22, 2009, 12:39 pm 12:39 pm
I think they made the legislation so convoluted and incredibly long in hopes that nobody could read or understand it.
wow | Nov 22, 2009 12:16:46 PM
Every Senator has on average a staff of 34 headed by their chief of staff (who typically pulls down a 6 digit salary). Are you serious suggesting any Senator is so stupid as to not have a half dozen lawyers on staff (more likely 2 dozen fresh out of college) to go through these bills? Maybe at the state level, but certainly not when you get to the feds. Not to mention a Senator’s main job is to understand these things.
Posted by: jhw539 | November 22, 2009, 1:27 pm 1:27 pm
Posted by: jhw539 | Nov 22, 2009 12:39:31 PM
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The point being, she READ the bill as those in your racidal left wing group did NOT.. and the radical left continued to purse a point in LYING about what was in the bill.. even as it was pointed out to this nitwit..only then did she began her wobbly backtracking
Posted by: mickey maoist | November 22, 2009, 1:28 pm 1:28 pm
Looking it up – Representative Blackburn spends almost a million dollars a year on staff salaries ($983k last year) for over two dozen people (some are shared or part time). Sounds like she is smart enough to have some decent wonks in there.
Posted by: jhw539 | November 22, 2009, 1:30 pm 1:30 pm
I think they made the legislation so convoluted and incredibly long in hopes that nobody could read or understand it.
wow | Nov 22, 2009 12:16:46 PM
Every Senator has on average a staff of 34 headed by their chief of staff (who typically pulls down a 6 digit salary). Are you serious suggesting any Senator is so stupid as to not have a half dozen lawyers on staff (more likely 2 dozen fresh out of college) to go through these bills? Maybe at the state level, but certainly not when you get to the feds. Not to mention a Senator’s main job is to understand these things.
Posted by: jhw539 | Nov 22, 2009 1:27:15 PM
_____________________________________
If I could just change one word in the post by “wow”, we’d probably get to the inside dealings of this bill in truth. Rather than an incredibly long bill that nobody COULD read or understand, it is an incredibly long bill that nobody WOULD read or understand, except those in oppostition to it. The Democrats want this bill passed if it’s the last thing they do before the end of their illustrious political careers. Why would they WANT to read the bill? By doing that, they allow those who are intent on reading it the time to do so and bring up legitimate arguments. That cannot happen. The Democrats political lives depend on it. For them, it’s not about what’s IN the bill, it’s about forcing the bill through as quickly as possible before the clock runs out.
Remember, we are dealing with a party that in the past produced one of the most pitiful statements ever heard… “it depends on what IS is”.
Anyway, that was a good post by “wow”. There are many states that will be facing deficit issues BECAUSE of this insane health care bill fiasco. And God knows, we don’t need that now.
Posted by: Shoe | November 22, 2009, 1:49 pm 1:49 pm
The point being, she READ the bill as those in your racidal left wing group did NOT.. and the radical left continued to purse a point in LYING about what was in the bill..
mickey maoist | Nov 22, 2009 1:28:17 PM
Perhaps more was said on the show, but in the transcript her she merely put out her INTERPRETATION of how the government (unlike private insurers???) is going to rely on expert professional advice to determine things to cover. You know, sorta why bleeding is no longer the cure for fever and leeches are no longer widely used (oddly, they do have a niche application).
“you know that this is the bureaucrat in the exam room.”
She does have excellent debating skills. She starts off with citations and ends with a wild uncited leap to support her opinion.
Posted by: jhw539 | November 22, 2009, 2:10 pm 2:10 pm
“Perhaps more was said on the show, but in the transcript her she merely put out her INTERPRETATION of how the government (unlike private insurers???) is going to rely on expert professional advice to determine things to cover.”
You’ve GOT to be kidding!!!
She had the page right in front of her. Even George S. confirmed that it says what Blackburn stated!!!
You can *argue* with private insurers and even get State Insurance Commissioners involved as advocates when there is a question of what should be paid for. Who do you go to when a gov’t panel puts something out with the force of law? The Supreme court?
Your argement is a joke, right?
Posted by: tim gorman | November 22, 2009, 3:18 pm 3:18 pm
Not to mention a Senator’s main job is to understand these things.
Posted by: jhw539
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They forgot to give that memo to Wasserman Schultz.
Posted by: wow | November 22, 2009, 3:35 pm 3:35 pm
Marsha Blackburn destroyed Wasserman Schultz. Get some true reform for America, this bill is not it!
Posted by: rc4life | November 22, 2009, 3:46 pm 3:46 pm
“Perhaps more was said on the show, but in the transcript her she merely put out her INTERPRETATION of how the government (unlike private insurers???) is going to rely on expert professional advice to determine things to cover.”
Posted by jhw539
**********
“you know that this is the bureaucrat in the exam room.”
She does have excellent debating skills. She starts off with citations and ends with a wild uncited leap to support her opinion.
Posted by jhw539
**********
Did you watch the entire show, or are you doing the same thing Democrat Senators are doing, not actually knowing what is there, but voting for it anyway? George backed her up on her “uncited leap”, BTW.
Posted by: wheresmymoney | November 22, 2009, 3:54 pm 3:54 pm
I did watch the full segment live this morning. The guests were Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.
There was knowledge of the issues and a good discussion between George S, Nelson, Blackburn, and Coburn.
Rep. Blackburn was indeed exceptionally well prepared, articulate, and extremely knowledgeable of the issues and specific sections and language in the house and senate legislation. The Senators likewise were knowledgeable and did a great job articulating their positions.
Then there was Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. who used every tired cliché, sound bite, and emotional appeal to try and attack any legitimate concerns with the house or senate bills. She added very little constructive to the discussion and frankly, in my opinion, probably did more harm to health care reform proponents’ position. She rarely based an attack on fact or specific provisions in the bills. When she tried it seemed she neither read nor understood what she read in the competing bills or the facts she was stretching to make a point.
In comparison to George S and the other 3 panelists it seemed Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. was a paid political shill sent to do her master’s bidding. If the Representative from Fla. represents the majority walking around Capitol Hill I fear for what health care reform means for the country.
Posted by: RMM | November 22, 2009, 4:09 pm 4:09 pm
I wrote a big long comment with a lot of info and the system wouldn’t accept it the first time–waste of my time——like about the fact that during the actual airing, George S. put up a copy of the quote from the bill that Blackburn was referencing, and that Wasserman Shultz was vociferously denying was in the bill.
–And the fact that I have been watching Wasserman S for several years and she lies like she did about this constantly and repetitively. She is a snake.
–But this is the way of most all Democrats–like their lie that this bill will REDUCE the deficit, and their use of all kinds of cost hiding and shifting plus the front ending of revenues from increased taxes into the first year after passage, while not starting the payout of costs of the program until year 6!! –and that’s in a 10 year program!! —No one is mentioning that as a result, in year eleven and every year thereafter there will be a large incremental deficit generated year after year in perpetuity.
Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard, said it best the other day when discussing the phony accounting and financial reckoning the Democrats are using to make these claims—She said words to the effect that (when she was a CEO) if someone came in and tried to sell their program by telling her that they were going to get all/ a lot of their revenue up front in the first five years, and not have to start paying out costs until year 6 or 7, she would have laughed them/ thrown them out of her office.
Posted by: xxx | November 22, 2009, 9:51 pm 9:51 pm
Representative Marsha Blackburn was the most well versed on the House/Senate healthcare bills & it is obvious that she has read, studied and understands the bill. Tennesseans are proud to have Blackburn as an articulate & dedicated representative.
Advice for Rep. Wasserman Schultz – go home over Thanksgiving break and READ the bill you voted for. You should do your homework if you are going on “This Week”, rather than have poor George also correcting you.
Posted by: blb | November 22, 2009, 10:27 pm 10:27 pm
Suggestion:
Rep. Wasserman Schultz should Fact Check the references Rep. Marsha Blackburn cited….she might understand what she actually voted for. An embarrassing show for the Dems. To be one of their Whips, she was the one ‘whiped’ today. Do your job….READ the legislation. It was so obvious you had not read the bill & only babbled the Democratic party line….scary.
Posted by: blb | November 22, 2009, 10:43 pm 10:43 pm
And then you have someone who is so ill informed that he would post that old retoric that mammograms cause cancer you should check with AMA or someone, you would have to take the equivilent of 5000 mammograms to have any effect,[cant believe anything you say].
Posted by: earl | November 23, 2009, 7:25 am 7:25 am
Everyone knows that is how it is going to happen. Precisely why so many CITIZENS are against this bill, and want to see it defeated soundly.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | November 23, 2009, 10:49 am 10:49 am
This was the best exchange that illustrated sound bites vs. facts. Blackburn looked weak until she charged back with the facts. The other 3 just stuck to sound bites. Republicans and Democrats have to realize that everyone is tired with all politicians, not one party or the other. It was very refreshing to hear a politician to reference the facts of the bill. George, make it a requirement for next Sunday’s show to reference specific components and language of the bill.
Posted by: BobDog | November 23, 2009, 12:55 pm 12:55 pm