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Wyden Stonewalls on Public Option Questions

by: torridjoe

Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 11:35:59 AM PDT

Two weeks ago today, we joined with Dr. Howard Dean in asking Oregonians to stand with him and petition their Senators for a full and robust public option (which I call FRPO for short). Oregon is one of the key states in building support for a FRPO, given Senator Ron Wyden's reticence to fully back a FRPO that would directly compete against his own health care bill, which does not include one.
A couple of days later Health Care for America Now began running ads asking constituents in a number of states contact their representatives asking for a FRPO as well. Wyden was unmoved, even a little hostile about it:
"I get an election certificate from the people of Oregon," said Wyden, whose bipartisan health bill picked up its 14th co-sponsor last week. "As far as these ads are concerned, I pay them no attention."

So we joined HCAN in their efforts as well, and encouraged readers to contact Senator Wyden in writing and ask these four questions:
Do you support a public healthcare option as part of healthcare reform?
If so, do you support a public healthcare option that is available on day one?
Do you support a public healthcare option that is national, available everywhere, and accountable to Congress?
Do you support a public healthcare option that can bargain for rates from providers and big drug companies?

(There's still time for you to ask, of course; here's some contact info):
Sen Ron Wyden D OR
Supports the choice of public Healthcare option? Don't know
Contact information:
Phone: 202-224-5244 | Fax: 202-228-2717
Web: http://wyden.senate.gov/ | Write: http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/
We tried ourselves to ask the questions, contacting State Communications Director Tom Towslee by email and posing them on June 17th, and again on the 19th after no reply. The second time was the charm, sort of--Towslee's reply to the specific questions was to re-send quotes from Wyden denying he supported a trigger, claiming he wasn't "married" to his own plan, and would support a public option that was "responsibily and sustainably financed." Pressed twice more to reply to the specific questions posed--crucial to determining whether Wyden supports a FRPO or a watered down version like the non-robust state option he touts in his bill--no further reply has emerged over the following week-plus.
What to conclude? It's fairly simple, really--Senator Wyden apparently doesn't want you, his constituency, to know whether he supports a FRPO or not. He isn't willing to tell you whether he supports a national plan. He isn't willing to say whether he supports that national plan on day one, and whether he supports a national plan that could directly compete with private insurers.
There's certainly no political risk in declaring his support; overwhelming majorities of Americans have shown in repeated surveying that they definitely want some kind of FRPO in their health care reform. So why the reticence? Maybe that should become the fifth question you can ask...and maybe the sixth can be: "Whose interests are you representing by remaining coy on the issue?"

torridjoe :: Wyden Stonewalls on Public Option Questions

Tags: Ron Wyden, US Senate, Health Care, public option, FRPO, HCAN, (All Tags)

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Wyden Stonewalls on Public Option Questions | 4 comments

Or maybe... (0.00 / 0)

Or maybe he's trying to retain some negotiating power in the legislative process. By holding his cards to his vest, he's able to influence the outcome. If he declares all of his views right now, he boxes himself in and loses negotiating power.

I remember when I was a Wyden intern in 1993, and a lot of folks wondered why he didn't co-sponsor Hillary's health care plan early on. The answer? Because as long as they were still courting him to be a co-sponsor, he had some leverage.

My firm built Senator Wyden's campaign website. I'm not privy to their legislative strategy, but I trust that Senator Wyden's end goal is a universal, comprehensive, high-quality, portable, affordable, non-discriminatory, prevention-first, health care reform plan that starts to bend the curve downward on costs (both to public budgets and family budgets) while covering the uninsured and giving the rest of us confidence in our health care. I speak only for myself.

by: karichisholm @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 14:39:04 PM CDT

which is why he needs pushing (0.00 / 0)

"I trust that Senator Wyden's end goal is a universal, comprehensive, high-quality, portable, affordable, non-discriminatory, prevention-first, health care reform plan that starts to bend the curve downward on costs"

...that locks in for-profit medicine and does not give Americans the right to choose the public health care option they want.

What negotiating power are you suggesting he has? With whom is he negotiating? If he's negotiating with Republicans, that's a patently stupid course to take--the Republicans don't WANT health care reform. If he's negotiating with Democrats, how does not declaring his support for a FRPO help him negotiate a FRPO for America? He's clearly not negotiating with them from the left.

And why have many other Senators thrown away this apparent negotiating power by declaring their support for a FRPO?

He could much more greatly influence the outcome if he'd abandon his inadequate plan and publicly back what Americans are clamoring for. That he's failing to do so, is the problem.

by: torridjoe @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 14:48:22 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Or maybe... (0.00 / 0)

What negotiating power are you suggesting he has? With whom is he negotiating?

That's a silly question. Senator Wyden is the only one with a health care plan that's got 14 co-sponsors on it.

Again, I'm not privy to the legislative discussions, but I'm certain he's negotiating with lots of people - President Obama, Chairman Baucus, Chairman Kennedy, members of the Finance and HELP Committees, etc.

As to what's "left" or "right", I don't know what those terms mean. Senator Wyden's plan covers all the uninsured. Senator Kennedy's plan only covered 16 million of the uninsured, and prohibited anyone who has employer-based health care from choosing the public option.

So far, no one has presented legislation that includes a public option that covers all of the uninsured. I'm sure there will be one - but that's what's being worked out.

I'm not suggesting that advocates shouldn't contact their legislators about their views. I'm just suggesting that you don't have to infer nefarious or evil motives because a Senator would rather negotiate with a committee Chairman or the President of the United States than with a local blogger. No matter how important and influential you may be.

by: karichisholm @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 15:01:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Kari, you're dissembling (0.00 / 0)

Working the GOP talking points, I see:

"Senator Kennedy's plan only covered 16 million"

You know as well as I do that Kennedy's "plan" was scored before it was even completed, and lacked the public option that would extend coverage to nearly everyone.

Wyden's got a health care plan with 14 co-sponsors? That's swell. But you agree it's the plan the Republicans are championing because it does the absolute least of any plan being considered to change health care in this country, I assume. So it's not a silly question at all--who would he be negotiating with, and what for? If he's negotiating for his plan, he's contravening the wishes of the President, the Democratic majority, and an overwhelming percentage of his constituency. If he's negotiating for a public plan, why on earth would he keep his support for it quiet?

You're wrong to say no one has presented legislation with a public option; the House version has a FRPO. There's no reason in the world Wyden could not advocate for a similar bill in the Senate, but he is not.

I'm not inferring evil or nefarious motives--I'm inferring that Wyden, by his silence, does not support a FRPO as his preferred choice for health care reform. No one is asking him to "negotiate" with me or anyone else; he's being asked to respect his constituency and clearly state his views on what is probably the most important bill of this Congress. And he's not just ignoring me; he's ignoring anyone who has asked, as a constituent. I'm clearly not the only one to have posed the questions to him.

You're being dishonest (or merely ignorant, perhaps) in your reply. I guess I hope it's ignorance; I can't believe you'd mislead our readers about the Kennedy bill that was scored, as you have here.

Merkley's on the HELP Committee; why is he throwing away all his negotiating power by publicly backing a FRPO as he did again today?

by: torridjoe @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 15:22:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]