Bloggers' conference call on health care with Roy Blunt and Cathy McMorris Rodgers

As I wrote in my last post, this is becoming a health care blog of sorts.

Late this afternoon I participated in a second bloggers' conference call, this time with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO).

McMorris Rodgers is the fourth ranking Republican in the House of Representatives. She started the call, and gave a rundown of the committee maneuvers regarding the Democrats' health care reform bill that are occuring on Capitol Hill. The general public doesn't know much about what's in their proposal, McMorris Rodgers cautioned, for instance, mandates: An eight percent income tax that will be slapped on to companies that do not offer health insurance. Individuals without health insurance, McMorris Rodgers added, would pay a two percent income tax.

What happened to Barack Obama's campaign promise that Americans earning less than $250,000 would not have to pay more taxes?

Like McCarthy in the earlier call, she mentioned The Lewin Group study that predicted a government run health option would drive 114 million Americans out of the health care plan they are on now.

Blunt used more symbolic language. After apologizing for using the GOP symbol as a metaphor, the Missourian likened the Dems' health care proposal to "An elephant in a room full of mice." He continued, "The smart mice get out of the room as quickly as they can, and the slower mice eventually get crushed by the elephant."

That's what would happen to private insurers if the government starts competing with them.

Blunt declared that the GOP health care plan involves more choices, more options, more choices of doctors, and no mandates

Those mandates could be devastating to the economy, "4.7 million jobs would go away," Blunt warned.

In a recent op-ed, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) goes into more detail about those job losses.

Blunt added, "We believe that government run health care leads to rationing, it leads to standing in line."

It also leads to financial headaches for doctors and hospitals. McMorris Rodgers made an important point about a current government health care program, Medicare. "I believe on average the government reimburses maybe 50 to 60 percent of the cost." She continued, "That has the impact of limiting access and ultimately creating waiting lists." Which is becoming a big problem for some of her constituents in eastern Washington state.

And it will probably lead to fewer doctors and specialists, Blunt warned. Health care providers don't throw in the towel as soon as government-run health care is initiated. Citing what happened in Canada and Great Britain, "It takes about eight, nine, ten years before you realize, 'Wait a minute, there aren't as many 32 year-old doctors as there used to be,' and you're standing in line."

I was fortunate enough to ask a question in this call. My query was about Republican defectors--would there be any when the health care bill comes to the floor of the House? Blunt said he didn't know--once the bill is formally introduced, that will of course change.

But Blunt praised the work of ordinary Americans who flooded Congressional phone banks and e-mail servers during the run-up to the cap-and-trade vote.

So we know what do do this time.

As for cap-and-trade, that victory may be a Pyrrhic one for the Dems.

Related post:
Report from the GOP Whip Team bloggers' conference call about health care

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