A bill that would have swept away states’ ability to mandate certain kinds of health coverage in insurance products — the so-called Enzi bill — has been defeated in Congress. It was being filibustered, and cloture failed by 55-43.
Now, that bill had been sold as a means by which small businesses could pool their resources to buy insurance. Of course, that’s a good goal, and the Dems had an alternative bill that would have done just that, but just that. So much for that. Enzi says he’ll try to do a compromise bill; hopefully that’ll involve just the pooling.
… Also, Fall River native EJ Dionne took note of what happened up here with health care, and how the bill was finally passed. Never mind the Pollyanna-ish optimism about the new law — we’ve got a lot of work still to do — but his brief political narrative is worth noting:
… What’s often left out of the story, said David Ellwood, dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, is that nothing would have happened if advocates of universal health care had not battled “year after year” to put the issue at the center of the politicians’ agenda.
When Romney and state Senate President Robert Travaglini balked at the employer assessment, a coalition that included the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (an affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation) and the advocacy group Health Care for All gathered more than 113,000 signatures to put a health-care initiative on the Massachusetts ballot. It included a substantial employer assessment.
“We filed that initiative to go further than the legislature wanted to go and to provide an option if the legislature didn’t go forward,” said John McDonough, executive director of Health Care for All. It’s called pressure.
It’s also called persistence. And we’re gonna need it — still.
…whether the Enzi bill – or the timing of the Senate floor proceedings, at least – was to an extent specifically directed at stymieing the MA health plan.
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Just kibitzing – perhaps getting entirely the wrong end of the stethoscope – but…
Here’s the roll call on this cloture vote. The only Democrats voting Yea were Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.
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I called Kerry’s office about it earlier this week. They told me he opposed the Enzi bill, but had made no public statement about cloture, so I urged that he vote against cloture.
Yes, it needs to be acknowledged that many good people and groups have been pushing hard in this state for universal health care for DECADES: the Mass. Nurses Association, Mass-Care, Jobs with Justice, Health Care For All, League of Women Voters, Alliance to Defend Health Care, are just some of these groups and all deserve recognition and kudos for their commitment to working together over the long haul knowing that’s what it will take.
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On this note–Tomorrow, Sat. 5/13, MASS-CARE (http://www.MassCare.org), the statewide coalition group that has just launched an individual member component to strengthen it’s work on the community-level for affordable universal health care, is having their annual event so I wanted to share this info:
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Dante Alighieri Cultural Center
41 Hampshire Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts
ten-minute walk from Kendall/MIT MBTA Red Line stop
on-site parking
Directions to Dante Alighieri can be found at:
http://www.dantealighieri.net/cambridge/Directions.html
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MASS-CARE Statewide Meeting @ 1:30 PM:
Chairâs Report, Elections, Bylaws
Single-Payer Activistsâ Workshop @ 3:00 PM:
Single Payer âMassachusetts Miracleâ Organizing
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Eighth Annual Dr. Benjamin F. Gill Memorial Reception
Registration, Music, Refreshments @ 5:00 PM
Program @ 5:30 PM
Honorees:
Margaret OâMalley, RN, Mass. Nurses Association
Alan Sager, PhD & Deborah Socolar, MPH, Health Reform Program, Boston University School of Public Health
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Keynotes:
Rand Wilson: Organizing Director, IUE-CWA Local 201; Jobs with Justice Healthcare Action Committee
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Diane Dujon: College of Public & Community Service, University of Massachusetts – Boston
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Steffi Woolhandler: Internist, Cambridge Health Alliance; Founder, Physicians for a National Health Program
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Music: Consortium for Psychotherapy String Quartet
Catering: Hot & Cold Hors DâOeuvres by S&S Restaurant. Silent Auction – Cash Bar
Annie, you gotta start doing some user posts. These things always end up at the end of comment threads.