Sen. Kerry attacked Howard Dean over his apparent “Kill the Bill” stance.
This week, for example, Howard Dean wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that real health care reform needed a public option that would ‘…give all Americans a meaningful choice of coverage.’ I was surprised to read that because back in 1993, then-Governor Howard Dean called Medicare ‘…one of the worst federal programs ever and a living advertisement for why the federal government should never administer a national health care program.’
Tough talk. The only problem is that it’s not exactly true. According to FactCheck.org, Dean’s 1993 statements about Medicare were taken out of context in the 2004 primary race.
Here’s the problem: the ad doesn’t give the full Dean quote. What Dean really said makes clear he was attacking the Medicare bureaucracy and red tape, not the benefits paid to seniors.
Criticizing the bureaucracy is a very different thing from criticizing the benefits offered by the program. Kerry should know better.
I don’t necessarily agree with Dean’s stance on the Senate bill, but I greatly appreciate his public comments that have helped reframe the debate over health care reform. What I don’t appreciate are the attacks on Dean (and others) from the White House, some in the media, complete jackasses like Lanny Davis, and now John Kerry.
Criticizing his position is useful, but calling him (and those who agree with him) insane or being untruthful about what Dean has said is not helpful.
John Kerry should be spending his time trying to make this bill better and getting it passed.
Listen to this recent polling by Democracy for America and PCCC:
The good news is the poll shows Democrats the roadmap to victory:
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I have tried to find a draft of the Senate bill that is being talked about and debated. I was not able to do so. I am hoping someone can tell me where I can find a copy of the bill. It is going to snow this weekend and think I may read it to form my own opinion and pose questions to Kerry and Kirk.
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p>Thanks for your help
administrative costs for Medicare is 3%. The fact is that Medicare doesn’t have much red tape. They do enforce CCI edits and define the rules for the industry but red tape? Not so much.
I’ve seen that 3% number disputed for not being an accurate representation of costs. Even if an accurate accounting of the costs, however, it does not reflect the costs in the early 1990s. The administrative costs in the program in 1993 were very different than they are now.