Re: [big campaign] WaPo: MA \"hardly a repudiation of health reform\"

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bi-partisan post-election poll in MA from Women's Voices Women Vote<http://www.wvwv.org/>shows that voters who said their vote was primarily about health care voted 46 to 35 in support of reform. Among youth, unmarried women, Blacks, and Latinos -- who said their vote was primarily about health care -- the margin was 52 to 29 in favor of reform. Overall, health care reform was tied with taxes and spending as the third most important issue to voters. http://www.wvwv.org/assets/2010/1/20/wvwv-ma-slides.pdf slides 20-22 and 27-28. Cheers, JD On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 9:10 AM, Adam Jentleson < [email protected]> wrote: > *Brown's victory in Mass. senate race hardly a repudiation of health > reform > * > By Alec MacGillis > Washington Post Staff Writer > Thursday, January 21, 2010; A11 > While many are describing the election to fill the late *Edward M. Kennedy > * <http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Edward_M._Kennedy>'s Senate seat as > a *referendum*<http://projects.washingtonpost.com/politicsglossary/legislative/referendum/> on > national health-care reform, the Republican candidate rode to victory on a > message more nuanced than flat-out resistance to universal health coverage: > Massachusetts residents, he said, already had insurance and should not have > to pay for it elsewhere. > > Scott Brown, the Republican state senator who won a stunning upset in > Tuesday's election, voted for the state's health-care legislation, which was > signed by then-Gov. *Mitt Romney*<http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Mitt_Romney> (R) > and has covered all but 3 percent of Massachusetts residents. That > legislation became the basic model for national health-care legislation. > Brown has not disavowed his support for the state's law, which retains > majority backing in Massachusetts. > > Instead, he argued on the campaign trail that Massachusetts had taken care > of its own uninsured, and it would not be in the state's interest to > contribute to an effort to cover the uninsured nationwide. > > "We have insurance here in Massachusetts," he said in a campaign debate. > "I'm not going to be subsidizing for the next three, five years, pick a > number, subsidizing what other states have failed to do." > > In a news conference Wednesday, he said, "There are some very good things > in the national plan that's being proposed, but if you look at -- and really > almost in a parochial manner -- we need to look out for Massachusetts first. > . . . The thing I'm hearing all throughout the state is, 'What about us?' " > > Brown's message underscores a little-noticed political dynamic in a country > where rates of the uninsured vary widely, from Massachusetts to Texas, where > 25 percent are uninsured. Seeking national universal coverage means sending > money from states that have tried hard to expand coverage, mostly in the > Northeast and Midwest, to states that have not, mostly in the South and > West. > > Supporters of the national legislation say this transfer is an unfortunate > but unavoidable aspect of expanding coverage. But, they argue, the nation is > misinterpreting expressions of self-interest in Massachusetts as grand > opposition to universal health insurance. > > "Massachusetts's reforms continue to be popular in Massachusetts -- > sufficiently popular that Brown did not repudiate them," said Paul Starr, a > Princeton public affairs professor. "Here is a state that has enacted a > similar reform and it is popular. That should encourage people that if it's > done at the national level, that it would work as policy, and that it would > be popular." > > Conservative analysts disagree, saying the Massachusetts law has been less > successful than advertised and that this helped motivate residents to cast a > vote they knew would set back national reform. In a new report from the * > libertarian*<http://projects.washingtonpost.com/politicsglossary/party-affiliated/Libertarian-Party/> Cato > Institute, Michael Cannon argues that the law has covered fewer people than > state data suggest and that it has cost residents and businesses more than > supporters say. "Things are not as hunky-dory as people have been saying," > he said. > > Divining voters' motivation is difficult. In a Boston Globe poll taken in > October, 59 percent of state voters said they supported the state law, a > drop of 10 percentage points from the prior year, and only 11 percent said > they wanted the law repealed. There were no *exit polls*<http://projects.washingtonpost.com/politicsglossary/election/exit-polls/>Tuesday > to gauge voters' views on health-care reform. > > Federal programs often divert money from richer states to poorer ones, but > the regional dynamic is more stark in health-care reform. As it stands, the > federal government shares the cost of Medicaid coverage based on states' > income, ranging from a 50-50 split in the richest states to 80 percent in > the poorest. > > But under the legislation, that disparity could grow in a way that does not > necessarily accord with state wealth. Many states, and not necessarily the > poorest, set stringent terms for Medicaid eligibility, while others have > eased entry. In Texas, parents qualify for Medicaid only if their family > income is below $5,720, while in Virginia, the limit is $6,380. In > Wisconsin, New Jersey, Maine, Minnesota, Illinois, Connecticut and the > District of Columbia, the cutoff is $40,000 or higher. In Maryland, it is > $25,500. > > The legislation would set a single standard for Medicaid eligibility, about > $28,000 or $33,000 for a family, and the federal government would pay almost > the entire cost of newly eligible people. That means that states with looser > standards would continue to pay as much as half the cost for a broad swath > of people that in other states would be paid for almost entirely by the > federal government. This disparity, which would largely benefit > Republican-leaning states, would be exacerbated if Congress decided to > extend to other states a deal that the Senate gave Nebraska to fund the > entire cost of covering newly eligible people. > > Both the House and Senate bills attempt to address this disparity: The > Senate bill includes extra money for Massachusetts and Vermont; the House > bill helps additional states, including New York. But John Holahan of the > Urban Institute said Congress could have done more to even out the > state-by-state impact. > > "It's really striking," he said. "The real beneficiaries of this are the > states in the South and the West who are opposing health-care reform." > > Some health policy experts say that the legislation in Congress would help > Massachusetts by starting to bring down health-care costs nationally and by > supplementing the state's efforts with federal funding, which is less > vulnerable during economic downturns than deficit-constrained state budgets. > > "The notion that 'we have ours so we don't need the feds' is wrong because > the long-term viability is at the federal level," said Jonathan Gruber, an > MIT economist and paid consultant to the Obama administration. > > But what voters heard instead, said Harvard health policy professor Robert > Blendon, was Brown's message that the national bills would require Medicare > cuts and taxes on some of their health insurance plans. The state reforms > had been implemented during better economic times, without a dedicated tax > increase and without involving Medicare. > > Brown "was pounding away: Massachusetts took care of its own, why are you > asking them to pay all these taxes in a bad economic time?" Blendon said. > > * > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012005042.html?hpid=topnews > *<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012005042.html?hpid=topnews> > > > ----- > Adam Jentleson > Communications Director, Progressive Media > Center for American Progress Action Fund > *ajentleson@americanprogress**action**.org*<[email protected]> > ajentleson (AIM) > 202-247-8614 (cell) > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "big campaign" > group. > > To post to this group, send to [email protected] > > To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] > > E-mail [email protected] with questions or concerns > > This is a list of individuals. It is not affiliated with any group or > organization. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "big campaign" group. 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