December '09 Nevada Government—U.S. Senator John Ensign Column

Ensign Offers Over 20 Amendments To Democrat Healthcare Reform Bill

December 9, 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign offered over 20 amendments to the Democrats’ healthcare reform bill to help shape the legislation that will impact the lives of every American man, woman, and child. The amendments ranged from creating an online database that will showcase average wait times for doctor visits under the proposed public plan versus private insurance plans, to requiring that low-income Americans be treated as well as legal immigrants, to upholding President Obama’s campaign pledge and not raising taxes on middle-income Americans.

“This healthcare reform bill is sweeping legislation that will affect the lives of every single American in our country both now and in the future,” said Ensign. “There is no magic bullet that can undo the damage that this misguided bill will cause if we recklessly rush through its passage, so I have offered these amendments with hard-working Nevada families in mind to protect their choice and voice in health care.”

Senator Ensign offered many of these amendments during the Senate Finance Committee’s healthcare markup in October; however, the legislation that is currently being debated on the floor is drastically different from the bill that was voted out of committee.

A comprehensive list of Senator Ensign’s amendments follows:

Amendments relating to taxes:

An amendment to carve out middle income from all taxes in the bill
An amendment to carve out middle income from all individual mandate taxes
An amendment to strike the words fee, penalty, and assessment in the bill and replace with the more honest and accurate word “tax”
An amendment to change the index of the high-cost insurance plan tax to protect Americans with standard insurance plans from becoming captured by this tax over time because of the steep rise in healthcare premium inflation
An amendment to change the individual mandate penalty tax so that criminal and civil penalties and interest cannot be assessed against people who do not buy insurance
An amendment to strike the cap on flexible spending accounts
An amendment to strike the penalty increase on non-qualifying health savings account withdrawals

Amendments relating to tort reform:

An amendment to insert language to improve access to pro bono care for medically underserved or indigent individuals by providing limited medical liability protections
An amendment to insert language to facilitate the rapid deployment of private volunteer health care professionals across state lines and increase surge capacity in times of disaster

General amendments:

An amendment to provide transparency in the appointment of any Administration Healthcare Czar
An amendment to protect health care for veterans and military service officers.
An amendment to require a social security number for eligibility for exchange participation, premium tax credits and reduced cost-sharing, and individual responsibility exemptions
An amendment to provide for transparency with respect to average wait times for services and treatments provided under qualified health plans and the community health insurance option
An amendment to ensure that an individual who elects to opt out of Medicare Part A benefits is not also required to opt out of Social Security benefits
An amendment to provide lower income American citizens with the same freedom and flexibility regarding their healthcare choices by guaranteeing that they can opt out of Medicaid and receive the refundable tax credit in order to buy private insurance, in the same way that section 1401 of the bill gives legal immigrants access to such credit to buy private insurance
An amendment to apply the wellness programs provisions to providers of federal employee health benefits plans
An amendment to prohibit the use of Medicare savings to offset spending for programs unrelated to Medicare
An amendment to provide equivalent bankruptcy protections for Health Savings Accounts as retirement funds
An amendment to protect states from a Medicaid expansion
An amendment to ensure that certain reductions in Medicare spending are not counted towards the pay-as-you-go scorecard
An amendment to express the policy of Congress that funds resulting from the additional hospital insurance tax be solely dedicated to the Medicare purposes of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund
An amendment to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study regarding the advisability of providing for reimbursement under the Medicare program for medical equipment used in the treatment of circulatory diseases
An amendment to provide a limitation on the implementation of provisions relating to the Medicare Advantage program
An amendment to provide that high-deductible health plans shall be treated as qualified health plans

Ensign: Democrats Move Forward With Federally-Funded Abortions In Healthcare Bill

December 8, 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign expressed support today for the Nelson-Hatch amendment to bar federal funding for abortions, except in the case of rape, incest, or in circumstances when the life of the mother is at stake. The amendment was defeated this evening and federally-funded abortion language remains in the Democrats’ healthcare reform bill.

“Abortion is a controversial issue but where the vast majority of Americans do agree is that their tax dollars should not be used to pay for abortions,” said Ensign. “With this vote today, Democrats have made it clear that they believe taxpayers should be on the hook to pay for these procedures with tax dollars. The American people have voiced their anger on this issue and the Nelson-Hatch Amendment would have prevented this from happening.”

The amendment, sponsored by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ben Nelson (D-NE), would have applied the policy of the Hyde Amendment, which has long-served as the law on federal funding of abortion in Medicaid since 1977, and was very similar to the language which passed the House 240-194 in the Stupak Amendment.

Ensign, Commerce Committee Republicans Request Investigation on Leaked Climate Research Emails

December 8, 2009 – Washington, DC – Senator John Ensign, along with five other Republican members of the Senate Commerce Committee, sent a letter to Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller requesting a bipartisan investigation into the recent disclosure of the manipulation of scientific evidence by climate researchers.

“Democrats will soon be asking the American people to take on new taxes with their cap-and-trade proposal, and it’s only right that they have the correct information if they are asking everyone to make that sacrifice,” Ensign said. “We need to know more about these scientists’ motivation on climate change and the validity of their research before that vote is held.”

Ensign is very concerned about taxpayer dollars possibly going to biased research, since a number of scientists receiving federal funds were the authors or recipients of the e-mails. Even more troubling is that the Obama Administration is moving forward with costly policies based on this questionable data.

The letter was also signed by Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC), David Vitter (R-LA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA).

[Letter in PDF format]

Ensign Supports Amendment to Keep Medicare Savings in Medicare

December 7, 2009 – Washington, DC – Senator John Ensign today supported an amendment, sponsored by Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), which would prevent Medicare from being raided to fund a huge expansion of government through the Democrats’ healthcare reform bill. The voted failed with 43 yeas and 56 nays.

“This amendment would have ensured that Medicare savings are kept in Medicare to protect Nevada seniors,” Ensign said. ”Congress shouldn’t raid Medicare – a program that has $38 trillion in unfunded obligations already - to use it to pay for a new health care entitlement.”

Specifically, the amendment prohibits the Executive Branch from implementing provisions in this bill that increase federal spending until both the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Chief Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services can certify that all projected spending increases under this bill will be fully offset by projected savings – not counting savings from Medicare. Ensign was a co-sponsor of the Gregg amendment.

Ensign offered a similar amendment in the Finance Committee while the Senate was debating the bill in October. His amendment was accepted by a unanimous vote by members of the Finance Committee but then stripped from the Democrat bill before it reached the Senate floor.

Senate Votes on Ensign Proposal to Include Medical Liability Reform in Democrat Healthcare Bill

December 6, 2009 – Washington, DC – The U.S. Senate today voted on an Ensign amendment to include meaningful medical liability reform in the Democrat healthcare reform bill currently on the Senate floor. The Ensign amendment would have limited the contingency fees available to trial lawyers who bring medical liability actions. The amendment failed with 32 ayes and 66 nays.

“This should not be a Republican or Democratic issue; this is fundamentally a patient issue. Simply put, the current medical liability crisis means patients cannot find access to care when they need it most in many areas,” Ensign said. “Without federal legislation, the exodus of providers from the practice of medicine will continue, and patients will find it increasingly difficult to obtain the care they need.”

The Ensign amendment used the same language that was previously offered in an amendment by the late Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Over 20 Democrat members currently in the Senate today supported this amendment when Sen. Kennedy brought it up for a vote in 1995. Sen. Ensign brought the amendment to a vote in hopes of taking the first step to a bipartisan solution to the problem of medical malpractice but unfortunately all but two of those same Democrats who voted for the amendment in 1995 voted against the Ensign amendment today.

Medical liability insurance premiums are threatening the stability of our nation’s healthcare system. These rates are forcing many physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers to move out of high-liability states, limit the scope of their practices, and even close their doors permanently. This crisis is affecting more and more patients and is threatening access to reliable quality healthcare services.

Americans spend far more on lawsuits than any other country; and more than twice as much as all but one other country. According to a recent study, the direct cost of healthcare lawsuits is $30 billion each year. These costs are multiplied by the indirect costs of lawsuits; especially doctors ordering costly tests out of fear of being sued. Estimates of wasted money spent on unneeded tests range from over $100 billion each year to nearly $250 billion annually. A 2006 article in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that as much as 40 percent of medical liability lawsuits are meritless.

Ensign Supports Restoring $120 Billion in Medicare Advantage Funds

December 4, 2009 – Washington, DC – Senator John Ensign today supported a motion to restore the $120 billion in Medicare Advantage funding that Democrats plan to strip from the program with their healthcare bill. The motion failed on a party line vote of 41 yeas and 57 nays.

“Nevada seniors are under serious threat of having their benefits cut by the Democrats’ bill, and I am very concerned that Nevada Medicare Advantage enrollees will lose benefits and possibly even their chance to be in a private Medicare plan as a result of the Democrats’ proposed cuts,” Ensign said. “Their only hope is for us to send this bill back to the drawing board and start over.”

The Motion to Commit with Instruction, sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), would require the Senate to send the Democrats’ healthcare bill back to the Finance Committee to remove language that cuts about $120 billion from the Medicare Advantage program.

The Hatch motion would protect Medicare beneficiaries’ access to Medicare Advantage plans. Medicare Advantage plans help to limit beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket expenses, provide innovative health care services, and manage the overall health and well being of beneficiaries on an ongoing basis.

In Nevada, 340,000 beneficiaries are eligible for Medicare. Of these, 104,000 beneficiaries or 31 percent of the Medicare beneficiaries in Nevada choose a Medicare Advantage plan and would be affected by this massive cut.

Below is a comprehensive list of Medicare Advantage plans in the state of Nevada:

UNITED
HUMANA HEALTH PLAN, INC.
HOMETOWN HEALTH PLAN
AETNA HEALTH
ROCKY MOUNTAIN
UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE INSURANCE COMPANY
KAISER
STERLING LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MICHIGAN
MOLINA HEALTHCARE OF NEVADA, INC.
COVENTRY HEALTH AND LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
WELLCARE HEALTH INSURANCE OF ARIZONA, INC.
WELLPOINT
UAC
MVP HEALTH PLAN, INC.
SCAN HEALTH PLAN
BLUE CROSS OF CALIFORNIA
HEALTH NET
CONNECTICUT GENERAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
HAWAII MEDICAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION (HMSA)
HIGHMARK, INC.
CAREMORE HEALTH PLAN

Ensign Supports Proposal to Strike Medicare Cuts in Democrat Healthcare Bill

Motion to send bill back to Finance Committee to restore close to $500 billion in Medicare funds

December 3, 2009 – Washington, DC – Senator Ensign today supported a proposal, introduced by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), to send the Democrats healthcare bill back to the Senate Finance Committee in order to remove all language contained in the bill that will cut close to $500 billion from Medicare. The McCain motion would have protected Medicare beneficiaries’ access to quality healthcare. The motion failed along party lines with 42 ayes and 58 nays.

The cuts to Medicare within the Democrat healthcare bill include $120 billion for Medicare Advantage and hundreds of billions more in permanent cuts to all Medicare provider payment updates including hospitals, hospice, home health and nursing homes.

“These cuts will have a drastic and dramatic effect on our nation’s seniors who have paid into the Medicare program for most of their lives and expect the program to be there to care for their health needs,” Ensign said. “We need to send this health care bill back to the drawing board and start over so that we can offer patient-centered reform instead of government-centered reform.”

The McCain motion also included a Sense of the Senate that any funds generated from new policies to address waste, fraud and abuse be used to strengthen the Medicare Trust Fund rather than be used to create a new federal health care entitlement.

Ensign also supported an amendment sponsored by Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) to protect and improve Medicare benefits. The amendment was agreed to by a unanimous vote.

Ensign Supports Allowing Doctors, Not Bureaucrats, To Decide Preventive Services

Democrats vote against amendment, decide government-centered healthcare is best

December 3, 2009 – Washington, DC – Senator John Ensign today supported an amendment offered by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to ensure that patients receive doctor recommendations for preventive health services, including mammograms and cervical cancer screenings, without interference from government bureaucrats. The amendment was defeated along party lines.

“Let’s not have government bureaucrats stand in the way of preventive medical care. This is about patients. This is about creating a patient-centered healthcare system. The Democrat bill before us is government-centered, and the Democrats just proved that is their goal.”

The Murkowski amendment specified that all health plans must consult the guidelines established by the physicians who know best, not government bureaucrats. The amendment would have ensured that the Secretary of Health and Human Services would not use any recommendation made by the United States Preventive Services Task Force to deny coverage of services. The Task Force recently started a controversy when it recommended that women under the age of 50 should not receive annual mammograms.

The Congressional Budget Office projected that this amendment would have saved over $1.4 billion.