Today, following the
historic House passage of health reform legislation, the Oregon State
Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) commends Representatives
Blumenauer, DeFazio, Schrader, and Wu for their votes for the bill.
"The pressure on all members of the House from well-funded,
anti-reform lobbies was enormous. Kudos to Representatives
Blumenauer, DeFazio, Schrader, and Wu for their work to bring this
historic bill across the finish line," said Laura Etherton,
OSPIRG’s Health Care Advocate.
As a consumer and good-government
group, OSPIRG has been critical of the influence of powerful
interests in Washington, and has decried the insurance industry's
$1.4 million a day lobbying campaign against health reform.
OSPIRG
endorsed the bill, H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America
Act in a letter to Speaker Pelosi on Friday.
Etherton expects
continued efforts to kill or delay reform in the Senate, but, she
says, "Oregonians have waited too long for relief from
constantly rising health care costs. The U.S. Senate must
quickly follow the House's lead and pass health reform that increases
choice and competition and reins in costs.”
Senate consideration of
its own health reform legislation has yet to begin and could last
several weeks.
OSPIRG highlights key provisions of the House bill for
praise:
Bans on the most egregious insurance industry
practices: denials based on pre-existing conditions, lifetime or
yearly caps on benefits, price discrimination based on health
history, and rescission of coverage based on small enrollment form
errors once you get sick.
A strong national Health Insurance
Exchange which allows small businesses and individuals without
affordable employer-based coverage to pool their bargaining power and
negotiate better deals with insurers.
A public health insurance
plan option, competing on a level playing field with private
coverage plans in the exchange. This public option would generate
much needed choice and competition, leading to lower costs for
consumers, small businesses, and the nation.
An Institute of
Medicine study on care quality and value that will propose
provider payment approaches that encourage better care at lower cost.
These recommendations will be automatically go into effect in 2013
unless a law is passed to stop their implementation.
Research into
which treatments work best, so that consumers and their providers
can be armed with the latest science when making decisions about
care.
New incentives for primary and preventive care, keeping
Americans healthy and away from expensive unneeded emergency room
visits.
Health IT and simplified
administration to reduce administrative costs.
The elimination of
costly drug and insurance industry subsidies, by allowing the
government to purchase low-income seniors' prescription drugs at
lower Medicaid prices and cutting subsidies to private insurers,
currently paid by Medicare.
