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Senator Kay Hagan rumored to be holding up health reform in key committee

Post on June 18, 2009 by Adam Searing 22 Comments »

Kay Hagan is on the US Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). This is one of the two key committees in health reform in the US Senate. This committee was expected to release a health reform plan this week, but rumor is that Senator Kay Hagan and another Senator are insisting on holding up consideration of the health reform bill because of the inclusion of a public plan option.

Why Hagan would not want to give her constituents another option for health insurance when the only place most of them can go is one NC company – North Carolina Blue Cross Blue Shield – is beyond me.

NC Blue insures 3.7 million people out of the 5 million with private health coverage in NC – and has a near monopoly on individual and small business coverage. We need more health insurance competition and options in NC, including a public option.

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Top of the morning

Comments (Closed):20

James
June 18, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I heard she was a good listener. I guess that all depends on who’s talking.

What a disappointment.
J. Halgren, advocate
June 18, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Tragic if this is true. Who has backed her campaign that she is so willing to sell out so soon? Anyone know if she’s received money from the Blues? How tragic for North Carolinians!
Kay The Corporatist
June 19, 2009 at 6:32 am
her investments in the medical sector can be downloaded in .pdf at Legistorm, transparency’s sidekick.
blong
June 19, 2009 at 8:24 am
I think it is ridiculous how much we, as state employees are forced to go with blue cross as a monopoly that can charge whatever they want. The state is wondering why they are loosing money and it is right in front of their eyes! Let me spell it out for you, GET RID OF BCBS BEFORE THey DRAIN US DRY AGAIN>! and also get rid of people like rand who take money from them and pass laws to make them more money and hurt the employee and their families!
Middle Road
June 19, 2009 at 9:38 am
Wait, if 40% of North Carolinians get their health insurance from a company other than BCBSNC, how is that a monopoly? Pretty big market share, sure, but hardly a monopoly.
AdamL
June 19, 2009 at 9:53 am
The post says that Blue Cross has a near monopoly on individual and small business coverage, not on health insurance in general. The Blue Cross share of the individual market is probably better than 90 percent.
Adam Searing
June 19, 2009 at 10:08 am
MR needs to check his math. 3.7/5 = 74%. So overall, 74% of people privately insured in NC get their insurance from BCBS of North Carolina. Adam L is right – that figure is much higher in the individual and small business markets. Looks like a monopoly to me.
Middle Road
June 19, 2009 at 10:10 am
I’ll buy the individual market maybe, but not small business. That’s much more competitive. The problem in that market is that it’s shrinking as many of the smallest companies drop coverage for cost reasons.
Ms. Hicks
June 19, 2009 at 2:37 pm
It’s a good idea for this bill to be stalled for any reason. When searching the Bill text for what I felt were key Social Security Act mandates, I noticed a number of healthcare services that I felt should be in the Bill were left out. From my perspective as a healthcare provider, there seem to be a number of healthcare policy problems in the proposed Bill. For example, sections of the Social Security Act related to some vital heathcare services currently provided to children have been left out. This Bill needs to go through much more scrutiny before it gets out of committee. The Bill is also full of typos. A comma left out of a Federal Law quite a few year back screwed a generation of disabled people out of some important Medicare benefits. It takes a long time, if ever, to fix these types of errors, especially when a comma or typo saves the government a lot of money.
R Long
June 19, 2009 at 11:39 pm
The CEO of N. C. BCBS only made over 3 million last year! Apparently he wants an increase in salary! And this is supposed to be a non-profit group?????What is Hagan’s problem? I worked hard for her campaign. Let’s hope and pray she doesn’t sell us out.
R Long
IBXer
June 22, 2009 at 10:32 am
“Why Hagan would not want to give her constituents another option for health insurance when the only place most of them can go is one NC company – North Carolina Blue Cross Blue Shield – is beyond me.”

Let me help you, it’s because we can’t afford it….
Daniel Goins
June 24, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Thank God that Senator Hagan has finally remembered where she comes from and who she works for. I hope she continues to look out for us in NC instead of blindly following Obama, Shumer, Reid and company. Keep standing up for us Kay and maybe I’ll really start to believe we have 2 Senators from NC.
Marsha V. Hammond, PhD
June 24, 2009 at 4:01 pm
HAGAN IS PROTECTING HER OWN $180,000 INTEREST:

June 16, 2009
Top of the morning
Posted at 6:50 AM by Chris Fitzsimon
http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2009/06/16/top-of-the-morning-120/#comment-38103

North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan made the Washington Post this weekend as one of 30 lawmakers playing a key role in health care reform who have significant investments in the health care industry.

Hagan is a member of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee that will begin its health care debate today on Capitol Hill. The Post says Hagan owns at least $180,000 in investments in health care companies.
Flo Phillips
July 9, 2009 at 10:26 am
If this is true, I am extremely disappointed in Senator Hagan. I worked hard for her, stood up in meetings and talked about her when she was little known in my neighborhood.
She needs to understand she was ELECTED TO MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN . Stop listening to the Insurance Lobbist and give the people of N.C. an insurance program that will work for EVERYONE, Senator. A Public Option needs to be in the plan a
as well as choice of other Insurance Companies.
Adam Searing
July 9, 2009 at 10:31 am
Senator Hagan has endorsed the public option health plan put forward by the Senate Health Committee. This isn’t the end of the road – just the start of the negotiations – but Senator Hagan is clearly hearing from her consitituents! See our latest post:

http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2009/07/06/pharma-senator-hagan-and-the-public-option-health-plan/
Joe Teeter
July 24, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Go to Canada or the UK and find out what type of health care we are headed for. Get ready to wait for healthcare. Also, some government agent will be making a decision to determine if and when you see a doctor. Senator Hagan is using common sense, instead of walking in lockstep with the president.
John Sikes
August 8, 2009 at 10:18 am
The answer to the health care debate is not a government option, which will only lead to rationing and worse care down the road. In Britian and Canada, dogs getting much better treatment than people.

The answer is more competition. Yes, Blue Cross has a monopoly in NC. Let’s allow people to shop for insurance nationally. Allow smaller businesses and self-employed to form co-ops for greater purchasing power. We don’t want to destroy the highest quality health care in the world simply because it cost too much.
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Sharon
January 1, 2010 at 11:43 am
Just look at this and just remember elections in Nov. 2010.

U.S. House & Senate have voted themselves $4,700 and $5,300 raises.
1. They voted to not give you a S.S. Cost of living raise in 2010 and 2011.
2. Your Medicare premiums will go up $285.60 for the 2-years and
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james black
December 18, 2010 at 11:58 pm
america has no idea what real health care is. go to germany if you want to see the perfect example of great healthcare. they take care of their citizens over there. if they are sick, they don`t work until doctor says they are well enough and get paid for it. not like over here where you have to work sick have the time to just keep from getting fired. i bought a prescription inhaler inorder to help me breath. cost 120.00. same one in germany was at the time 14 marks, about 12 dollars. tell me we aren`t getting ripped off by the drug companies. and yes, i would move and live there in a minute if they would take me as a citizen for i wouldn`t never have a medical worry again. but their system probably wouldn`t work here due to greed .to many politicans in pocket of the drug and insurance companies.my pet gripe is why all elected politicans don`t have to have same coverage as we do. to me all politicans should be limited to one term period. i know i will never vote again until all lobbist are kicked out of washington. then and only then will america belong to the people again.