From the Clarion-Ledger:
Former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat running against Wicker, said Wednesday that Wicker's recent vote shows he's influenced by special interests, including insurance companies. "He chose private insurance companies over Mississippi citizens," Musgrove said.
But Wicker said the bill would cut benefits to 27,109 Mississippi seniors who receive heath care through Medicare Advantage, private health insurance plans that receive Medicare dollars.
"That is a horrible and unnecessary choice, and one that is the result of a majority party deciding to play a game of political chicken at the expense of the elderly," Wicker said.Nearly every year, Congress votes to reinstate the money that would be automatically cut when Medicare spending reaches a certain level. But this year's bill, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to bring up again next week, would prevent the cut by reducing payments to insurers.
President Bush wants to avoid cutting Medicare fees for doctors but doesn't like the idea of reducing payments to insurers or other aspects of the bill. This week, his administration delayed the processing of Medicare claims to give Congress more time to block the cuts.
From Kaiser:
AMA's advertisements, which began running Tuesday, target by name 10 Republican senators who voted against the measure: John Cornyn (Texas), Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas), John Sununu (N.H.), John Barrasso (Wyo.), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), Bob Corker (Tenn.), Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Thad Cochran (Miss.) and Arlen Specter (Pa.). Seven of the senators face re-election this year (Wayne, CQ Today, 7/1). The television and radio ads, which are running in six states, reference the Fourth of July and say, "There's no celebrating for the millions of seniors, the disabled and military families who will lose their access to health care. A group of U.S. senators voted to protect the powerful insurance companies at the expense of Medicare patients' access to doctors" (Yen, AP/Tampa Tribune, 7/1).
Click here to see what the AMA President had to say about the U.S. selling out to private health insurance companies.
If you find the ad on YouTube, please let us know or post the link in the comments.
I'd actually blogged this earlier this morning over at The Thorn Papers, with the YouTube version of the ad.
ReplyDeleteOnly thing is, I wasn't able to find a Wicker or Cochran specific version, just the one that mentions John Sununu. FWIW, though, the ads are all identical, with the exception of the last two seconds "Contact XXX XXXXX...."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuS6qQfulTw
ReplyDeleteThe ad Thorn Papers found.
The AMA and MMA have totally different views on this one. The MMA supports Roger and Thad’s position.
ReplyDeleteIt’s like the National Demo Party and the state party. The state party doesn’t share the same ideas as the national party, or so they say. What is more important, what the AMA says, or the MMA?
Chuck, you mean the Mississippi State Medical Association (MSMA)? Or the MMA, the Medical Marketing Association?
ReplyDeleteBecause if it's the former, if I'm not mistaken, they're pretty PO'd too.
If it's the latter, well that's a business focused group, not a medical group, and therefore, 'nuff said.
To wit:
ReplyDelete“We’re outraged that they did not vote for it,” said Charmain Kanosky, executive director of the Mississippi State Medical Association, >of her home-state Republican senators, Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, both of whom are up for reelection this year. The association previously endorsed both men.
The Mississippi group is arranging meetings with both senators. “The outcome of those conversations will have a great deal of bearing on what we might do,” she said.
I'm so glad you are in the "know" on this one Mitch. MMA can be one of 2 things depending on the topic of conversation. Miss Manufactures Assoc, or the Miss State Medical Assoc which can be MMA for short. In this case I mean the later. The Medical Marketing Association? Is this an association in Mississippi? I have never heard of it, nor can I find its existence in Mississippi.
ReplyDeleteThis is no surprise, since this is an election year, for the majority to force Thad and Roger to play their political game.
What Roger and Thad did was vote to keep competition involved in medical coverage. Competition is the only way cost can be kept low and taking money away from the private insurance plans in Advantage and sending it elsewhere would not keep it fair, or competitive which would make it more expensive. It’s a complex issue, so it’s hard to explain in full, understandable detail.
No one will ever see a 10.6% cut. Stuff like that doesn’t happen overnight. Roger and Thad are not for Doctors getting a pay cut.
Don’t take short cuts and only depend on the media for the "Real Deal" as Ronnie says.
Well, since we're in agreement that you're referring to the MSMA, and they've voiced their "outrage" over Cochran and Wicker's votes, that sort of puts your point that "The MMA supports Roger and Thad's position" to rest. Doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, the privatization by bits and pieces of a program like Medicare (through "initiatives" like Medicare Advantage which siphon off a chunk of Federal money to private insurance companies) benefits not the recipients of the program's benefits, but the large insurance companies to whom Cochran and Wicker and the GOP establishment are beholden.