A Reading Guide to Obamacare’s Backroom Deals
“I think the health care debate as it unfolded legitimately raised concerns not just among my opponents, but also amongst supporters that we just don’t know what’s going on. And it’s an ugly process and it looks like there are a bunch of back room deals.”
— President Obama, interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, January 25, 2010[i]
The White House recently enacted its health “reform” agenda by signing the 2,733 page legislation (H.R. 3590) that passed the Senate in December.[ii] While the Administration touts its removal of the “Nebraska FMAP provision” that saw 49 other states funding Nebraska’s Medicaid largesse (known as the “Cornhusker Kickback”), it did not address other deals negotiated by Democrats in the Senate legislation. Many other backroom agreements are included in the legislation the President has now enacted into law:
Page 428—Section 2006, known as the “Louisiana Purchase,” provides an extra $300 million in Medicaid funding to Louisiana.[iii]
Page 2132—Section 10201(e)(1) provides an increase in Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments for Hawaii, meaning 49 other states will pay more in taxes so that Hawaii can receive this special benefit.
Page 2203—Section 10317 amends provisions in Medicare so that hospitals in Michigan and Connecticut can receive higher payments.
Page 2222—Section 10323 makes certain individuals exposed to environmental hazards eligible for Medicare coverage. The definition used in the bill ensures the only individuals eligible will be those living in Libby, Montana.
Page 2237—Section 10324 increases Medicare payments by $2 billion in “frontier states.”[iv]
Page 2354— Section 10502 spends $100 million on “debt service of, or direct construction of, a health care facility,” language which the sponsors intended to benefit Connecticut.[v]
Page 2395—Section 10905(d) exempts Medigap supplemental insurance plans from the new tax on health insurance companies; press reports indicate this provision was inserted to benefit an insurer headquartered in Nebraska.[vi]
Even after the public outrage from the “Cornhusker Kickback,” Democrats used separate legislation designed to “fix” this particular provision (H.R. 4872) to add yet more deals behind closed doors.[vii] For instance, page 71 (Section 1203(b)) of the “fixer” bill provided an increase in Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments just for Tennessee. And Section 2213 (page 145) of the original version of the “fixer” bill[viii] included a sweetheart deal making the Bank of North Dakota the only financial facility in the country exempted from Democrats’ government takeover of student loans—a backroom deal so egregious that it was removed within hours once the bill was finally revealed to the American public.[ix]
These specific agreements and provisions also do not display the full scope of the White House’s legislative deal-making. For instance, the head of the pharmaceutical industry said the Administration approached him to negotiate a deal with his industry: “We were assured, ‘We need somebody to come in first. If you come in first, you will have a rock-solid deal.’”[x] And former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean publicly admitted at a town hall forum that “The reason that tort reform is not in the [health care] bill is because the [Democrat Members] who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers.”[xi]
The many pages of backroom deals included in the health care takeover legislation raise several questions: If the bill itself was so compelling, why did Democrats need billions of dollars in “sweeteners” negotiated in secret in order to vote for it? If President Obama was so concerned about the public perceptions created by the backroom dealing, why did he not propose to strike all the special agreements? Does he believe that this pork-barrel spending is the only reason why Democrats voted to pass his government takeover of health care in the first place?
[i] Full interview transcript available at http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=9659064.
[ii] Senate-passed bill text available at http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3590/text.
[iii] “Dems Protect Backroom Deals,” Politico February 4, 2010, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/32499.html.
[iv] Congressional Budget Office, score of H.R. 3590 including Manager’s Amendment, December 19, 2009, http://cbo.gov/ftpdocs/108xx/doc10868/12-19-Reid_Letter_Managers_Correction_Noted.pdf.
[v] “Dodd Primes Pump in Bid to Survive,” Politico December 22, 2009, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30881.html.
[vi] “How Nebraska’s Insurance Companies Stand to Profit from Ben Nelson’s Compromises in Health Care Bill,” Huffington Post 21 December 2009, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/21/how-nebraskas-insurance-c_n_400080.html.
[vii] Senate-passed bill (H.R. 3590) text available at http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3590/text; reconciliation bill (H.R. 4872) text available at http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h4872/text.
[viii] House Rules Committee amendment in the nature of a substitute, http://docs.house.gov/rules/hr4872/111_hr4872_amndsub.pdf.
[ix] “Conrad Wants Controversial Carve-Out Axed,” Roll Call March 18, 2010, http://www.rollcall.com/news/44368-1.html. The provision was stripped by the Rules Committee prior to full House consideration of H.R. 4872.
[x] Quoted in “White House Affirms Deal on Drug Cost,” New York Times August 5, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/health/policy/06insure.html?_r=3&scp=8&sq=kirkpatrick&st=cse.
[xi] Exchange at Town Hall forum in Reston, VA, August 25, 2009, available online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdpVY-cONnM.