Though Republican lawmakers now vilify the individual mandate for health insurance coverage as unconstitutional, the provision has long roots in conservative health care philosophy and has been supported by such GOP presidents as Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush.

Republican administrations were among the first to embrace the concept of forcing individuals to buy coverage. Nixon — hoping to stave off the single-payer ethos of many congressional Democrats — explored the idea in the 1970s, though Republicans now dismiss those discussions as the byproduct of a moderate president searching for a domestic policy victory.

Less than two decades later, in what remains an unexplored chapter of health care history, a surprising supporter of the individual mandate was George H.W. Bush. According to contemporaneous reporting, Bush used "the tax system to ‘encourage and empower’ individuals to buy health insurance and would enact insurance market reforms that make it possible for everyone — even if they have pre-existing health problems — to get insurance." In short: individuals would be mandated to buy catastrophic health insurance. The cost of that coverage would be tied to income, meaning that the poorer you were, the less expensive your policy would be.

 

Coverage of Preventive Services Provisions of Selected Current Health –

CONTINUED

Individual Mandate, Now Vilified By GOP, Was Supported By George H.W. Bush

Owned

Sorry Republicans. Your cost-control ideas belong to Democrats now.

Neera Tanden March 29, 2010 | 1:00 am

 

On the day of the historic House vote on the Senate bill and reconciliation package, conservative pundit David Frum wrote a piece titled "Waterloo," in which he stated that “conservatives and Republicans today suffered their most crushing legislative defeat since the 1960s.” Frum argued that, by opposing the entire legislative effort as a means to cripple the Obama presidency and refusing to negotiate in good faith, the Republicans ensured they would have no part in shaping the most significant domestic policy of the last 40 years. “Barack Obama badly wanted Republican votes for his plan," Frum explained. "Could we have leveraged his desire to align the plan more closely with conservative views?” The answer is clearly yes.

And the consequences will be large. By unilaterally ceding control over the contents of the health bill, Republicans have also ceded any claim to the policy innovations therein. Ideas that were once championed by conservatives have now been adopted by Democrats, who have become their primary champion. Going forward, if they are successful, these ideas will be permanently considered Democratic achievements.

One of the best examples of such a conservative issue is cost control. For decades, cost-conscious Republicans criticized the way health care is delivered in our country. They argued that generous insurance plans, combined with the fee-for-service system in which doctors, hospitals, and other providers are reimbursed for each point of service they deliver, creates incentives for overuse. Incentives work in health care like they do in other markets: If you pay someone to do something, they will do it a lot. Because we must pay for each check-up, each consultation, each test, the system encourages providers to approve unnecessary care for higher payment. So the fee-for-service system rewards volume over quality of care. By realigning the system to provide better market incentives, moderate conservatives argued, we could wring billions of wasted dollars out of the system. (Many also contended that we should control costs from the opposite direction, making consumers responsible for more of the cost for each service, and therefore reducing their incentive to "overconsume" health care.)

Liberals, in turn, defended this fee-for-service system from its critics, arguing that any alternative would limit access to needed care. They wanted to ensure that doctors and consumers had the primary say over health care, and fee-for-service, they argued, was the best way to guarantee that. They didn’t talk about "death panels," of course, but they did imply that a system which encouraged doctors to control costs might ultimately mean patients would suffer. CONTINUED

Owned | The New Republic

Hopefully the Main Stream Media gives him the same type of coverage he has given to those guilty or otherwise.

CREW, VoteVets File IRS, FTC Complaints Against Sean Hannity Charity Freedom Concerts

First Posted: 03-29-10 11:13 AM   |   Updated: 03-29-10 02:52 PM

 

Freedom Concerts, Sean Hannity’s scholarship charity for the children of fallen soldiers, has violated its charitable tax status, according to a Washington advocacy group.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington alleges that Hannity’s Freedom Concerts has "engaged in deceptive and illegal marketing practices by suggesting that all concert ticket sale revenue goes directly to scholarships for children of killed and wounded service members."

CREW will host a joint press conference Monday with VoteVets.org discussing complaints with the IRS and the Federal Trade Commission about Freedom Concert, Freedom Alliance, and Lt. Col. Oliver North.

Freedom Concerts, which is part of Freedom Alliance, is operated by Premier Marketing, according to conservative blogger Debbie Schlussel and CREW. Premier Marketing is operated by Duane Ward, the speaking engagement agent for both Sean Hannity and Oliver North, according to Schlussel. North is the founder of Freedom Alliance and its honorary chairman.

A little more than a week ago, Schlussel called out Hannity’s charity for what she described as a "huge scam":

…less than 20%-and in two recent years, less than 7% and 4%, respectively-of the money raised by Freedom Alliance went to these causes, while millions of dollars went to expenses, including consultants and apparently to ferry the Hannity posse of family and friends in high style. And, despite Hannity’s statements to the contrary on his nationally syndicated radio show, few of the children of fallen soldiers got more than $1,000-$2,000, with apparently none getting more than $6,000, while Freedom Alliance appears to have spent tens of thousands of dollars for private planes.

Freedom Alliance denied Schlussel’s "false and malicious allegations" in a statement to The American Spectator:

Freedom Alliance has never provided planes, hotels, cars, limos, or anything else to Sean. Sean gets nothing from Freedom Alliance except our gratitude for his personal generosity and for all he has done to help the troops and our organization. We have never had to ask Sean for anything, he always generously offers his help before we have a chance to ask him. But to be clear Sean pays for all his own transportation, hotels, and all related expenses for himself and his family and friends and staff, which over the years has added up to tens of thousands of dollars. He does not use any Freedom Alliance Funds or Concert funds in any way, period.

Last week, Media Matters reported that Schlussel’s figures "check out," but witheld judgement because Freedom Alliance’s mission is broader than just scholarships.

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Daily Kos first reported on this story in 2007.

Hannity’s new book "Conservative Victory" will be released on Tuesday, March 30.

CREW, VoteVets File IRS, FTC Complaints Against Sean Hannity Charity Freedom Concerts