Nudge, Nudge

Wink, wink! And you wonder why the cost of health care keeps rising. Washington Post (01.24.06), via AmericaBlog:

"House and Senate GOP negotiators, meeting behind closed doors last month to complete a major budget-cutting bill, agreed on a change to Senate-passed Medicare legislation that would save the health insurance industry $22 billion over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office." Closed-Door Deal Makes $22 Billion Difference

The Senate passed legislation which would have cut HMO Medicare reimbursement by about $26 billion over the next ten years. That didn't sit very well with the health insurance industry. After lobbying like hell, Congressional Republican leaders got together in a conference committee and put back all but $4 billion of the reimbursements. That they did it is one thing. Hell, for all we know, it was bad legislation, and should have been changed. But how they did it is another matter altogether. "That change was made in mid-December during private negotiations involving House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and the staffs of those committees as well as the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In the spirit of bipartisan ship, "House and Senate Democrats were excluded from the meeting." And we get the bill! Funny how that works, eh? By the way, who you been voting for lately?