Baucus Merck

Yep. he said it…in front of reporters…on March 3, 2009. And here’s proof.
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, appeared as the first guest in a new series of Health Care Reform newsmaker briefings sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Families USA and the National Federation of Independent Business. The reporters-only briefings, designed to inform the public about prospects and options for health reform, feature a short presentation by an influential leader followed by an extended question-and-answer session.. Get the video; podcast or .pdf transcript here

Baucus Receives BIG BUCKS from BIG Rx & Insurance

Q&A

KAREN TUMULTY: Karen Tumulty from Time Magazine. What about, I mean, the concepts that are in a number of plans including yours – would allow people to buy into a Medicare program or a Medicare-like program? You say nothing is off the table, I mean, where does single payer fit in to all of this?

SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D-MT): I think single pay – Merck is not ready for single pay. I mean, America. We are a bit different than people in other countries. We are not Europe. We are not Canada. We are America. It is “go west, young man.” It is entrepreneurialism. It is creativity. It is innovation and so forth. And I think we have come up with a uniquely American solution which is a combination of public and private, because we are America. I think that we would be spending capital inefficiently by trying to pursue a single pay system when we have another pathway to meet the health care reform available to us.

I think it should be about choice, flexibility in our reform package, and I think this country does not want single pay. This is not a single pay country. Some suggest it, but I don’t think it’s there. I think we could make better use of our time trying to enact meaningful comprehensive reform basically along the lines of the white paper which is very similar to what President Obama is suggesting. It is somewhat similar to the Massachusetts plan, and that, I think, is a better use of our time.
www.kff.org/uninsured/030309reformpkg.cfm

Comment by Don McCanne, PNHP:
Karen Tumulty already knew that our health insurance system was not functioning adequately for too many of us. She knew her brother, Patrick, was vulnerable considering his low income and the $2500 deductible on his health insurance policy. But even Karen Tumulty was caught off guard when she learned of the extremes of insurer innovation in the design of her brother’s coverage.

Assurant Health was selling him six month policies in succession, not pointing out to him that each policy was a new policy that excluded preexisting disorders, even if they developed while he had the same coverage. The story that Karen tells in the rest of this article made her realize more than ever the need for comprehensive health care financing reform.

It is no wonder that she asked Sen. Max Baucus where single payer fits into all of this. If we had a single payer system, her brother would not have had to face all of the financial challenges that were caused by his very unfortunate medical circumstances. Do you think she was satisfied with his answer?

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, during 2003-2008, Max Baucus received $588,185 from the insurance industry and $523,313 from the pharmaceutical/health product industry.