On Monday, Mr. Baucus issued a news release boasting of what he described as his efforts to keep the health care debate honest. “Baucus-requested investigation nails insurance scare tactics,” the news release proclaimed.
In the news release, Mr. Baucus said that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a division of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, had “cracked down on insurance company attempts to mislead and confuse beneficiaries about how they would be affected by health care reform legislation.”
He accused Humana of sending a letter to beneficiaries that raised the prospect of elderly Americans losing the benefits of Medicare Advantage policies. The legislation, Mr. Baucus insisted, “does not include cuts to Medicare benefits.”
But the implications of the legislation’s proposed cuts in government spending on Medicare, including Medicare Advantage, are not clear.
Mr. McConnell in his speech angrily asserted that Democrats were seeking to quash legitimate concerns about the legislation.
“A colleague of ours has called for an investigation of a major health care company because this company disagreed with a bill our colleague introduced,” he said. “As a result, the federal government has now told all companies that provide Medicare Advantage to stop communicating with their clients about the effects of that legislation.
“This gag order, enforced through an agency of the federal government, is wrong,” he continued. “It started when a company based in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, Humana, had the temerity, Mr. President, the temerity in the eyes of some of our colleagues to explain to its customers that if Medicare Advantage is cut, as the chairman’s mark requires, it may reduce benefits, which of course is a common-sense conclusion.”
“This is American — citizens, either as individuals or grouped together in companies, have a fundamental right – a fundamental right – to talk about legislation they favor or oppose in this country,” Mr. McConnell added. “This is the core of the First Amendment’s protection of speech.” |
