Stupak Knows How to Bargain!

The posting of this is probably pre-mature. But the Senate health care reform legislation was just released a few hours ago and it was one of the first things that popped into my head. Bart Stupak (D-MI) seems -- unlike most other Democrats -- to actually understand how to negotiate.

We all remember the Stupak Amendment. That pesky add-on that got put into HR 3962 right before the final bill passed 220-215, limiting a woman's right to choose from the get-go and potentially eliminating all insurance-based abortion coverage in the future when the insurance Exchanges expand? ...That one.

But before I get into Bart Stupak: "The Negotiator," let's get a solid look at Bart Stupak: "The Asshole."

First, a little background: As of now, the Exchanges (and the public option) are set up for a very small amount of people. Only people that are uninsured and cannot acquire coverage by other, affordable means -- to make it extremely simple -- which is why the Exchanges only marginally cut down on costs. However, if the Exchanges were opened to all Americans, it would severely decrease costs, because the amount of competition between insurance companies would ultimately force their rates to exceptionally go down. This is the basic concept behind Wyden's Free Choice Act. It's not being instituted now (much to Ron Wyden [D-OR]'s displeasure) -- mostly because it would basically dismantle employer-based health care as we know it, since people would then be free to leave their employer's plan if they were unsatisfied and become able shop around on the Exchange for a different (and potentially more affordable) insurance policy as an individual. This will be revisited by congress at a later date, but most experts agree that (if the health care reform legislation currently moving through congress becomes law) Wyden's Free Choice Act is what will eventually happen.

That would be a very good thing for health care, but if the Stupak amendment comes with it, it's extremely bad news for women (who already pay more for health care than men). This is in part because (even before the Exchange expansion) the health insurance marketplace (the Exchange), hospitals, individuals, employers -- you name it -- are going to be subsidized by the government to make sure that the individual and employer mandates in the health care reform legislation aren't burdens for people (or employers) who can't afford coverage. The Stupak amendment tries to go as far as saying that any government subsidy cannot (directly or indirectly) cover abortion.

If that were the case, even some women that purchase insurance with 100% their own money still would not be able to acquire abortion coverage through their insurer, because the place that they're buying it from is government subsidized. This makes it entirely unlikely that any employer or insurance company on the Exchange would offer abortion coverage in the future, because it simply wouldn't make sense for them to. If they wanted to provide coverage for abortions, they would have to opt-out of being on the Exchange along with receiving any government subsidies -- which is probably not the best business move. Then, you can imagine, if the Exchange were massively expanded, it would basically be the end of insurance-based abortion coverage as we know it.

Pretty scary, right? End of Bart Stupak: "The Asshole."

Cue Bart Stupak: "The Negotiator." Now, while I believe this legislation what Rep. Stupak wants, I also believe that he knows he won't get it. It's far too conservative -- especially to come out of a 60% Democratic-controlled congress. There's already been 41 pro-choice House members (and still growing) that signed a petition stating that they would not support a final bill with Stupak's language in it, while Stupak reportedly only had 10, or so, representatives stating they would not vote for the final bill without his language.

So what did he do? He wrote legislation that was as far to the right as humanly possible with regards to the federal funding for abortions -- most likely with the mindset that it would be compromised slightly back to the left. Boom! Negotiation! That's how it's done. Why can't more Democrats learn this tactic?

There are already reports that the Senate bill has stricter abortion language than normal in the legislation, but it's nowhere near as crazy as the Stupak amendment. Progressive Democrats are now going to look at the language in the Senate version and say, "Hell of a lot better than Stupak's!" even if it's something they disagree with overall.

My point is: that's how compromising works. The public option, for example, should have been the compromise -- not something to be compromised. If you start out with something like the public option, you're going to see it wither away into almost nothing (which is about where we are with it now -- if it remains in the final bill at all).

If we had let the beginning of the health care debate be pushed in the beginning by single-payer advocates like Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) in the House and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in the Senate, we would have a much better bill right now. The Republicans (and some Democrats) would have freaked out about an actual government takeover of health care -- and then a strong public option swoop in for the rescue! But it does no help to dwell on the past.

So, while I disagree 100% with Bart Stupak's stances on abortion, I agree with him 100% on his stances with regards to negotiation. Well played, asshole. I just hope other Democrats learn a thing-or-two from you.