But Think of the Poor Lobbyists!

In case you had any doubt that some in the Senate think the health insurance companies are the ones to worry about when it comes to health care reform (if the Baucus plan being written by a former WellPoint VP wasn’t enough for you), well, this sort of speaks for itself.

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) proposes an amendment to delay the Finance Committee’s health care reform bill. In particular, he wanted to put off a vote until after the text of the bill had been on the committee’s website for at least 72 hours. Before the amendment failed, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) explained why this was so important.

All the Senator from Kentucky is asking is for 72 hours to determine the cost. Senator Snowe has spoken eloquently about sunshine, and the openness, and the fact that the American people would support this 90 percent, 95 percent. But the thing that I’m trying to point out is we would have at least 72 hours for the people that the providers have hired to keep up with all of the legislation that we pass around here, and the regulations that we pass around here, to say “hey, wait a minute. Have you considered this?” And that’s all I’m asking for — is not only cost, but also the content of a bill. And that 72 hours, I think, is highly, highly important.

“The people that the providers have hired to keep up with all of the legislation that we pass around here.” Those are insurance industry lobbyists. (They, by the way, probably already have good health care.)

People die every day because they don’t have coverage. But we should give the insurance lobbyists plenty of time to work up more ways to delay reform. That’s the line from Sen. Roberts, anyway—and plenty of his colleagues are clearly unbothered by delay for whatever reason.