"Let's Make a Deal" Reruns
Remember the show, Let’s Make a Deal, with Monty Hall? Well, it's back--sort of. For more than a year, Congress has been saying that it’s close to making a deal on legislation to overhaul America’s health care and financial systems.
The original Let’s Make a Deal show was based on the show’s host, Monty Hall, offering deals to members of the audience. The contestants usually had to weigh the possibility of an offer being for a valuable prize, or an undesirable item. In its simplest format, a contestant was given a prize of medium value (such as a television set), and the host offered the contestant the opportunity to trade for another prize. However, the offered prize was unknown. It might be concealed on the stage behind one of three curtains, or behind "boxes" onstage, or within smaller boxes brought out to the audience.
Congress seems to have brought this classic TV game show back. “We’re close to a deal,” on health care legislation. “We’re close to a deal,” on financial reform legislation.
Health Care Reform
The need across the country for health insurance reform has not abated. Americans agree that the nation's health insurance system is broken, but Congress still hasn’t sent a bill to President Obama to fix it. The current deal on the table is for the House to pass the Senate’s bill and then for both chambers to pass a budget reconciliation bill that resolves their differences. The proposed deal would ban insurance companies forever from denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions and from dropping coverage when an individual becomes sick. Insurance companies would no longer be able to randomly hike premiums or to impose lifetime or annual limits on the amount of care someone can receive. All new insurance plans would be required to offer free preventive care so that illnesses may be caught early. Young adults will be able to stay on their parents’ insurance policies until they are 26 years old. Uninsured individuals and small business owners would have the same kind of choice of private health insurance that members of Congress get for themselves. And individuals who do not have insurance coverage through a large group could be part of a bargaining pool that negotiates lower rates. Also, if an individual is ineligible for Medicaid but still can’t afford the insurance offered through the pool, she or he would receive a tax credit to assist with this cost. Finally, this deal would provide a new, independent appeals process if a claim has been unfairly denied.
It’s time for Congress to take the deal and make health insurance available and affordable for all.
Financial Regulation Reform
After the catastrophic financial crisis, President Obama called for the creation of an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which would have as its sole mission the protection of consumers. It would create and enforce clear rules to ensure fairness of credit card terms and conditions, overdraft loan programs, payday and car title loans, and mortgages. In the fall, the House of Representatives passed legislation creating such a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which would provide the type of consumer protections that should have been in place all along. The Senate, however, has been debating the issue for months.
Specifically, Senate Republicans and the financial-services industry have opposed the creation of such an entity. Instead they would prefer that the Federal Reserve continue to be responsible for consumer protection as part of its regulation of nationally chartered banks. The central bank has always been responsible for the health of the nation's largest banks and the safety of American borrowers; however, its failures in both roles have been well documented. For years, the Federal Reserve primarily focused on monetary policy over bank supervision and often made consumer protection an afterthought. As a result, millions of American families have been left unprotected and financially unstable.
Additionally, the Federal Reserve only regulates banks, which would mean that the so-called shadow banking system of payday lenders, debt collectors, and loan originators and servicers would remain unregulated. The power of these entities has been demonstrated by the huge role they had in the current economic crisis. Allowing them to continue their predatory practices without being regulated would not be a deal on reform but rather a continuation of the status quo. Lawmakers have repeatedly said that they are close to a deal on this very divisive issue. Yet, proposals to let the Federal Reserve remain the primary regulator of consumer protection laws, is not a deal, it’s just the status quo.
Well Monty, Where’s the Deal?
Congress seems to be weighing the possibility of whether reforming health care and financial systems will ultimately be valuable prizes, or undesirable items. Yet, rather than holding onto its existing undesirable prizes, Congress should choose Door #1, quality, affordable health insurance reform NOW and a dedicated agency to monitor and rein in the reckless behavior of financial institutions.
Well Congress, where’s the deal?
