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Ask Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi about the future of health care: Thursday, Oct. 15 @BlogHer

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You're invited to join Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) in a telephone conference call about health care reform legislation at 8:30 a.m. Pacific, 11:30 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, Oct. 15. The first 20 BlogHers who sign up in the comments below will be sent call-in information. More details below.

It's a big week for this controversial legislation. Five health care reform bills are moving through Congress and today the Senate Finance Committee meets to take a final vote on their version, the most conservative of the bunch according to OpenCongress.org.

Speaker Pelosi herself sent three versions of H.R. 3200 to the Congressional Budget Office for analysis last week, stating as she did that "it's very clear from our conversations with the members that the votes are there for a public option." (Source: Capitol Briefing.)

The public option has been the speaker's rallying cry since July, when she said,

"The glory days are coming to an end for the health insurance industry in our country. I have said that their profits are obscene, they have increased enormously over the past few years at the expense of America's consumers. And that's why what's in it for the consumers in our bill is that no longer will an insurance company be able to withhold insurance because you have a pre-existing medical condition. No longer can they pull back or rescind your insurance if you get more ill. No longer will you lose your health ins if you lose your job, change jobs, start a business, be self-employed. You will still have health insurance and think of what that means for the vitality of our economy, so we can encourage entrepreneurship while people have the confidence that they will have health insurance and can take more risks."

This quote begins at one minute, twenty-nine seconds (01:29) into this YouTube video:

You're invited to sign up on a first-come, first-served basis to join us when BlogHer moderates a telephone conference call with Speaker Pelosi at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, 8:30 a.m. Pacific on Thursday, Oct. 15. Please add your name below and any blog URL if you have one (that's not required :). We'll be back in touch with the phone number and logistics. We have room for a group of 20 bloggers, who will join BlogHer's contributing editors from both sides of the aisle.

If you're unable to attend, no worries -- please leave your question in the comments below and we will try to ask for you.

This call is the fourth of BlogHer's bi-partisan series of telephone conference discussions to connect women bloggers directly with legislators, in partnership with the Sunlight Foundation and OpenCongress.org. You can hear audio and read transcripts of our discussions at the links below:

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash)

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn)

Rep. George Miller (D-Ca)

We hope you join us!

Best,
Lisa
for Elisa, Jory and Lisa
BlogHer Co-founders

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Rita Arens 7 pts

Please feel free to drop me a line ( http://surrenderdorothy.typepad.com/surrender_doro... ).

Rita Arens writes at Surrender Dorothy ( http://surrenderdorothy.typepad.com ) and BlogHer and is the editor of Sleep is for the Weak ( http://tinyurl.com/9pg62e ).

danine 5 pts

I wrote about the conference call on my blog. Read it here: My Conference Call with Nancy Pelosi ( http://danine.net/blog2/2009/10/15/my-conference-c... ).

Danine Spencer
http://www.danine.net

Rita Arens 7 pts

I've been swamped today but have every intention of writing on this at Surrender, Dorothy ( http://surrenderdorothy.typepad.com/ ) and reporting what I heard from Speaker Pelosi and some of the questions people asked. Liz, I'll check out your Twitter stream, too. I know I personally have had a hard time getting a handle on the talking points and what they mean to both me and to the larger American populace. I know what would be best for me, but I'm also worried about what would be best for others -- particularly those whose very life or death or quality of life hangs in the balance when it comes to healthcare coverage.

I personally feel health and medicine can't be a for-profit business and operate ethically for any period of time. Our current state of affairs evidences that every day. I'm not sure this bill will fix things, but I want to learn more. I'll come back and leave a link in the comments when I get it pulled together.

Thanks to BlogHer and Sunlight for bringing us Speaker Pelosi. She had a message for us, and we had messages for her. It was nice to communicate.

Rita Arens writes at Surrender Dorothy ( http://surrenderdorothy.typepad.com/ ) and BlogHer and is the editor of Sleep is for the Weak ( http://tinyurl.com/9pg62e ).

Rita Arens 7 pts

I've heard tons of horror stories about double entries, clerical errors, etc. in those crazy-hard-to-read insurance and hospital bills leading to patients being double-billed or billed for procedures they didn't have.

I know there are privacy concerns about personal records being databased, but is this bill addressing the need for reducing human error in billing and claims?

Rita Arens writes at Surrender Dorothy ( http://surrenderdorothy.typepad.com/ ) and BlogHer and is the editor of Sleep is for the Weak ( http://tinyurl.com/9pg62e ).

lilmommythatcould 5 pts

Thank you Blogher for the opportunity to join in on the conference call- with such a short call I didn't get to ask my question.
My husband's works at a small business, every year health care premiums are raised- this year a staggering 8%! We regularly are switching health insurance companies to get what we are told is the best deal. I have no idea if it really is the best deal- I have to go on trust.
The exchange seems like, in theory a good way for the individual to compare prices and coverage but how accessible will this Exchange be to the every day American? Will there be a different exchange for the individual as oppose to the small business? Can I as an individual compare and see if my husband employer is actually getting the best deal?

Also how will the Health Care Exchange be run and by who?

Thank you again Blogher and Madam Speaker

~Susan

http://lilmomthatcould.com/

http://authors

sgranger 5 pts

Speaker Pelosi, I'm sorry I missed the call; I was taking care of my daughter at the time.

My question: There's been some criticism and concern that neither of the bills as written now do enough to encourage preventative healthcare as part of the reform package even though extensive data shows it would save money as well as lives.  Is there any hope that we could work prevention incentives into the final legislation?

Sarah Granger ( http://www.sarahgranger.com/ ) is the Director of New Media for WomenCount ( http://www.womencount.org ) and an Emerge CA ( http://www.emergeca.org ) alumnus. She writes for SFGate.com ( http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sgranger/index ), The Huffington Post ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-granger/ ), MOMocrats ( http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats/sarah_grang... ), The Political Voices of Women and BlogHer. She is in chronic pain from pudendal neuralgia due to complications from delivery of her daughter, chronicled at PainInTheMom ( http://paininthemom.wordpress.com ).

jaelithe 5 pts

Thanks to BlogHer, the Sunlight Foundation, and Speaker Pelosi for a wonderful call today. I did not have the chance to answer my question. Here it is, (with some context for readers who might not know much about the specifics of the debate):

I know that the House bill contains a public option-- i.e., a government-run insurance plan that people can choose to buy into if they are not satisfied with their options from private insurance plans. I know the very good reasons for creating the public option: to give Americans who are frustrated by the way they have been treated by the for-profit health insurance industry a non-profit, patient-centered choice, and to help control ever-rising health insurance costs by injecting some non-profit competition into the market. And I know that the bill currently being considered in the Senate does not include a public option.

I know that the Massachusetts state health care reform plan passed under Mitt Romney, which is very similar in structure to the bills currently being debated in the House and the Senate, did NOT include a public insurance plan, or any other significant cost control measures. At the time the legislation was under consideration in Massachusetts, private insurance companies assured the state that cost control measures weren't needed-- that the insurance companies would be able to lower premiums for everyone once everyone was in the system. But they haven't lowered their premiums since the law passed. 

MassCare has been successful in many ways-- it has given people more health insurance options to choose from, and has brought many people who did not previously have health insurance coverage into the system-- but the state of Massachusetts has struggled to keep health insurance costs down for consumers since the law's passage; their costs are not lower than the national average.  And a few people in Massachusetts-- particularly independent contractors and small business owners-- are still having so much trouble affording private health insurance premiums that they are actually choosing to pay the fine for not having coverage. And the state is beginning to struggle when it comes to covering subsidies for people who can't afford private insurance by themselves, because private insurance is still so expensive.

So it seems likely, from what has happened in Massachusetts, that insurance companies will NOT voluntarily lower premiums if we increase their profit base by mandating that every American purchase private health insurance coverage. And for that reason I believe that for the current health reform proposal to succeed, it MUST contain significant cost-control measures, either in the form of a public option that would compete with private insurers, or in some other form.

My question for Speaker Pelosi is this: I know from previous statements you have made that you strongly support the public option for the same reasons that I do. But, given the lack of enthusiastic support for a public option in the Senate, what, specifically, do you plan to do as Speaker of the House during conference to make sure that the public option outlined in the House version of the bill makes it to the President's desk? And if the public option fails, what is your Plan B? What other cost control measures would you consider to make sure that national health care reform incorporates the lessons from Massachusetts?

jaelithe 5 pts

And I know that Karoli, who was also on the call, was in fact planning to ask it. She is in a similar situation wtih needing coverage for her family NOW that she is not able to get.

audreyh68 5 pts

Oh how I wish this wasn't the dead-to-honest truth, but it is.

I echo Heather's question as well as we're one of the [probably thousands if not millions] of families who will lose their home this year due to a foreclosure brought on by a medical crisis. I hate to think of bankruptcy as looming overhead but as long as I am receiving medical and mental health care treatment, it's probably in our future as well.

So...what do we do in the meantime.  Status quo?

Audrey

-------

Audrey at Barking Mad! ( http://www.iambarkingmad.com )

Contributing Editor at New England Mamas ( http://www.newenglandmamas.typepad.com ) ...relaunching soon with a few new writers and a fresh new design!

Liz Henry 5 pts

Heather that's a good question and I'd like to hear the answer to that one too! What happens now? Three years is a long time and a lot more people will not only go bankrupt, lose their jobs and homes, but they will also die, in the meantime.

-----------------
Liz Henry ( http://www.blogher.com/haystackprofile/viewprofile... )
Composite: Tech & Poetics ( http://liz-henry.blogspot.com/ )
lizzard@bookmaniac.net

Liz Henry 5 pts

Thank you to BlogHer, Lisa, Erin Kotecki-Vest, Denise Tanton, and the Sunlight Foundation for this series of calls. And thank you so much to Speaker Pelosi fortaking the time to talk with us and listen to our concerns. I live-Twittered much of the substance of the conference call in real time and people were very interested and responsive.

Here are my own concerns and questions I would have loved to ask on the call, and I'm asking as well for my friends and colleagues from the disability blogosphere, and from GimpGirl ( http://www.gimpgirl.com/ ) and ADAPT ( http://www.adapt.org/ ):

I'm disabled and a wheelchair user. Right now I work full time. But I've gone years in my life poor, sick, unable to work, and with no insurance. I see people around me, friends who have disabilities and older people, forced into nursing homes and a cycle of poverty. Our individual voices are competing against powerful lobbyists from the medical-industrial complex that profits off of us. Speaker Pelosi, will you support the Community Choice Act, so we can live in our own homes long term and hire in-home caregivers? People shouldn't be forced to live in nursing homes, and today, they are. Can you try to get long term care for people with disabilities and chronic conditions covered in the House bill? Will you fight to make the public option VERY robust, especially for long term care and people with disabilities? And how will you and other Democrats and progressives keep fighting for that, even after this bill is passed?

-----------------
Liz Henry ( http://www.blogher.com/haystackprofile/viewprofile... )
Composite: Tech & Poetics ( http://liz-henry.blogspot.com/ )
lizzard@bookmaniac.net

audreyh68 5 pts

Thank you for a brilliant clarification on what I was trying to get at, and failing miserably with, when I asked my question earlier today during the conference call!  I will be watching this thread and hope you get an answer that offers more transparency than the elaborate answer I was given.

Audrey

-----

Audrey at Barking Mad! ( http://www.iambarkingmad.com )

Contributing Editor at New England Mamas ( http://www.newenglandmamas.typepad.com )

danine 5 pts

Here's my question for Speaker Pelosi:

I've been on Medicaid for four and a half years. How will Medicaid be affected by health care reform? Will the eligibility limits change? Will services change? Will there be incentives to help Medicaid recipients, particularly people on disability/SSI like me, get off of Medicaid?

Finally, I want to thank the BlogHer team for the opportunity to participate in the Pelosi conference call. I didn't get to ask my question because I didn't hear the instructions for how to ask the question. (I'm hearing impaired and couldn't hear which numbers to press). By the time I called the operator to ask, it was too late. That's my fault, but I wholeheartedly appreciate the opportunity!

Best,

Danine Spencer

http://www.danine.net

heatherspohr 5 pts

I was on the white house site on health care and came across this:
"Beginning in 2013, the Exchange will give Americans without access to affordable insurance on the job, and small businesses one-stop shopping for insurance where they can easily compare options based on price, benefits, and quality."

My question is if this passes, what are we supposed to do for the next three years? Will other provisions be made for people like me, with pre-existing conditions whose COBRA options will run out long before 2013?

Thank you!

heather...
http://www.thespohrsaremultiplying.com
http://www.friendsofmaddie.com

faintstarlite 5 pts

Thanks for the opportunity - here's my question:

I just became a mom in May and even though we have health insurance we paid around $9,000 out of pocket for me to give birth via c-section. Personally, I would like to have had even a rough estimate beforehand, but hospitals don’t offer that kind of information – plus it was impossible to get precise numbers out of our insurance company regarding what would be covered.

Without proper knowledge it's impossible to make a truly informed decision when choosing a health care provider or facility. How would health care reform as you envision it address this fundamental lack of transparency when it comes to pricing?
www.faintstarlite.com ( http://faintstarlite.com )

ikate 5 pts

Pauline,

I completely get it if you don't like her politics but why not participate in the call then?  Isn't the stance you are taking kind of like that of all the anti-Nestle people who "boycotted" their blogger junket and refused to go to them with their questions?

BlogHer has arranged for several of these calls with both parties...the fact that they landed some time with the Speaker of the House is amazing and shows the power of female bloggers.

(and bashing her looks...kind of a low-blow don't you think?  It's Congress, not a beauty pagent. Would you have said the same if it was Harry Reid or Dennis Hastert?)

ikate/kakaty http://www.kakakakaty.com/

thompsond 5 pts

I'd love to participate!  My background is in public health and I now work in higher ed at a public policy center.  This call would be a great fit for my interests.

Will look forward to seeing how the discussion unfolds.

@uppervalleymom ( http://twitter.com/uppervalleymom )

=====

Being a grown up isn't easy.  That's why chocolate was invented!

Blogging at http://kidsmealcrowd.com

Christine Watch Me 5 pts

Thanks for letting me join at this late hour!

Becky-DMBR 5 pts

If there's still room.

Thanks!

BeckyDMBR

Deep Muck Big Rake ( http://deepmuckbigrake.com/ )

Overflowing Brain 5 pts

Madam Speaker-

I was on the conference call this morning, but unfortunately did not get a chance to ask my question.  My name is Katie, I live in California and I have a congential neurological health condition that makes me all but uninsurable.  I've had one brain surgery and found out this week that I will likely require another sometime before the end of the year.  I have insurance now through my graduate school, however, if I have the surgery, I will have to defer and will lose my coverage.  So the public option is of huge interest to me.

If I used the public option, would I be stuck with a problem I'm encountering now, which is "in network" physicians?  The condition I have is fairly rare and it is difficult to find neurologists and neurosurgeons who have ever seen a case, let alone treated one.  

Also, sort of along the same lines- with the public option, would there be long wait times to see doctors or have necessary tests scheduled?  I was forced to wait almost 8 weeks for an appointment with a neurologist this summer and we don't yet know if waiting that long has caused irreversible problems.  To me, 8 weeks for a needed appointment is unacceptable.

I guess I just want to make sure that the public option is going to be quality healthcare for people like me who have complicated health issues.  Though we need quality insurance and health care the most, we always seem to be the last to get it.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with us this morning and for considering these questions afterwards

Katie 

http://overflowingbrain.com

OHmommy 5 pts

I respect very much that she would take her time to respond to BlogHer bloggers.  That's all kinds of awesome.  However, I don't think she will see it.

www.classychaos.com

audreyh68 5 pts

Pauline,

I don't think I have to tell you that I get where you are coming from.  I don't agree with some recent comments Speaker Pelosi have said, but this is a chance for me to let her know we're one of the families that are being financially devastated by a health crisis and to ask her why I should lend my voice (albeit however small it is in this community) to the support of the proposed reform package.   This is important to me because we are about to lose the ONE piece of security we have due to my health crisis...our home. 

The ironic thing?  We have health insurance.  It's the insane deductibles and co-pays that have wiped out our cushion and are draining us, financially.

Having said all that, I am grateful that she's taking the time to speak to us.  I hope she realizes that no matter how small our individual voices might be, that combined, they ring quite loud!

Pauline, I more than respect your point of view and I wish you'd reconsider joining in on this call.  I mean that genuinely!

Audrey

Audrey from Barking Mad! ( http://www.iambarkingmad.com )

Contributing Editor at New England Mamas ( http://www.newenglandmamas.typepad.com )

shanbrentris 5 pts

I lost count, but if possible, I'd be thrilled. 
Mr Lady: 
whiskeyinmysippycup.com

OHmommy 5 pts

I can not stand Pelosi.  I am pretty sure that I am not the only one. (Dude.  No more plastic surgery!)

GAH. 

I love women in power and love women having their voice heard but OH EM GEE..... this woman is off the wall liberal and not a "true" represenation of mothers everywhere. Take a look at BlogHer politics section.  Filled with left wing liberal views preaching her words.  Pleeease.   There are many many many MANY women that are "conservative" that can add a great deal of opinions to your site. 

After being bashed online for my views..... I kinda-of want people to know it's okay to be just like me.  Concerned.  And not partaking in the whole "I love Pelosi" fame.

www.classychaos.com

Erin Kotecki Vest 5 pts

Please contact erin.kotecki.vest@blogher.com if you have not received your dial in number or need any additional help. 

Thanks everyone! 

Politics & News Contributing Editor Queen of Spain ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

Liz Henry 5 pts

I would like to be in the call, if there's still room. Thank you!

-----------------
Liz Henry ( http://www.blogher.com/haystackprofile/viewprofile... )
Composite: Tech & Poetics ( http://liz-henry.blogspot.com/ )
lizzard@bookmaniac.net

RhiannonSL 5 pts

If it is still possible, would love to take part in this!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

artist | poet | virtual worlds designer | blogmistress | web 2.0 gal

Joyce Bettencourt

www.JoyceBettencourt.com

www.holymeatballs.org

www.twitter.com/RhiannonSL

aka Rhiannon Chatnoir in SL

sgranger 5 pts

Thanks for the opportunity!

Sarah Granger ( http://www.sarahgranger.com/ ) is the the Director of New Media for WomenCount and she writes for The Huffington Post, BlogHer, MOMocrats, SFGate, techPresident, and the Political Voices of Women.

jenlbrown1979 5 pts

If there is still room, I would LOVE to be part of this call! 

Thanks!

http://journeytothesmallersideoflife.wordpress.com...

jaelithe 5 pts

I was on three previous calls in this series and they were all excellent. I'd love to do this one too. Great job with these, BlogHer.

Diana 5 pts

If I counted right there's still room and I'd like to RSVP!

Diana

www.dianaprichard.com ( http://www.dianaprichard.com )

Lisa Stone 6 pts

Lisa Stone BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone ) Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com ) BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/politics-news ).

Lisa Stone 6 pts

Lisa Stone BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone ) Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com ) BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/politics-news ).

Lisa Stone 6 pts

Lisa Stone BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone ) Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com ) BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/politics-news ).

Lisa Stone 6 pts

Lisa Stone BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone ) Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com ) BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/politics-news ).

Lisa Stone 6 pts

Lisa Stone BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone ) Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com ) BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/politics-news ).

Lisa Stone 6 pts

Lisa Stone BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone ) Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com ) BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/politics-news ).

Lisa Stone 6 pts

Lisa Stone BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone ) Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com ) BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/politics-news ).

Lisa Stone 6 pts

Lisa Stone BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone ) Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com ) BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/politics-news ).

audreyh68 5 pts

If there is still a slot available I MOST DEFINITELY would like to participate in this one!

Audrey from Barking Mad! ( http://www.iambarkingmad.com )

Contributing Editor at New England Mamas ( http://www.newenglandmamas.typepad.com )

Rita Arens 7 pts

I want to hear about the public option. I want it.

Rita Arens writes at Surrender Dorothy ( http://surrenderdorothy.typepad.com/ ) and BlogHer and is the editor of Sleep is for the Weak ( http://tinyurl.com/9pg62e ).

Overflowing Brain 5 pts

I very much want to participate.  And this time I won't forget because Heather won't let me.  Promise.

http://overflowingbrain.com

faintstarlite 5 pts

I'm a political junkie and would be honored to participate!

www.faintstarlite.com

DrumsNWhistles 5 pts

Yay, BlogHer!

karoli

odd time signatures ( http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/ ) (life)
bang the drum ( http://politics.drumsnwhistles.com/ ) (politics)

Erin Kotecki Vest 5 pts

And where she stands on women and health care reform- you may want to take a look at:

Did You Know That Having Had A Pregnancy Is A “Pre-Existing” Medical Condition?
http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=2011

Video from an event last week with Dem House women on health care:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH2foXEX8Fk

Women and Health Insurance Reform
http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1909

Politics & News Contributing Editor Queen of Spain ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

danine 5 pts

I would love to be a part of this!

Danine Spencer ( http://www.danine.net )

Melissa Multitasking Mama 5 pts

I will be on my way to BWE on Thursday but would like to know what the left feels they are gaining by giving in on the public option when the only conservative supporting the current plan before Congress is Snowe?

Thanks for these great conference call opps, BTW!

Melissa Smallwood

www.multitaskingmama.com ( http://www.multitaskingmama.com/ )