Political Will

I continue to be amazed at the general incompetence of the General Assembly and the Governor when it comes to putting together a budget.

This one sentence from Pol Watchers sums up the problem.

No new taxes were included in the budget, lawmakers said. About $85 million in savings would be assumed from government efficiencies created by not filling state jobs that open up later this year after an expected wave of retirements.

Here’s the problem, you have to believe that experienced state employees making $85 million during the budget cycle, are totally worthless. You have to believe that the state will be better off without them.

Now I will allow in some cases that’s true. But the truth is if that many people and their institutional memory go out the door then a lot of things government does will be done badly or not at all.

The mantra of shrink the government only works if you are willing to put up with shrinking the services government provides. Now it’s obvious the politicians are willing to balance the budget on the backs of state workers, teachers and the poor. There is nothing new in that formula.

The need to act like lemmings and follow Grover Norquist makes passing a tax of any sort nearly impossible.

Our honorable leaders have also refused to do any of the heavy legislative lifting on major issues. They seem to have a need to engage in pissing contests like the one between David Williams and Harry Moberly and one between Damon Thayer and Mike Cherry rather than do any real work.

Take for example their inability to address the mess at Kentucky Retirement Systems.

Decisions on how to restructure the state employees' underfunded pension plans could depend on how much money the state budget can put into them.

House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said Monday evening that the budget being hammered out now has little in the way of new revenue, leaving pension plan negotiators in the dark and far apart.

The longer they put off doing something the bigger the mess gets. The same goes for Medicaid funding and true comprehensive tax reform.

Every legislator and the Governor know what the problems are, and what the solutions are, but they lack the political will to do their jobs.

There is an answer. A Governor that could actually lead and manage a thoughtful legislative agenda would go a long way to solve the problems but that’s at least four years away.

A complete change in the leadership of the House and the Senate would be good too. Every year these guys prove that if they were all in giant paper bag they would try to walk out the closed end. Again I don’t see this happening anytime soon.

Nag Your Legislator

What Alan said:

By passing House Bill 415 our legislators can create a statewide colon cancer screening and treatment program that targets uninsured Kentuckians between the ages of 50 and 64. This can and will motivate thousands of Kentuckians to be screened for colon cancer, regardless of their insurance status.

Not only will the implementation of this statute save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives in Kentucky each year, it is a cost-saving measure that we really need in these days of budgetary and economic challenges.

When detected early through screening, medical intervention for colon cancer has an incredible 85-95 percent cure rate. For those Kentuckians who are detected early, the cost of treatment is about $30,000, but that cost goes up to more than $120,000 for patients with later stages of colon cancer.

Not having had colon cancer, but getting too close for comfort and having the scars to prove it, I can’t agree more with any OP-ED piece I’ve seen in a long time.

Nag your Legislator.

Where's His Head?

Thanks Tom, this is a good piece of legislation forcing insurance companies to do what they should have been doing all along.


One note on who voted for this and who didn’t, there was one no vote David Floyd. Floyd owns Windsor Gardens Retirement Communities; I guess he was just trying to make sure he always has a few beds open.


There were two Representatives that didn’t bother to vote, Scott Alexander and Jim Gooch.


I guess this just proves that at least two other Representatives have their head as far up their butt as Jim Gooch.



SB 96/HM (BR 1437) - T. Buford

AN ACT relating to health insurance coverage for colorectal cancer detection. Create a new section of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to require health benefit plans to provide coverage for colorectal cancer screenings, effective January 1, 2009, in accordance with guidelines of the American Cancer Society.

SB 96 - AMENDMENTS

SFA (1, J. Denton) - Retain all provisions; make technical correction.

Jan 22-introduced in Senate
Jan 24-to Health & Welfare (S)
Feb 20-reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar
Feb 21-2nd reading, to Rules; floor amendment (1) filed
Feb 25-posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Feb 26-3rd reading, passed 34-1 with floor amendment (1)
Feb 27-received in House
Mar 3-to Banking & Insurance (H)
Mar 14-posted in committee
Mar 19-reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar
Mar 20-2nd reading, to Rules
Mar 26-posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Thursday, March 27, 2008
Mar 27-3rd reading, passed 97-1; received in Senate

Bad Ideas

Here are a couple of gems from the Republican side of the state Senate.

You can always count on Vernie when you need someone to bash gays. This bill is not about health insurance, it’s about keeping health insurance for only right thinking people.

SB 112/LM (BR 1242) - V. McGaha, G. Tapp, C. Borders, C. Gibson, B. Leeper, D. Roeding, D. Thayer, K. Winters
AN ACT relating to public employee insurance plans. Create a new section of KRS Chapter 61 to define a "public agency" as any agency participating in a state-administered retirement system or plan, any agency participating in the state health insurance plan, or any public institution subject to the provisions of KRS Chapter 164; define "family member" as the employee's spouse, natural or adopted children, stepchildren, children for whom legal guardianship has been awarded, children for whom the employee or employee's spouse has a legal obligation to provide for health-care expenses, and children, parents, grandparents, brothers, or sisters claimed as dependent's on the employee's federal tax return; require public agencies to allow the employee to only select health insurance coverage for the employee and family members of the employee.
Jan 28-introduced in Senate; taken from Committee on Committees; 1st reading; returned to Committee on Committees (S)

In the middle of a budget crisis here is another example of great Republican ideas. This one is from Elizabeth Tori. She wants to create more bureaucracy so five guys or their surrogates can have lunch twice a year and moan about military base closings, at state expense. Oh, and it’s an emergency.

SB 111 (BR 953) - E. Tori, C. Gibson, D. Kelly, J. Pendleton, D. Roeding, G. Tapp
AN ACT relating to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), making an appropriation therefor, and declaring an emergency. Establish Subchapter 60 of KRS Chapter 154 and create new sections thereof to establish the BRAC Economic Development Commission; create the BRAC economic development fund; appropriate debt service and authorize BRAC economic development fund bonds; EMERGENCY.
Jan 28-introduced in Senate; taken from Committee on Committees; 1st reading; returned to Committee on Committees (S)


* Yes Ms. Wright (7th grade English Teacher), I have fixed my error.

Electronic Health Record Systems

How do you start to lower the costs of medical care?

If you have ever had to deal with any insurance company and a group of medical providers you know they have about 10 different forms for everything and they don’t really like talking to each other. So here is a simple concept let’s all speak the same language.

Everyone in the medical professions must use the same method of record keeping. This includes all doctors, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, government agencies, universities, insurance companies and employers. Now to really work well this should be national, but let’s just talk about Kentucky.

There needs to be a mandated uniform electronic health record system (EHR) in Kentucky. The biggest single, and currently growing, EHR system is used by the Veteran’s Administration. This works.

What is the up side?

The actual benefits can be summarized as follows:

EHR Systems

• It is estimated that over 5 years, EHR benefits will be $86,400 per provider and the benefits will be accrued by several stakeholders such as physician practices, ancillary services, pharmacies and most importantly patients
• Ohio State University Health System reduced the time for getting medication to patients by 65 percent from 5.28 hours to 1.51 hours. They also reduced Radiology turnaround from 7.37 hours to 4.21 hours
• Maimonides Medical Center reported 30.4 percent reduction in average length of stay from 7.26 to 5.05 days. They also realized organizational efficiencies by preventing duplicate ancillary tests
• Heritage Behavioral Health experienced 70 percent reduction in cost of clinical documentation with EHR
• University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center gained significant benefits in reallocation of nursing time from manual documentation to direct care - estimated to be $1.2 million

e-Prescriptions

• Many errors occur because of handwritten prescriptions that can be easily misunderstood and can result in adverse drug events or complications. More than 3 billion prescriptions are written annually and according to an eHI report, medication errors account for 1 out 131 ambulatory care deaths and many deaths in acute care are also attributed to medication error.
• Studies indicate that the national savings from universal adoption could be as high as $27 billion annually

Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE)

• The Center for Information Technology Leadership (CITL) estimates that implementing advanced ambulatory CPOE systems would eliminate over 2 million drug events per year; avoid nearly 13 million physician visits, 190,000 admissions and over 130,000 life-threatening adverse drug events per year and save $44 billion per year.
• Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston reported 55 percent reduction in serious medication errors and 17 percent reduction in preventable Adverse Drug Events (ADE) - average cost of an ADE was $2,595, resulting in projected savings of $480,000 per year. They estimated net savings from $5 million to $10 million per year.
• Maimonides Medical Center in New York realized 55 percent decrease in medication discrepancies and 58 percent reduction in problem medication orders. They also eliminated pharmacy transcription errors.
• Children's Hospital of Pittsburg has eradicated handwriting transcription errors completely and cut harmful medication errors by 75 percent.
  
  Will this be easy to do?
  
  No, there will be a lot of foot dragging, complaining, ego problems from the medical profession and actual computer glitches that would slow the implementation of such a system. But the real impediments to do this are greedy health providers and their lobbyists and the severe lack of a spine in most of our state legislators.

Where's the Fire?

When is a lobbyist not a lobbyist and when is a threat not a threat?

David Edmunds is not a lobbyist for the Family Foundation when he is a contributing columnist and policy analyst.

A threat is not a threat when there is absolutely no evidence that the threat ever existed, such as denying people health insurance will destroy marriage.

Edmunds somewhat incoherent rant, against everyone that doesn’t agree with the Family Foundation party line. does have one true statement (even if the grammar is egregious).

“It is clear that those pushing this special-interest agenda were less than forthcoming.”

I know he means the dreaded gay-lesbian liberal intellectual conspiracy to corrupt the morals of right thinking married people. We all know how those people are out to push their evil agenda of allowing people to have health insurance.

So in the interest of being forthcoming, I am sure the Family Foundation will soon be publishing the names of all of those couples who have had their marriages saved by Kentucky’s codification of bigotry.

Edmunds starts and finishes his rant with the question "Where's the fire?"

Well Dave, here’s the answer.

There are over 46 million people that do not have health insurance in this country. While the actions of two universities in Kentucky will not make even a minor dent in the problem, they are moving in the right direction.

I would respect The Family Foundation and its’ hired guns if they actually cared more about people and less about everyone marching lock step to their particular brand of political correctness.

Mitch McConnell and Healthcare

Sometimes I truly wonder how supposedly smart people can say the things they do. Take for example Mitch McConnell’s piece in today’s Herald-Leader.

“…..my bill returns the SCHIP program to its original intent: insuring low-income children.

While Kentucky runs a responsible program, that's not the case in every state. Many states have exploited a loophole in the law to divert their programs to cover adults instead of children. New Jersey, for example, spends nearly half of its CHIP money on adults.

No Senator, what is outrageous is that 46.6 million Americans are uninsured.

“The number of uninsured Americans reached an all-time high in 2005,” said Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “It is sobering that 5.4 million more people lacked health insurance in 2005 than in the recession year of 2001, primarily because of the erosion of employer-based insurance.”

Senator you need not only to care for children, you also need to care for their parents.

McConnell refers to the “slippery slope toward government-run health care” and in the same article praises the “successful Medicare Advantage program”.

A fair assessment of the Medicare Advantage Program would also point out that:

Many advocates involved in representing Medicare Advantage plan care enrollees find that the system is fraught with difficulties. Beginning with the absence of clear explanations, and thus clear understandings on the part of enrollees, as to what services may be covered under what circumstances, to the concern of advocates that economic issues, rather than quality of care, guide some coverage determinations, the Medicare Advantage system can present great problems for enrollees. The requirements that enrollees use only the HMO's providers and that specialty care must be approved in advance are often viewed as disadvantages to the Medicare Advantage program. This difficult situation is compounded by an appeals system that is often vague and can involve frequent delays.

Another problematic area has been private insurance marketing activities. Although certain marketing techniques are prohibited, including the prohibition of activities that would mislead, misinform, confuse, or defraud Medicare beneficiaries, abuse by some companies has been an ongoing problem. Unfortunately, the regulations provide no direct remedies that the beneficiary subjected to prohibited marketing activities may pursue.

On the other hand, there are some advantages for HMO enrollees. For many enrollees, deductibles or coinsurance payments are reduced or eliminated. In addition, there are no claim forms to be filled out and some plans offer benefits not covered by Medicare.

Each year, many Medicare Advantage plans have decided to withdraw entirely from the Medicare market due to insufficient profits. Under current law, HMOs may decide each year whether to offer a Medicare plan and may discontinue the plan after providing their enrollees with written notice 60 days prior to termination. The closing of plans in many areas of Connecticut and the nation has been frightening and confusing for enrollees.

These uncertain circumstances, variations in the services that a plan may offer, and the charges that plans may impose point out how important it is for a prospective enrollee to examine carefully the benefits and costs of the services offered by the HMOs. A comparison of these benefits and costs with the original Medicare program, combined with coverage from a Medicare supplemental policy (Medigap), should be conducted before enrolling in a Medicare Advantage plan.

Medicare beneficiaries of modest means should also carefully review eligibility for the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary Program (QMB) and Connecticut's prescription drug program (ConnPACE) as a possible alternative to Medicare Advantage enrollment.

But the bottom line is this. There are over 46 million people that do not have adequate health care in this country. A single payer health insurance plan would address that problem.

Senator McConnell do you have another solution?

College Of Dreams

According to the Human Rights Campaign the 9,934 employers currently offer domestic partner benefits.

They break down as follows:

Fortune 500 Companies: (268)
Private Sector Companies: (8673)
State Governments: (13)
City and County Governments: (145)
Colleges and Universities: (304)

Of the Colleges and Universities that offer benefits all of the Ivy League schools have had partner benefits for years.

Kal Littrell goes to Trinity Christian Academy and plays basketball for the Trinity Titans. In Greek mythology, the Titans are a race of godlike giants who were considered to be the personifications of the forces of nature. Interesting name choice for a Christian Academy, but I digress.

Last year Kal was starting the process of getting into a “good” school, maybe even an Ivy League School.

On Jane Shropshire's cattle farm outside Lexington, Ky., a herd of happy Black Angus cows lazes in the summer sun, fattening on the state's famous bluegrass. Meanwhile, inside Shropshire's office, a converted outbuilding once used for storing breeding records and vet bills, something else is being fattened up: Kal Littrell's resume.

Littrell is meeting with Shropshire to draw up a road map that will take him from her farm to the college of his dreams…….Sitting nearby, Littrell's parents hang on every word - even father Ken, who'd originally thought Kal was too young for college planning. And now? "It's never too early to start the process," he says.

Kal’s dad Ken was on the Board of Directors, Trinity Christian Academy, 2005 - 2006. It’s good to grow up in a nice house, in an expensive area, go to a private school and have a supportive family where education is valued.

You see Kal’s parents Ken and Peggy are on the Board of the Family Foundation. Ken is the Secretary of the Family Foundation Trust of Kentucky, Inc.

Ken does this in addition to owning Clean Sweep Car Wash. Clean Sweep has two locations in Lexington and one in Richmond. Ken is also a partner in Varney Property, LLC with his mother Launa Varney Littrell.

On the political donation front Ken Littrell gave $250 to Tim Philpot and $150 to John Roach. Peggy Littrell gave $150 to Alice Forgy Kerr. Those size contributions won’t even get you a phone call from the candidate.

Now here is the Jon Stewart "WTF" moment.

Peggy Littrell is a faculty member at the University of Kentucky, College of Nursing.

So once again we have a UK faculty member, a health care professional, working against providing health care benefits for the partners of university employees.

I hope Kal Littrell gets an Ivy League education, I’m sure it would broaden his view of the world.

Poltical Theater

From Mark Hebert’s Blog:

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Nearly 200 people rallied in Frankfort Monday, calling on lawmakers to ban domestic partner benefits at public universities. It comes as lawmakers adjourn a special session.

“Simply stand for what we believe in, and that’s the sanctity of marriage,” said Kent Ostrander of the Family Foundation.

“When I heard about what the University of Louisville wanted to do and then what he University of Kentucky wanted to do, it just struck me as odd as what kind of lesson would they be teaching our young children about marriage?” asked Rep. Stan Lee.

Why doesn’t Stan Lee, Kent Ostrander and rest of the good citizens so concerned with what goes on in other people’s bedrooms address this issue to the people that actually made the decisions?
The decision makers were the Trustees of the Universities.

A look at who is on the Board of Trustees of the University of Kentucky and The University of Louisville might explain why these folks are not being picketed by the Family Foundation.

For instance at Louisville we have Ron Butt who has contributed over $2,000.00 to Ernie Fletcher. We also have Ulysses Bridgeman who gave Ernie Fletcher a $1,000.00 on 07/31/2003 but Mr. Bridgeman in an effort to be fair gave Ben Chandler a $1,000.00 on 08/12/2003.

Of course when it comes to being fair, Mr. Bridgeman is surpassed by Jonathan Blue. Mr. Blue, between December 4, 2006 to April 5, 2006, gave Ernie Fletcher $1000.00, Jonathan Miller $1000.00, Anne Northup $500.00, Bruce Lunsford $1000.00 and Steve Henry $500.00. You have to appreciate a man the covers his bases.

On the UK board we have Myra Ball, wife of Don Ball, of Ball Homes. Don Ball has given, according to the Board of Election Finance, $104,246.00 to political candidates. That is a lot of spare change for politicians.

So back to the original question why don’t Stan Lee and the Family Foundation go after the Trustee’s? Maybe because it’s easier to demonize a group than it is to hold rich powerful people accountable for their actions, particularly when they might give you a contribution.

When I see Stan Lee lead a Family Foundation rally in front of Ball Homes then I’ll believe they have the courage of their convictions, otherwise it's just self-serving political theater.

No Profit In Kids

I still have no answers from the Kentucky Delegation on where they stand on HB 676 that would provide health insurance for all Americans.

But there was this piece of news in the Herald-Leader:

“Humana Inc. reported yesterday that its second-quarter profit more than doubled from a year ago on the strength of improved cost controls and sharply higher income from its government business……

Michael B. McCallister, Humana's president and chief executive officer, called it "probably the best quarter we've had" since he became the company's CEO in 2000. He said it was the result of "virtually every line of business doing better," noting improvements in the commercial segment and a dramatic expansion of its Medicare business.”

It’s good to know they doubled their profits because they certainly need protection.

From the Washington Post:

President Bush has attacked the proposals as big-government attempts to enlarge the federal role in health care, saying they would siphon choice away from individuals and reduce private insurance coverage for some children.

This is just plain shameful.

Marriage: God's Way

The shills for the Family Foundation are back in Frankfort.

From the Herald-Leader:

“Children holding signs that read "Marriage: God's Way" and senior citizens in wheelchairs with stickers demanding protection of marriage joined a crowd that filled the Capitol Rotunda yesterday protesting domestic-partner benefits……..

Either way, Rep. Danny Ford, R-Mount Vernon, asked the crowd to line the steps as protesters did in 2004 in support of a constitutional amendment that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.”

I’m still waiting for Danny Ford or Martin Cothran or any member of the Family Foundation to trot out the family whose marriage was saved by the constitutional amendment. I want to see just one man and woman stand up and say their marriage was saved by this constitutional amendment.

The only thing this group wants to do is to limit availability of health insurance to a group of people that they don’t understand or like.

Bigotry, even when it’s institutionalized is still bigotry.

First Weasel Word Response

Almost two weeks ago I contacted the entire Kentucky Delegation in Washington D.C. to get their individual positions on H. R. 676 the bill to provide for comprehensive health insurance coverage for all United States residents.

Today I received my first reply. The reply was from Ed Whitfield. The text of the letter is below.

Dear Mr. Long:

Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 676, the United States Nation Health Insurance Act. It is good to hear from you and I appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns.

That being said, in the United States House of Representatives we have a long standing tradition know as Congressional Courtesy. This tradition establishes that every elected Member of Congress should have the opportunity to respond to his or her constituents. Following the precedent of Congressional Courtesy, I have forwarded your letter to your Representative Ben Chandler. I hope he is able to address your concerns.

Again, thank you for contacting me.

Sincerely
Ed Whitfield
Member of Congress

This is a typical weasel worded boiler plate response from a Congressman written by a staffer. I expect more to follow.

Congressional Courtesy is In Hill-speak, it dictates that a constituent’s message gets forwarded to their own Member or Senator, though it’s not an official or enforced policy. It is a easy way to dodge questions the member doesn’t want to answer.

I am real happy he appreciated the opportunity to address my concerns. I would have been even happier if he had actually taken a position on National Health Insurance.

So if there is anyone out there that lives in Mr. Whitfield’s district, please ask him this question:

What is your position regarding H.R. 676, the United States Nation Health Insurance Act?

If he answers let me know.

One Week - No Response

Well, it has been a week since I asked our representatives in Washington their position on HR 676. So far the response has been NADA.

I can’t say I’m surprised.

Maybe if I was from Louisville and my name was Michael McAllister I might already have a response. Michael McAllister is the CEO of Humana.

Some back ground according to Forbes Magazine:

He might not be the highest paid CEO, but Humana Inc. top boss Michael McCallister is the third best-performing chief executive for his pay, according to Forbes magazine.

The publication looked at the 500 biggest companies in the United States to determine which CEOs delivered the most "bang for their buck." Of those companies, Forbes found 189 CEOs who have been in office for at least six years and have at least six years of pay history. Those CEOs were ranked according to how well their companies' stock performance stood up to their pay over the past six years

McCallister, who has been Humana's CEO since 2000, came in at No. 3, with an annual return of 36 percent during his tenure. He has a six-year average compensation of $2.7 million.
How does he manage to survive with a paltry six-year average compensation of $2.7 million?

Think about this.

How does Humana get the best stock performance? By denying claims.
If Humana can pay this guy an average of $2.7 million a year and turn record profits, how many legitimate claims are they denying?

Or more simply put, how much pain, suffering and death are these money grubbing bureaucrats inflicting on the people they supposedly insure?

Feel The Love

Here we are on Wednesday morning and I've received no responses from the Kentucky Delegation on where they stand regarding the United States National Health Insurance Act (or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act) (Introduced in House) – Full Text

Perhaps the response time would be a little better if I had contributed a little more. Nothing says “Love” to a politician like a check.

According to Opensecrets.org the Kentucky delegation to Congress has felt over four and a half million dollars of love from the Health care sector.

That’s a lot of love.

Looks like Uncle Mitch has felt the most love from the Health Industry.

Mitch McConnell -$1,382,283
Jim Bunning -$1,014,853
Ed Whitfield - $906,429
Ron Lewis -$582,174
Geoff Davis - $319,375
Hal Rogers – $190,396
Ben Chandler - $112,900
John Yarmuth - $69,470

Kentucky's Represenatives and Sicko

This week-end I went to see Michael Moore’s Sicko. Regardless of how you feel about the Moore go see the movie. At the show I attended the audience was with him, there was laughter and tears and applause at the end.

Before I launch into a rant, let me say I understand that the film was a propaganda piece, that the views were one sided and tailored to represent a certain point of view.

That being said, our market driven health care system in this country sucks.

From the New York Times:

“Both Zevalin and Bexxar are very good products,” said Dr. Oliver W. Press, a professor at the University of Washington and chairman of the scientific advisory board of the Lymphoma Research Foundation. “It is astounding and disappointing” that they are used so little. The reasons that more patients don’t get these drugs reflect the market-driven forces that can distort medical decisions, Dr. Press and other experts on lymphoma treatment say. A result can be high costs but not necessarily the best care.”

My point of view comes not just from watching Sicko or from the New York Tims, but also from personal experience. My first wife died after battling cancer for just 18 months. During those 18 months the total cost of treatment approached a million dollars and generated about 2 inches of paper work per month. Financially we were lucky; we were among the few with adequate health insurance. So instead paying hundreds of thousands of dollars, we only paid thousands of dollars for her care.

So what needs to be done?

Here is a good first step:

United States National Health Insurance Act (or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act) (Introduced in House) – Full Text

Who thinks this is a good idea?

Physicians for a National Health Care Program

City of Louisville

Kentucky Senator Gerald Neal and Kentucky Representative Joni Jenkins both introduced resolutions in the General Assembly Neal’s died in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. Here are the current members of the Committee that killed the Senate resolution:

Sen. Julie Denton [Chair]
Sen. Tom Buford [Vice Chair]
Sen. Charlie Borders
Sen. Perry B. Clark
Sen. Denise Harper Angel
Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr
Sen. Joey Pendleton
Sen. Dick Roeding
Sen. Ernesto Scorsone
Sen. Dan Seum
Sen. Katie Stine
Sen. Johnny Ray Turner

Jenkins resolution had a better ending and was posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, January 24, 2006. Co-sponsors on the resolution were: T. Burch, Dw. Butler, L. Clark, D. Graham, W. Hall, J. Higdon, D. Horlander, M. Marzian, R. Meeks, L. Napier, F. Nesler, S. Nunn, D. Owens, T. Riner, J. Stacy, J. Wayne.

According to Healthcare-Now.org the only Kentucky Representative to support this legislation is John Yarmuth.

From Yarmuth's website:

By any measure, healthcare access is a crisis in America, today. Although we lead the world in medical innovation, 47 million Americans, or 16 percent of the population, live without health insurance. Millions of hard working Americans face the escalating cost of coverage while their benefits are being reduced. That is why I have cosponsored legislation to guarantee every American access to quality, affordable health insurance.

Where does the rest of Kentucky’s delegation stand on this issue? I called their Washington offices this morning.

Mitch McConnell

According to Christie, who answered the phone, Senator McConnell doesn’t have a position on the issue and won’t until it gets to the Senate.

Jim Bunning

According to Katherine, who answered the phone, Senator Bunning doesn’t have a position on the issue, but she did take my name and address so they can send it to me when he adopts a position.

Ben Chandler

Chandler’s office is will mail me a letter on his position. He appears to have an opinion but the perky intern that answered the phone was smart enough not to speak for the Congressman. I have to agree with Lou Grant, I hate perky early in the morning.

Geoff Davis

Davis office gave the same response as Chandler’s. The intern wasn’t as perky but needed more contact info before she they could send a position statement.

Ron Lewis

The intern here sent me to the voice mail of a staffer Megan Spendal (I think that was the last name) to get an answer. I left a message with contact info.

Hal Rogers

Victoria answered the phone in Roger’s office. Rep. Rodgers doesn’t have an opinion but Victoria really wanted to know my opinion. I told her I was in favor of the bill and gave her my address, so if and when Hal has a position on the bill he can let me know.

Ed Whitfield

Jordan, the first male intern, gave me the now standard “I don’t know the position, but we’ll get back to you response.”

As I get responses I'll publish them here.