Michigan is seeing a tug of war match over healthcare occur
between two of their representatives this week. The House voted in favor of
Rep. Fred Upton’s (R-MI) Keep Your Health Plan Act this week and Rep. John
Dingell is not happy about it. Democrats are claiming that this is just another
attempt to chip away at the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This came one day after
President Obama announced that he was changing the policy and allowing insurance
companies to offer existing plans to current customers for one year.[1]
What is the difference between the President’s new policy change and Upton’s
bill? “Under the Keep Your Health Plan Act, in 2014, new customers
could purchase the plans as well -- something the administration has said
would undercut the ACA.”[2]
Dingell agrees with the administration that this bill is another attempt to
undermine ACA.
As
a member of the House Subcommittee on Health, the ACA is a policy Dingell has
worked closely with the president to enact. In true Dingell fashion he
expressed is his discontent for Upton’s bill in a not so subtle manner. He is
quoted for saying that “the Keep Your Health Plan Act is a regrettable piece of
legislation that would allow snake oil salesmen to run around the country
selling bad policies."[3]
What is interesting to me about this piece of news is how representatives from
the same state interact with one another. Upton and Dingell are on different
sides of the debate on healthcare and I am going to assume that they both feel
they are acting in the best interest of Michigan. Which side is really best for
Michigan? Healthcare has become such a divided issue that deters representatives
from working together. Helping their district and state should be top priorities,
but it seems that currently in politics party loyalty trumps state loyalty.
[1] Yvonne Zipp, "U.S. House approves Congressman
Fred Upton's Keep Your Health Plan Act," M Live, November 15, 2013. http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2013/11/house_votes_to_approve_congres.html.
[2] Yvonne Zipp, "U.S. House approves Congressman Fred
Upton's Keep Your Health Plan Act," M
Live, November 15, 2013. http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2013/11/house_votes_to_approve_congres.html.
[3] Yvonne Zipp, "U.S. House approves Congressman
Fred Upton's Keep Your Health Plan Act," M Live, November 15, 2013. http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2013/11/house_votes_to_approve_congres.html.
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