Copyright 1999 The Times-Picayune Publishing Co.
The Times-Picayune
December 5, 1999 Sunday, ORLEANS
SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. A08
LENGTH: 1086 words
HEADLINE:
ON THE HILL: NEWS FROM THE LOUISIANA DELEGATION IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL
BYLINE: By Bruce Alpert and Bill Walsh
BODY:
*** A new health-care prescription ***
Concerned that more companies are canceling health
insurance coverage for their workers, Rep. Jim McCrery, R-Shreveport,
is sketching out a sweeping overhaul of the nation's insurance system aimed at
helping individuals buy coverage on their own.
For the past 1 1/2 years,
McCrery and Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., have been working on a federal
tax credit to help people afford the level of coverage they
want. Adjusted for income, the subsidy would cover 100 percent of the premiums
for the poorest people. The catch is that they wouldn't have a choice about
whether to buy insurance -- it would be illegal not to. Insurers, meanwhile,
would be required to offer at least a basic package of coverage -- yet to be
determined -- and wouldn't be allowed to deny applicants because of age or
pre-existing conditions.
As for businesses that have for years
complained about rising health-care costs, they would be off the hook. McCrery
and Thomas would discourage companies from offering coverage by rescinding tax
breaks, a plan that has won mixed response in business circles.
McCrery
would like to see the Medicaid program replaced with such an individual
consumer-based system. He also would like to scrap Medicare but knows that's not
politically feasible.
The pair hope to introduce a bill next year.
*** From Monroe to Myanmar ***
As soon as Congress recessed last
month, Rep. John Cooksey, R-Monroe, and several other lawmakers boarded a plane
bound for Southeast Asia. The delegation, all members of the House International
Relations Committee, visited Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, formerly Burma, for
12 days to monitor drug enforcement activities and human rights conditions and
to promote international trade. In Vietnam, the group made a plea for
information on U.S. soldiers still missing in action since the war.
Cooksey, who sits on a House Asia subcommittee, said he was impressed
with the efforts the countries have made in convincing former opium farmers to
turn to other endeavors, such as raising pigs, poultry and vegetables.
"Everything I saw suggests that they are making real advances in crop
substitution," Cooksey said from Hanoi, Vietnam.
In Myanmar, the group
also met with 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who is pushing the
military regime to embrace democracy. "I told one of the military guys, you
people in government need to protect her," Cooksey said. "If anything happens to
her, it will be the beginning of the end of this administration."
*** In
and out of Africa ***
Meanwhile, Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans,
was en route to Africa this weekend for a 10-day official visit.
Jefferson is accompanying House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo.,
and a bipartisan group of nine other lawmakers on a tour of Nigeria, Zimbabwe
and South Africa. The purpose of the trip was to get a first-hand account of
AIDS prevention and care programs, environmental protection efforts and human
rights in sub-Saharan Africa.
This is at least the fifth trip to the
continent for Jefferson in the past two years. He has been instrumental in
pushing for increased U.S. trade with Africa, although a bill he co-sponsored
has been shelved by Congress.
*** Pilot program flying solo ***
What if you start a pilot program but hardly anyone signs up?
That's the problem facing the Defense Department, which set up a test
program in eight communities to see if retired veterans might get better health
care under the health insurance program for government employees than they are
now getting under the Veterans Affairs administration and Medicare. For one
thing, the program would provide enhanced services, including prescription drug
coverage.
So far, only 100 veterans have signed up, including 11 in the
New Orleans area.
Rep. David Vitter, R-Metairie, figures that one reason
for the low participation is that many retired veterans aren't aware of the new
program. He said he'll write to those in his district he thinks are eligible and
will ask the Defense Department to extend the Dec. 13 sign-up deadline for at
least several more weeks.
"Based on conversations and correspondence
with these veterans, it is clear that many are unhappy with the health care they
now receive," Vitter wrote to the Defense Department. "It is reasonable to
assume that participation in this demonstration project will increase as
awareness increases."
There was no immediate response from the Defense
Department.
*** First casualty of war ***
Alarmed by a report in
the Washington Times that casualty estimates in Kosovo and East Timor were
grossly inflated, Vitter has requested an investigation.
Vitter fired
off a letter Nov. 18 to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Floyd Spence,
R-S.C., asking him to get to the bottom of the newspaper's claims that the
reported 100,000 deaths in the war-torn regions were exaggerated by 900 percent.
The request isn't meant to defend those responsible for the deaths,
Vitter said, but to make sure policy-makers are using facts, not rumors, to make
foreign policy decisions. Vitter said he wanted to verify the death toll before
any more U.S. troops are sent overseas to take part in the NATO peacekeeping
operations. If the estimates turn out to be skewed, Vitter requested a
congressional hearing to figure out why.
"Placing U.S. troops in harm's
way is the most difficult decision a federal government can make," Vitter wrote.
"It is vital that this decision be based on the best and most accurate
information possible."
*** Here comes the judge? ***
When
Congress passed the remaining budget bills and went home last month, it left 35
of President Clinton's judicial appointees in a holding pattern, unconfirmed.
Among those is James Brady , the former Louisiana Democratic Party
chairman and Clinton's choice for the Baton Rouge District Court bench.
Brady said he's hopeful that the Senate Judiciary Committee will
schedule a hearing for him early next year so that he can be confirmed. There's
a large backlog of cases in the district court awaiting a new judge.
Brady overcame his biggest obstacle in August when Sen. Mary Landrieu,
D-La., dropped her hold on the nomination. Landrieu had wanted Clinton to
appoint a woman to the post.
She withdrew her opposition when she won
assurances from Sen. John Breaux, D-La., that women and African Americans would
get consideration for future openings. Breaux had recommended Brady for the
post.
LOAD-DATE: December 5, 1999
