Even if you're insured you should still be pushing for a public option

[HopeOverFear]

As usual, Bob Cesca is on point:

I think there still might be a misperception about the push for the public option -- that it's all about guys like me and Lee who, for various reasons, don't have health insurance.

This is about everyone.

Even if you have a health insurance plan that you like, you're seriously bound to be screwed at some point or another. Like a casino, the house is playing against you. "For profit" means maximizing revenue and minimizing pay-outs. They don't want to pay and it's only a matter of time before they don't pay on your policy, or they drop you entirely, or they gouge you to the point where you or your employer have no choice but to drop them.

One of the best aspects of Michael Moore's Sicko is the fact that he focused on people who were covered by an insurance policy, but who were screwed out of the coverage they paid for.

Even if you happen to be lucky enough to own a high-end policy, you should be seriously pushing for the public option. You never know when you might need it. And chances are, you need it now -- if for no other reason but to help keep your insurance carrier in check.

[lindisfarne]

1. Good point, and I think most DUers understand this.n/t

[bluethruandthru]

2. I have health insurance and I want Single Payer!

My rates go up every year (this year they doubled) and my coverage goes down. My deductible is so high that it's usually not met until the end of the year. I have a diabetic daughter who will have a very difficult time getting coverage..and, even if she does get coverage...unless she goes to work for the government..she'll still have a very hard time paying for all her insulin, supplies, tests, etc.
Health insurance is only in existence to make money by denying care! Health care should be a right.

[Sherman A1]

3. Agreed

Who among us has written to their Congress Folks?

[bluethruandthru]

4. I have..many times.

And I've written to Obama.

[dflprincess]

16. I have - several times

I didn't expect much from my rep who's a Republican, but Amy Klobuchar will not give a straight answer. All one hears is she supports "affordable health care" whatever the hell that means.

[harun]

13. Yes, insurance ain't really insurance of anything anymore other

than rate increases and less coverage.

[harun]

14. Deleted, dup.

[ecstatic]

5. Definitely. I really don't think BCBS has my back

I know they're just waiting to play gotcha with a "pre-existing condition" if anything ever comes up. Yet they still get 300/month.

[HopeOverFear]

7. I hear ya

[Ocracoker16]

6. I have health insurance but I am for public option

Public option is the way to go for America. As HopeOverFear has pointed out, the uninsured are not the only ones interested in public option. I have private insurance myself and I am sick of them denying me coverage all of the time. Everytime I am hospitalized I receive a "summary of benefits" that shows me what they paid for as well as what charges they are rejecting. I have to call some person in North Dakota who doesn't know a thing about my medical conditions, yet insists that some test performed on me in the hospital is not covered. Why? She gives me some code which she tells me to look up in one of the large phonebook sized books that explain the plan. I don't have the time to fight with my health insurance company to get them to provide me with basic healthcare.

It will be fun when public option renders them extinct. It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.

[ladywnch]

8. we have "great" insurance

through my husband's employer, IBM and we are ADAMANT about the public option. Even with this 'caddilac' insurance. We're still paying out somthing like 10K for our family and one ER visit away from bankruptcy. Even if there is a tax increase it would be cheaper and would be in better shape than we are now.

[earth mom]

9. I have "great health insurance" and I want the insurance companies gone for good.

The are evil greedy monsters who prey on peoples misery. :puke:

[SeattleGirl]

10. Oh, hell yeah!

Need to push it for everybody, no question.

[PassingFair]

11. I am....and I AM !!

I have my shoulder to the wheel.

I was once a small business owner
who had to go corporate whore to
get health insurance because it
simply wasn't affordable.

I'm 100% for single payer, but
I believe that the "public option"
will be the thin end of the wedge
that will realistically get us there.

[TheKentuckian]

12. I'm not covered currently so I even prevail on the deaf ears of McConnel and Bunning

and would do so if I had a zero cost to me platinum quality plan.

[donco6]

15. I don't want insurance co.s in charge of health care delivery.

Period.

And yes, I am covered.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

17. Thank you for posting this.

When I first read your post, my reaction was "Well no shit!" Yet stepping back for a minute, I can see where some might not realize what's going on, which of course, is the whole problem. So thank you - I appreciate the post.

[slipslidingaway]

18. I do not see how we will pay for this public option, Medicare

enrollment is expected to increase dramatically within the next decade or two, any savings from the Medicare program he speaks of will be needed to fund all the new enrollees.

Posted in the thread below, but the question of how we partially pay for the public option using Medicare savings, when the number of people eligible to enroll increases substantially, usually goes unanswered.

I have insurance and I'm in favor of single-payer, not for profit health care for everyone.


http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/7305-04-2.pdf


"...Over the long term, an aging population, a decline in the
number of workers per beneficiary, and increasing life
expectancy will present fiscal challenges for Medicare. From
2010 to 2030, the number of people on Medicare is projected
to rise from 46 million to 79 million, while the ratio of workers
per beneficiary is expected to decline from 3.7 to 2.4..."