Health care debate: Will public option be viable?

[Better Believe It]

Health care debate: Will public option be viable?
Given choice in the past, most picked private health plan
By Noam N. Levey | Tribune Newspapers
July 26, 2009

For months, Republicans and business and health care industry groups have been warning that President Barack Obama's proposal to create a new public insurance program for Americans currently without coverage would quickly devour the nation's health care system and leave Americans dependent on Washington for their medical care.

But the government insurance program that is fueling so much alarm may end up being much less voracious than its critics claim.

By 2019, as few as 11 million people will likely be signed up for the government plan, according to preliminary estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which is evaluating bills being developed by senior Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

At the same time, the CBO estimates that more than 160 million people will get health insurance through their employer.

Neither the estimates by the CBO nor the experiences of states have dampened the concerns of insurance companies, hospitals and business groups, many of whom believe that millions of Americans will abandon private insurance for a government option that charges less.

Hospitals, many already struggling in the economic downturn, worry that they could lose money if more patients move to a government plan that pays lower rates. And businesses are concerned that they will be forced to pay more for their insurance to offset the losses being sustained by hospitals and other health care providers.

To prevent that kind of disruption, senior Democrats in Congress have proposed restrictions on who can sign up for the new public plan.

Please read the complete article at:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-tc-nw-healthcare-0725-0726jul26,0,4896799.story

[FormerDittoHead]

1. What good is an "option" if I can't "opt" for it?

>By 2019, as few as 11 million people will likely be signed up for the government plan, according to preliminary estimates

I'm thinking this new plan is Medicade lite, and that you would have no property, assets, job, etc to qualify?

The die-hard supporters will say it's a gateway to expanding it. By 2019? I'll almost be old enough for Medicare by then.

The die-hard opposition will say (upon it's lack of success) "We tried it, it doesn't work, back to the way things were..."

No. An 'option' has be available to EVERYONE, not 1/3rd of 1 percent of Americans.

[inna]

2. unfortunately, it looks that it is DESIGNED to be nonviable -- or at best, uncompetitive.

this "public option" is a total joke; a travesty actually.

there are so many problems with it that i don't even know where to start.

1) first of all, it's not an "option" - the name itself is completely misleading, because people will not be allowed to opt out of their private insurance (if they're lucky enough to have one)

2) amazingly, it is not even an option for the majority of those who are currently uninsured - they will be *forced* (literally, via mandates) into private plans

3) by 2019 (!), PO (public option) will cover only from 9 to at the most 11 million people; and it will not even kick in until 2013

4) the way it is designed can be best described as "health care apartheid" (i.e., inferior quality healthcare that provides only "essential", extremely limited benefits and the policy that can be - an will be - rejected by providers who chose to opt out of it)

5) extreme marginalization is inevitable (i.e., it will be populated by patients with the most serious illnesses who are considered the worst "rejects" and the worst "money drain" by insurance industry)...

6) such system is almost guaranteed to collapse by design... politically convenient to some ("In time, the public option, weighed down by this tax burden and unable to fully exercise bulk purchasing power, would collapse amidst a fiery congressional storm over the cost of the public option, thus legitimizing arguments that publicly-funded health care is a failed idea." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcy-winograd/single-payers-crashing-th_b_223656.html )

7) now, insult to injury and an absolute travesty - the "reform" will be funded largely by MASSIVE, unprecedented and atrocious CUTS to Medicare (projected $500 BILLION cuts over the next decade), as well as hundreds of billions of cuts to other few remaining providers of social services, such as hospitals for the poor...

8) and guess what? -- you just can't make this shit up! -- in 2019, according to CBO, 36 million Americans will still be uninsured (as opposed to the current 47 million). i doubt that the CBO has the stats on the projected number of people who will be severely underinsured and/or paying exorbitant amounts of money for their coverage, but it is likely to be dozens of millions.


i'm sure i've missed some points, but the bottomline is that the only winners here are the insurance industry and health "care" corps... at this point, i'm afraid that this monstrosity of a "reform" doesn't even represent a first "little baby step" in the right direction, it actually may be a step backwards, in a wrong direction. :banghead:

</end rant>

[area51]

4. I wish I could nominate your post for the Greatest Page. (n/t)

[inna]

6. thank you so much!!

:hi: you just made my day! i mean it! :bounce:


seriously, that was the longest comment i've ever posted, and i fully expected to be bashed for it (you know who i mean, our friends serial unreccers from the insurance industry... :tinfoil: ... :rofl: ... no seriously, i'm starting to believe certain DU conspiracy theories at this point!...)


anyway, i've never been complimented on a comment before, so... it means a lot to me! :pals:

maybe i should repost that post in a new thread, just to see how fast and furiously it will get unrecced! :evilgrin: :rofl:

[dflprincess]

13. I agree

and I would add, that we'll be lucky if any viable Medicare program survives given the "public option" is suppose to be partially funded by Medicare cuts.

[kenny blankenship]

7. Biggest. Screwjob. Ever.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. The November 'election'?

Biggest. Screwjob. Ever.


If so, I agree.

[Shagbark Hickory]

9. Will somebody call the goddamn whitehouse and tell them this then?!

[mvd]

10. Hi, inna - you've made some points I can't deny

I really want single payer and am not sure why so many Dems are afraid of it. If I had my way, insurance companies would be out of all needed care (and that includes everything from heart surgery to cavities.) I'm just hoping that if something with a public option gets passed, we can make it better. Obama's political capital may depend on getting reform passed as soon as possible. :hi:

[paulk]

15. why is Obama's "political capital" more important than good

legislation? That's the same reasoning that led Republicans to back Bush as he destroyed our economy.

Bad legislation is bad legislation and the notion that "we can make it better" is naive. And I say that having once argued for it myself.

Watching our Democratically controlled Congress these last few months has disabused me of the notion that these idiots can get much of anything done at all...

[nightrain]

12. Great job!yeah, we are all finally putting it together about the lack lustre Congressional proposals

[Laelth]

17. Well said. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[inna]

3. HEY!! who's unreccing this thread and other threads like this??

:wtf:

[Better Believe It]

5. I would guess mainly conservative and "moderate" Democrats

A nice weapon to use against liberals and progressives, isn't it?

[nightrain]

8. Kick and Rec. Thanks for posting it!

[jmondine]

11. If it isn't, then the debate is meaningless.

A public option is the bare minimum this country needs to start on the road to become an actual developed nation of the 21st century.

[Laelth]

16. The alleged "public option" is already useless in the House bill.

No doctor and no hospital will be required to take patients with public option insurance.

What good does that do?

:dem:

-Laelth

[midnight]

18. In the Wisconsin forum there is a well documented meeting

with congressman sennsenbrenner that states, he payes 4000 a year for insurance coverage. I would love to know what it is that this coverage allows. I'm kind of thinking everything. This congressman states that different policies will dictate what treatment you are allowed. He compares the best plan to a cadillac, and the not so god coverage to cheaper car. Congress is elite and therefore entitled to better care than the rest of us.