We must FIGHT for the Weiner Amendment - the public option is BAIT & SWITCH - info on HELP bill

[debbierlus]

I am sick in bed, I don't feel like writing this post, and I realize that half the board is going to jump all over me. Oh well, it needs to be written and it needs to be said. The public option is bait and switch at its worst, and we must not allow the supposed 'victory' announced by Harry Reid to divert us from advocating for real health care reform.

The only reform worth passing is a bill that includes the Weiner amendment. The Weiner amendment would replace language in HR3200 with legislation for a true Medicare for All system. Pelosi has stated before that the Weiner amendment would be allowed to come to the floor for debate and a vote. Currently, there is an effort to push Pelosi to stay true to her word, and there is a campaign to ensure that she honor her word. You can send a free fax and contact all your representatives at the following link:

http://www.1payer.net/faxapp/senders/add/cid:40

I know many people on this board believe that the news today constitutes some sort of victory. I do not believe that is the case, and I will outline why. I am not writing this post to burst anyone's bubble. I am not writing this post to criticize democrats. I am writing this post because there is still a chance that if we join together we can push for real reform instead of system that mandates the private insurance mob scheme that has broken so many families.

According to the Daily Kos, the public option that will be drafted into the Senate Bill is the language from the Help Committee's bill, the preferred bill for those whom support the public option. Personally, I don't support the 'public option' as drafted or written in any of the current bills, as it does not provide a option that will be available to the majority of Americans and allows the main reform to center around subsidizing the private insurance industry. Further, the language in the Help Bill is a genuine cause for concern. The HELP bill language consists of MULTIPLE options and as written, will be instituted by the private insurance companies. Probably not the idea of a public option that you have in mind...

Snip from Article from PNHP: The Senate HELP Committee “public option” will be multiple “options,” and these will be run by insurance companies:

"When the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed a bill on July 15 creating an anemic “public option” program, Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and other “public option” proponents were ecstatic. They welcomed the “public option” in the HELP committee bill, proclaiming it “strong” or “robust.” But the actual provisions in the HELP Committee bill call for numerous “community health insurance options,” not the single “Medicare-like” plan promised by “public option” advocates. That means the individual “options” will probably be as small and weak as the co-ops now under discussion in the Senate Finance Committee. More importantly, these “community options” will almost certainly be run by insurance companies."

I urge everyone who wants to understand the HELP committee's 'public option' to read this entire article. It is very important and it is crucial to understanding the bait and switch that will occur, if this legislation is passed by the Senate. The link to this article is here:

http://pnhp.org/blog/2009/08/14/the-senate-help-committee-%E2%80%9Cpublic-option%E2%80%9D-will-be-multiple-%E2%80%9Coptions%E2%80%9D-and-these-will-be-run-by-insurance-companies/

Many people (wrongly) believe that the public option is opening a government run insurance program such a Medicare to the US population at large. It is not. Far, far, far from it. The majority of Americans support a public option because they believe it will free them from dependence on insurance companies and provide a true alternative to private insurers. Not true. In my memory, I can think of no legislative amendments that have caused more confusion and displaced so much energy better spent on advocacy for real reform then the public option.

Do not let the inclusion of this option distract you from the MAIN of health care reform, and that is the mandate of a private insurance system that has broken our health care system in the United States. This plan institutes as law a system that syphons almost a third of health care dollars away from patient care through insurance industry profit.

Under this proposed legislation, tens of millions will remain uninsured or underinsured. Millions won't be able to afford to purchase their employer offered insurance, millions won't be able to afford anything other then a 'catstrophic coverage policy' (these suck, that is another post), and millions upon millions more will eat the penalty fee for not purchasing health insurance rather then buy a suck ass policy. Affordability. Forget it. You can't have a third of all health care dollars go to insurance profit and provide affordable coverage. That is the crux of this whole post and the whole issue. You can't provide accessible, affordable coverage to the nation without excising the insurance parasites.

Under this legislation, there will still be denials of care, even though denial for preexisting conditions will be abolished. That is all well and good, but it is hardly the only means the insurance companies use to deny care. Ask my mother. She spent a year fighting to be reimbursed for thousands of dollars of tests denied because my father had them on the same day. I am not kidding. Another family member was denied because he did not call the insurance company within a day of hospital admission (he was unconcious and family members frankly had other things on their mind). This is what we are walking into.

However, there is still a glimmer of hope. If everyone joins together and really PUSHES as hard for the Weiner Amendment as they did for single payer, we might stand a chance. I write this post because my worry is complacency after the announcement given today. We must push for real change and reform, and as it stands currently, our only hope is the passage of the Weiner amendment.

Please call Pelois and tell her that you want her to keep her word and allow a floor debate and house vote on the Weiner amendment. Tell her that this is the legislation that you support.

Here is her website. E-mail & numbers are here: http://www.house.gov/pelosi/ CALLING IS MOST EFFECTIVE. Do both.

Call your Congressperson and tell them that you want them to vote YES.

Call the White House and tell them you fully support the Weiner amendment and that is the legislation that you want passed.

Again, you can send free faxes and contact your members of Congress at the following link for FREE:

http://www.1payer.net/faxapp/senders/add/cid:40

Also, commit right now to forwarding this post and links to all of your email contacts. Call your friends. Make your own house party and make calls together.

We must push for real health reform. We must push for reform that liberates our health care dollars from the insurance leeches and free every spare cent for health care.

Peace.

[redqueen]

1. Capitol switchboard - 800-828-0498 (nt)

[debbierlus]

8. Oh, the toll free number...thanks!

[redqueen]

47. My pleasure of course.

:kick:

[defendandprotect]

57. Weiner had asked everyone to call --

I was able to do it yesterday --

And, I think we should keep calling if we can!!

[redqueen]

59. I wholeheartedly agree.

:)

:kick:

[stray cat]

2. Of course keep fighting for what you want

[debbierlus]

4. It isn't just what I want...it is what the majority of Americans want

And, if the insurance companies weren't allowed to buy our politicians, we could get it.

We be many...and they be few...

If people just realized the collective power of the masses...

[inna]

3. Absolutely Right On. Could not agree with you more, KR+7.

This is THE most important post of the day, without a doubt.


:kick:

[Stand and Fight]

5. Kicking and recommending to read once I get home.

I love posts like this because they serve to really break down critical issues. THANKS SO MUCH for posting!

[bobbolink]

6. Thank you for this important update! I don't have TV, so I appreciate being kept up to date.

Any bait-and-switch will come back to bite the DEMS badly when the public which doesn't follow all the ins and outs starts feeling "taken". I'm afraid the Dems are snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory. :cry:

Please take care of yourself and get well! :hi: (imagine a flowers emoticon here....)

[debbierlus]

7. Thank you for the imaginary emoticon lily...

Just beautiful...how did you know it was my favorite...

:)

[bobbolink]

11. ewwwww....lilies stink funny... ^_^ But you can imagine a stinkless one...

Please feel better, 'K?

:patriot: for posting such an important update when you are sick!

[debbierlus]

38. I will.

My imaginary emoticon lily smells like a combination rose/lilac flower, btw.

:)

[slipslidingaway]

9. Kip Sullivan's post to Jason Rosenbaum of HCAN this afternoon ...

Called and faxed a variety of people today...people need a CBO estimate and that needs to be done ASAP.

Feel better.

:)

Thread
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/11283

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/11283#comment-89077

kipsullivan October 26th, 2009 at 3:14 pm 26

In response to Jason Rosenbaum @ 21


"Jason, I agree with you that few entrepreneurs will want to set up co-ops, and of those that try most will fail. But I hold the same opinion of the “options.”

But perhaps I just don’t understand how the “option” insurance plans will be set up. Could you walk us through the process by which the Department of Health and Human Services will set up an “option” plan in any given market, say Boston, under the Senate health bill, HR 3200, or HCAN’s blueprint. Here’s the scenario I believe will occur under both the Senate HELP bill and HR 3200 assuming the “option” actually survives.

* Beginning in 2013, the Secretary of HHS contracts with a “contracting administrator,” that is, a corporation such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, to set up an “option” plan in Boston. The Secretary also loans Blue Cross several hundred million dollars to carry out all the tasks necessary to set up an “option” plan.

* Blue Cross then hires 80-100 people to create an insurance company to serve Boston. These people do the things you’d expect people to do to create a new insurance company, including making cold calls on clinics and hospitals to see if they’d be interested in accepting “option”-insured patients at Medicare rates plus 5% (or about 15% below the insurance industry average).

Question: Do you anticipate that Blue Cross will at some point ask clinics and hospitals to sign contracts with Blue Cross indicating their commitment to be part of the Boston “option” network? Or will contracts be unnecessary?

* After six months of making numerous cold calls, Blue Cross succeeds somehow in inducing a sufficient number of clinics and hospitals to agree to accept “option” enrollees. Now Blue Cross incorporates the Boston Public Option Plan (BPOP) and hires 80 people to staff BPOP.

Question: Does Blue Cross exit the scene now, or do you anticipate Blue Cross will continue to serve as an advisor to BPOP? Obviously, Blue Cross, if it does retire from the project, has to leave in place a contract with BPOP that at minimum ensures BPOP will repay the loan that Blue Cross got from the Secretary of HHS.

* BPOP/Blue Cross now begins advertising heavily and making cold calls on employers seeking to induce tens of thousands of Boston residents to pay their premiums to BPOP in the event that these people are eligible to shop in the MA exchange.

Question: How many people will have to enroll in BPOP in order for BPOP to have sufficient leverage over local providers to get them to accept reimbursement rates even with or below the rates paid by Aetna et al. in the Boston area? I’m not looking for precision, just some evidence that you or someone you know in the “option” movement has thought about this.

* Let’s assume BPOP solves the chicken-and-egg problem of trying to assemble a critical mass of providers and enrollees roughly simultaneously. BPOP formally opens for business. BPOP makes enough money within the next 8 to 9 years that it can repay to Blue Cross the loan it got from the Sec or HHS. Blue Cross in turn repays HHS.

Is this the process you envision?

Thanks.

Kip Sullivan"

[debbierlus]

12. Thanks for adding this!

[slipslidingaway]

27. Thank you ! :( n/t

[John Q. Citizen]

55. I hope we get an answer BEFORE the legislation gets passed.

[slipslidingaway]

65. You want details :( I see Jason has replied to Kip Sullivan ...

just checked here is the last comment...so true.


"selise has been waiting a long time for answers to some points she raised, so I will be very surprised if Jason deigns to reply to Kip.

one way, top down communication – some folks just wouldn’t have it any other way"

[Overseas]

10. K&R. Done. One more in my series of emails to my legislators

requesting my simple dream-- Open Up Medicare ! -- to all who choose it.

Bringing Representative Weiner's amendment to a vote would give a significant boost to getting us a stronger public option, open to all who choose it.

I also thanked Speaker Pelosi for wanting the public option to open up sooner than 2013. I like hearing that she wants things to happen faster.

[debbierlus]

21. We must keep pushing. Thanks for your effort

[Mithreal]

13. Enthusiastic K&R nt

[Helga Scow Stern]

14. Thanks so much.

I just sent it out to everyone I know...

[mix]

15. k&r

[debbierlus]

16. Huffington just on Olbermann & made the following points:

Only about 10 million people will be covered by this option

Rates will NOT be tied to Medicare, one of the holy trinity mandates necessary for a public option to have a chance in hell of working (the other two mandates are enrollment for all & a short duration between legislation passage and implementation)...

This bill is institutionalization of a corrupt, broken system.

[Piewhacket]

17. Right you are. Smart Lady. Get well soon! K&R

[puebloknot]

18. Thanks for your effort. Will call and e-mail. Take care! nt

[debbierlus]

19. Public options: Just for uninsured people and just in some places....

Finally...real commentary!

Yeah Rachel!

Can't wait for the video!

[debbierlus]

20. Wyden just said on Maddow that seven years after the proposed legislation

....is passed...only 10% of the population will be enrolled or eligible.

This country has a population 300 million.

Something is very wrong with this math.


Put on Rachel now, best coverage all day!

[bullwinkle428]

23. She did a beautiful job of putting it into terms that, well...even someone

like W. could understand! :dunce: :rofl:

[Hello_Kitty]

22. debbierlus, your posts on this topic are the most succinct of any on DU.

The Mandates Are Magic^TM crowd needs to wake up to the reality. The reason the insurance industry is salivating over the prospect of millions of new customers and a captive market is not so they can magnanimously and generously lower everyone's costs.

[BrklynLiberal]

24. K & R

[midnight]

25. K&R!! I remember when Weiner was promised an opportunity to vote for

medicare for all last summer. I'm all for this. I hope you are feeling better.

[bobbolink]

26. Toll free numbers to call on this important amendment!

Toll-free Capitol Hill Numbers:

1-800-828-0498 1-866-388-1015 1-866-220-0044 1-877-851-6437

[clear eye]

28. Done

and I plan on doing it again, tomorrow.

[Divine Discontent]

29. Debbierlus more power to ya for this great post! we gotta right to write so lets use it! :)

we need a REAL Public Option (prefer Univ. Care but we'll settle for a real PO), not a watered down bill the insurers helped write.

[Nikki Stone1]

30. You did a lot of work for being sick.

I hope you feel better. And I agree with you. Rec

[Divine Discontent]

48. Right!!? I hope she's better soon.

I wrote Speaker Pelosi at http://www.speaker.gov/contact and told her briefly how I want this amendment to be given it's due.

[Nikki Stone1]

64. +1

For the speaker's address!

[WillyT]

31. K & R !!!

:kick:

[DemBones DemBones]

32. K & R

[bertman]

33. Excellent post, Debbierus. Recommend. Hope you feel better soon.

[autorank]

34. k*r This is as good as it gets. Thank you

Public opinion polling in the last month showed 65% of citizens favor a Medicare like program as an option for everyone. Another poll described the 'bait and switch' public option, available only to those in the 'exchange', blablabla - the results made no sense because the respondents had not heard what passes for details in DC.

There's only one real public option and it's called SINGLE PAYER - universal health care.

and it pays for itself

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59P0L320091026

[Tutankhamun]

35. This is an extremely important and insightful post.

Posts such as these are the reason I visit DU repeatedly every day. Thank you Debbie. I called and left a message, and I'll call again when they're in tomorrow.

[NoSheep]

36. Thanks for the link. FAX sent to Price, Hagan and Burr (the bastard)

[NoSheep]

37. Email sent to Pelosi

[SharksBreath]

39. If I would have asked you everyday since August

if the bill would have included a public option I'm sure most on this site would have said "NO" at some point.

Myself included.

I'm done trying to understand Obama's methods.

Looking back.

I never expected Obama to survive the J Wright issue.

Yet he won in America. Yes America by a landslide.

I've learned to let the man play his hand.

Only Democrats can stop the bill they want to pass.

They can pass the most robust Public option they want.

I expect them to do that.

What do you think will happen to any GOP governor that wants to opt out of a robust public option.

Go ahead. It's political suicide.

After watching Obama over the last two years I wouldn't be surprised if we had damn near single payer when this is done.

What's to stop someone from submitting the single payer system to the CBO for there price tag just for shi&ts and giggles now that it seems the PO option has moved forward.


Obama is not your Dad's Democrat. It looks as if he has got Reid to grow a spine.

Fucking Unbelievable.

Who would ever think Reid would tell Snowe to go "F" herself.

I'm going to sit and wait to see how this plays out.

I think it's time to remember.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amandamarcotte/2887021675/


I love what you are doing. Now we are not arguing over if we will have a "PO" but how robust we can make it.


Like I said. The way this thing has turned I wouldn't be surprised if we had a single payer option when we are done.

Let's keep up the pressure.

[Grinchie]

40. It's pretty clear that this Admin is a Wholly Owned division of Corporate America.

While many Americans think that a single bit of Legislation called Universal Healthcare will solve the problems of our crippled medical care system, they are overlooking the fact that better health is dependent on good food, clean air, pure water, good thinking, and an overall sense of accomplishment or place in the the world.

Without these basic requirement, the best healthcare in the world will not help you. It is my opinion that the Government knows this, but shooses to ignore it, while doing hteir best to distance themselves from any accountability regarding the health of the general population.

While I would love to think that Obama still is working towards "Change we can believe in", the facts and evidence so far point at nothing of the sort. In fact, I am more disturbed about this administrations continuance of stupid policies, simply because they should know better.

The fact is that without fixing the food supply, cleaning up the environment, and removing the cancer of the Federal Reserve and a broken capitalistic system, people will continue to be sicker than ever.

I for one will not be fooled again, and have withdrawn any support for either Democrat or Republican party until I see tangible results, and the growth of at least a vestigial backbone when it comes to providing for the neglected masses of average citizens.

This has forced me to learn about healthcare and teach myself on how to remain healthy, despite the fact that the Government seems very happy with allowing the Corporations to poison us to death, slowly, and inexorably until we are no longer cabale of presenting much resistance. I plan on retaining my strength when my resistance will be much more effective, rather than squandering it all right now.

I will them the best of luck, but I now have taken control and no longer depend on them for anything. They have proven that the rule of law is a two tier system, and that the average citizen is nothing more than a triviality that they sort of need to please, 51 percent of the time.

Screw them. Take care of yourself. Live for today and work hard for nobody other than yourself. They are no more qualified to tell us what to do that a trained parrot, yet they have the majority so brainwashed that they do whatever is ordered out of reflex.

Take care of your own self. Takke a break for this chaos fomented on DU regularly by the paid propagandists and psyops trolls, and focus on being happy. Just remmber to take a break from this Political charade once and a while to build up your strength, otherwise, you'l get sick like you just did. Save your energy for the real problems that lie ahead.

[saracat]

41. Thank you for this . Great info. Get well soon!

[Bluenorthwest]

42. What they are calling a public option is neither

And the words of weasels will wind up biting them hard.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

43. K And R

:kick:

[NMMOM]

44. Thank-you so much! Feel Better!

We need to get this info out there as soon as possible!
Public Option is nothing without the Weiner amendment.

[Divine Discontent]

45. KICK! hope you're feeling better, Debbierlus!

[ddeclue]

46. E Fax people need to update their Florida electeds..

Ric Keller was beat by Alan Grayson.

Mel Martinez resigned and was replaced by George LeMieux.

[Divine Discontent]

49. Contacted Rep. Pelosi

Told her to give Rep Weiner's amendment a chance -

http://www.speaker.gov/contact

Office of the SpeakerH-232, US CapitolWashington, DC 20515

[phone]

[earth mom]

50. Thank you for not giving up!

:applause:

[ChiciB1]

51. THANK YOU SO MUCH For Posting This!! Wish More People Could See

through so much gauze that is covering their eyes!

Thanks again!!

[Roland99]

52. Fax sent!

Thanks for that link.

[pleah]

53. K&R

[John Q. Citizen]

54. I called. I'm really looking forward to the debate and the vote. I say, "Why not the best?"

[fascisthunter]

56. why isn't this on the front page?

[Honeycombe8]

58. Your wishes are grand, and I wish it could be. Alas, the public doesn't want single payer,

and there is zero chance it will come about now or in the near future. We have all seen how difficult it is just to get 60 Democrats to go along with a meager public option. There is zero chance that 60 Dems will vote for single payer.

A person can stand off to the side and insist on getting a million dollars, when others are offering you fifty grand. Maybe it's worthwhile to insist on the million. But in the end, you realize that the reality of it is...you're eitehr going to get 10 grand, 25 grand, or 50 grand, so may as well take the 50, since under no circumstances will anyone give you the million. To insist on getting what is not possible is, in effect, to take away from the very real chance of real reform to a significant degree (just not 100% reform).

[dana_b]

60. Thank you!

Fax was sent and I will call the Senators. I don't have a Rep. though (election is next week).

[nightrain]

61. knr. Thank you for posting this. Hope you are taking care of yourself...

We can continue to push for real healthcare reform as the crap moves through the bowels of Congress. Getting real substantial healthcare for Americans is likely to be a long struggle.

The crap consists of hardly "public", hardly an "option", for most Americans, and doesn't address the issues that healthcare practitioners pose about the fragmented and duplicative non-system we have. It's a sham that, when signed, will be hailed as a huge success, but it won't be. It's tinkering at the edges of a huge mess of an expensive, cumbersome, profit-driven non-system.

[Vincardog]

62. FAXED K & R

[Better Believe It]

63. Hope you are doing well. Just had the H1N1 shot today.

Had the regular flu shot two weeks ago.