Conservative Dems Just Killed More Cost-Effective Version of Public Option

[kpete]

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Conservative Dems, who claim to be worried about the deficit, just killed the more cost-effective version of the public option in the House
by John Aravosis (DC) on 10/28/2009 06:19:00 PM
Note the conservative Dems openly admit they're more worried about preserving a doctor's half a million a year salary than helping regular Americans cut their medical costs.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091028/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_overhaul

In the end, Pelosi, D-Calif., and other House leaders were unable to round up the necessary votes for their preferred version of the government insurance plan — one that would base payment rates to providers on rates paid by Medicare. Instead, the Health and Human Services secretary would negotiate rates with providers, the approach preferred by moderates and the one that will be featured in the Senate's version.

That marked a defeat for liberal lawmakers, who argued for months that a public insurance plan tied to Medicare would save more money for the government, and offer cheaper rates to consumers. Moderates feared that doctors, hospitals and other providers, particularly those in rural states, would be hurt, and in the end they looked poised to prevail, despite constituting a distinct minority in the 256-member House Democratic caucus.

http://www.americablog.com/2009/10/conservative-dems-who-claim-to-be.html

[peacebird]

1. Please name names

[Roland99]

2. Fuck Lieberman *AND* the Blue Dogs!!

[Peregrine Took]

3. Time for a third party. At least I'll go down swinging for something.

Rather than standing for wishy washy nothing. This party is hopeless.

[bobbolink]

6. The problem is, the only true change would be a non-corporatist party.

How could that complete with all the corporate $$$?

Besides homelessness, I think we need to work on getting corporate $$ $out of the gov.

[bahrbearian]

7. you compete against $$ with votes

[bobbolink]

8. It doesn't work that way, but....good luck.

I guess you dismiss totally my suggestion that we put our energy instead into getting corporate $$$ out of government.

So, we get to play with it for another generation, until people get smart enough and angry enough.

[county worker]

4. Rural health providers get paid more than the Medicare rates paid to other non rural providers.

Also if you have a disproportionate share of poor or indigent you get paid more. If the public option was medicare for all there would not be a problem with rural states!

[kenny blankenship]

5. We need to reform healthcare! Yes, but keep it just like before!

Brilliant.

Maybe these aren't the guys we want shaping the delivery of health care in this country after all.

[bobbolink]

9. They're echoing the sentiment of a large segment of the population.

Anger at status quo vs. fear of change.

If we had done a better job of helping people in the past years to understand the true issue, we would have been in a much stronger place to go into this.

We have to look to ourselves in this, too.