The Two Percent Robustness

[davidswanson]

Imagine public elections in which 2 percent are allowed to vote and Diebold gets to nominate the candidates. Or public parks with guest lists of 2 percent of the public, and private prisons for anyone else who tries to enter. Or how about public schools serving 2 percent of children with fully televised lessons broken up by commercials promoting illiteracy? Welcome to the world of the robust public option.

At first the "public option" was to be a massive but less-than-universal healthcare plan that would prove so efficient and effective that over several years the public would all opt into it. It was a backdoor to a civilized system of Medicare for all. Now what's left of it? Now it's a public option for 2 percent of Americans, and in some states 0 percent, to be run by private corporations, with prices set to avoid any efficiency or competition for the wasteful health insurance companies.

Is that better than nothing? No, it's worse, because this pathetic scam of a healthcare plan is plastered like lipstick on a pig to a bailout for the health insurance corporations. (Sure, the bill contains some reforms to the insurance corporations' practices, but that's like trying to reform piranhas.) And when the healthcare crisis continues to worsen in the coming years, the blame will be placed on the nearly nonexistent public option, thus justifying making things even worse, if possible. And the same bill goes out of its way to prevent states from solving the problem on their own, allowing them to opt out of the perverse public option (opting into which would hardly be noticeable anyway) but denying states the ability to create real healthcare funding for their residents. Congressman Kucinich's amendment to remedy this has been stripped out by Speaker Pelosi.

Now, enough House Democrats have publicly committed to voting No on any bill this bad, that it could not pass. On July 30th 57 of them signed a letter saying that any bill without a public option based on Medicare rates would be unacceptable. And therefore, this bill would be dead, and we could go into round 2 with a stronger demand for a bill that might actually save a significant number of lives. And we could move ahead on easy steps, like busting monopoly protections, passing the Kucinich amendment, and passing reforms proposed by Senator Sanders. That is, we could imagine all such scenarios if you could trust a progressive member of Congress as far as you could throw one. And some of them are pretty robust, if you know what I mean.

Sadly, these people's word is as trustworthy as the promises of a health insurance company. (And when they prove that yet again, you can forget about progressive legislation or action on any issue in the months and years to come.) And most so-called progressive and labor organizations don't even want to ask them to keep their word. So-called citizens' groups, now actually taking their directives from the very people they pretend to lobby, are so obsessed with passing any sort of bill, that the content of the bill is virtually irrelevant. I say virtually, because the collective decision is that it must contain something or other that can be mislabeled a "public option." Other than that, it could sentence millions of Americans to death, and it would still be fine and dandy. And that is exactly what it does.

And why is a bill better than no bill? Why is a bill that funds absolutely useless parasites like health insurance companies at the expense of our grandchildren's unearned pay better than nothing? Why -- when blocking a bill would almost guarantee a better debate in round 2 -- is it more important to pass the bill and close off the opportunity for valuable reform? Is there nothing this bill could do that would lead you to oppose it? If the senate turns the "public option" into something that does not even exist until possibly "triggered" years from now, then will you oppose the bill? But the public option barely exists in the House version either. Why wait until the last minute to pointlessly pretend you oppose this pig?

Why not speak up now wen it might make a difference? Why not at least demand No votes unless the Kucinich amendment is restored?

Silence is not speech.

War is not peace.

Illness is not health.

And 2 percent is not robust or public or an option.

[ProleNoMore]

1. Agreed - The Resulting HCR Legislation Is Pathetic At Best

eom

[AzDar]

2. K & R

:kick:

[nightrain]

3. knr. It's not close to being affordable for middle income folks -- up to 12% of income

if you buy premiums privately

[Shagbark Hickory]

4. The CBO estimated the 2%. Who knows how they arrived at that number.

[inna]

5. KR.

A bad bill is worse than no bill at all. Abort and reboot.

[emulatorloo]

6. Anthony Weiner and Howard Dean say it is a good bill, real reform, worth voting for

even though it is not perfect. Yes it is definatily not perfect, but those guys are straight shooters.

Status quo is unacceptable.

It is my understanding that both Social Security and Medicare were both much narrower when originally passed.

From an AP story that is making the rounds today:

"While a government plan might start out modestly, insurers fear that Congress could change the rules later, opening it up to all people

[bertman]

8. You are correct, emulatorloo; however, I think it's important to understand that the

lobbying and propaganda efforts of the Corporate Insurance and Pharma crowd have been honed to perfection since the good ole days when Medicare was passed. They learned their lesson and are not going to take any chances on having a repeat of Medicare.

If the efforts of Big Pharma and Big Insurance had not been so successful, it's likely that we could have had a decent and strong public option this time around. But the influence these groups have over Congress and the Presidency negated any significant changes and opened up lots of future "loopholes" and "potholes". And anyone who thinks that taking away their anti-trust exemption is going to do any good has not been paying attention to the goings on relating to Wall Street and the Banksters. Our government has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Corporate America.

[emulatorloo]

10. I think once it is up and running, the scare tactics are less effective. But yes those

Senators and Reps who are living off of big Pharma and Health Insurance conglomerates campaign contribs have been a real serious problem. I would really like to so REAL campaign finance reform.

[bertman]

18. REAL campaign finance reform is as likely as SINGLE PAYER. Hate to tell you, but it's true.

[davidswanson]

19. and i fear they'll do the opposite

what does fear get us?

[placton]

24. really? are you that stupid? n/t

[emulatorloo]

25. ?!? n/t

[closeupready]

36. Did Howard Dean say that really? I trust him and if he said it, can you post a link.

Thanks. If true, that would make a difference at least to me.

[joeycola]

This time the reboot needs to include single payer advocates.

[slipslidingaway]

27. Exactly! There will be no meaningful reform for at least another decade. n/t

[AllentownJake]

7. This bill will make no one happy

In fact, I predict a significant amount of blowback over it.

But hey, they got a bill.

[emulatorloo]

12. Here are some things that will make me happy about it

http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AHCAA-Immediately-102909.pdf

TOP 14 PROVISIONS THAT TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY

1. BEGINS TO CLOSE THE MEDICARE PART D DONUT HOLE — Reduces the donut hole by $500 and institutes a 50%
discount on brand-name drugs, effective January 1, 2010.

2. IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED UNTIL EXCHANGE IS AVAILABLE (INTERIM HIGH-RISK POOL) — Creates a
temporary insurance program until the Exchange is available for individuals who have been uninsured for several
months or have been denied a policy because of pre-existing conditions.

3. BANS LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Prohibits health insurance companies from placing lifetime caps on coverage.

4. ENDS RESCISSIONS—Prohibits insurers from nullifying or rescinding a patient’s policy when they file a claim for
benefits, except in the case of fraud.

5. EXTENDS COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 27TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE— Requires health
plans to allow young people through age 26 to remain on their parents’ insurance policy, at the parents’ choice.

6. ELIMINATES COST-SHARING FOR PREVENTIVE SERVICES IN MEDICARE—Eliminates co-payments for preventive
services and exempts preventive services from deductibles under the Medicare program.

7. IMPROVES HELP FOR LOW-INCOME MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES—Improves the low-income protection programs in
Medicare to assure more individuals are able to access this vital help.

8. PROVIDES NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS IN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE— Prohibits Medicare Advantage plans from
charging enrollees higher cost-sharing for services in their private plan than what is charged in traditional Medicare.

9. IMMEDIATE SUNSHINE ON PRICE GOUGING—Discourages excessive price increases by insurance companies through
review and disclosure of insurance rate increases.

10. CONTINUITY FOR DISPLACED WORKERS—Allows Americans to keep their COBRA coverage until the Exchange is in
place and they can access affordable coverage.

11. CREATES NEW, VOLUNTARY, PUBLIC LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE PROGRAM—Creates a long-term care insurance
program to be financed by voluntary payroll deductions to provide benefits to adults who become functionally disabled.

12. HELP FOR EARLY RETIREES—Creates a $10 billon fund to finance a temporary reinsurance program to help offset the
costs of expensive health claims for employers that provide health benefits for retirees age 55-64.

13. COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS—Increases funding for Community Health Centers to allow for a doubling of the
number of patients seen by the centers over the next 5 years.

14. INCREASING NUMBER OF PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS — Provides new investment in training programs to increase the
number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals.

PREPARED BY OFFICE OF SPEAKER PELOSI – OCTOBER 29, 2009

[AllentownJake]

15. Half of that will be gutted in reconcilliation

[emulatorloo]

16. maybe, maybe not.

The status quo is rotten. This bill is less rotten than the status quo and will help a lot of people.

I don't focus totally on the Public Option. Even then I think that the public option will eventually be widened out. BUT IT HAS TO BE PUT INTO PLACE FIRST.

[Greyhound]

32. Can you name one social program that has been expanded in the last 30 years? n/t

[truedelphi]

31. When you start investigating some of these, you find out that they are a little

Bit less rosey than they sound.

Read the bill, or the summary and then make up your mind.

The skinny on the Bill
http://www.scribd.com/doc/21849473/CBO-House-Health-Car ...
27 page summary

http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf
That's the link to the version released Thursday. Have at it! COBRA mentioned early on.

The table of contents lets you figure out which part of the bill you want to focus on - so you can then use "Go to" function inside the pdf to take you to that section.

It is 1,900 pages long, but there is a nifty Table of Contents so you can find the section you are concerned about, and then use the "Go To" function to pull your cursor to that page. Unless of course you plan on reading the whole 1,900 pages.

[bvar22]

13. This bill will make no one happy....

AND they will BLAME The Democrats.
The Democrats KNOW this, and have delayed implementation until AFTER the 2012 elections.

Because The (Centrist) Democrats have crafted such a bad bill (Health Insurance Industry Profit Enhancement Bill), The Republicans are NOW in a good political position.
THEY will be able to tell America "We told you so".

ALL the Democrats had to do was lower the age restriction on Medicare to 55.
After that WORKED, it would have been easy to follow with additional increments.

I DID love this sentence:
"(Sure, the bill contains some reforms to the insurance corporations' practices, but that's like trying to reform piranhas.)"
Expanding Medicare would have brought ALL the "reform" America needs.

Somehow, I think our "Democrats" KNOW this....and just don't care.

It was Obama himself who tried to strip out the Kucinich Amendment in committee.

"President Obama told the committee chairman, George Miller, to oppose Kucinich's amendment, and he did so, leading off the voting with a resounding "No."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6880388

The Kucinich Ammendment went on to PASS in committee, forcing Pelosi to remove it from behind closed doors.
So much for "transparency".

[bertman]

9. " . . . but that's like trying to reform piranhas." Hilarious and apt analogy and so true, David.

All of this hullaballoo that the Congresscritters are raising about removing the anti-trust status of Health Insurance companies is just a big oily smokescreen. What good has anti-trust legislation done in dealing with the Banksters and Wall Street? They simply buy off the "regulators" and turn guys like Bernanke and Geithner into pre-programmed moles who burrow into the system and do the Financial Elites' will.

Excellent OP. Recommend.

[flyarm]

11. noo no will in congress for Health care , they are too busy giving our money out for cluster bombs!

they don't give a rats ass if people died for lick of health care..they are too busy doling out our money to make bombs to kill people!! Got to keep those bankers and wall street boys happy so they can get fucking re-elected..don'tcha know


Four Major bailed out US banks finance cluster bombs with taxpayers money


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

***A Big Thank you to DU member Ichingcarpenter for bringing this to my attention!


The top five loan providers were Bank of America , Citigroup , JP Morgan , Barclays and Goldman Sach from your link..and thank you for that link !!

Top banks fund cluster bombs as ban nears -
LONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Leading banks have funded cluster bomb-makers to the tune of $5 billion in the past two years despite an international accord to ban the weapons, a study said on Thursday.

The top five loan providers were Bank of America , Citigroup , JP Morgan , Barclays and Goldman Sachs , the study said on Thursday.
The researchers used publicly available information, such as that supplied by stock exchanges and financial databases, to produce their study.

Bank of America and JP Morgan declined to comment while Citigroup and Goldman Sachs also had no immediate comment.

Nations agreed to outlaw cluster bombs in May 2008. The resulting convention will come into force when 30 countries have ratified it -- 23 have already done so. Neither the United States nor Britain, where the top five loan providers are based, have yet ratified the treaty.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions includes a ban on assisting anyone to make the bombs.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

now why does this not surprise me?? and what group here has many in this current administration??

oh yeah Goldman Sach's..

and does anyone really believe Obama has any intention of stopping the perpetual wars?????? or making sure you have real legitimate health care??..too many of the big boys to take care of..didn't you know that??

[Orwellian_Ghost]

14. Single-payer or bust

K&R

[maryf]

39. Yep, nt

[Laelth]

17. k&r for the truth. Without the Kucinich Amendment, this legislation is worse than nothing. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[Ichingcarpenter]

20. Might as well be a 7th percent solution

to paraphrase Conan Doyle aka Sherlock
until we find a real solution.

[Truth2Tell]

21. K&R, Thanks David as always. nt

[Kermitt Gribble]

22. But the public option can be improved in the future!!!!!

Don't you trust Obama?? Won't you be happy if he can declare victory??? That's all that matters, isn't it?? This is all that has a chance of passing now, anyhow. You're delusional for wanting meaningful reform!!! And, Nancy knows what's best for us - she removed that crazy Kucinich amendment and you should trust her judgment!

**This message brought to you by the DU Cheer Squad. Either cheer with us or stfu!**

[placton]

23. to hell with it

I give up - we are just dupes for corporate america - Obama will lead the way for his masters

[sherry23]

26. Excellent analogies

As usual, thanks, David, for making the message clear. I have watched friends abandoning the straight single-payer talk for baptism in the public option waters, believing they were part of the public. Blind leaps of faith never cease to surprise me and never cease to frustrate me.

[debbierlus]

28. Kick & Recommend!!!

[eridani]

29. Or, to satisfy Dems who are appalled at the thought of teabaggers celebrating--

-- the passage of no legislation, strip out the useful parts and pass them as separate legislation.

Other than that, including the Kucinich amendment or not is the dealbreaker.

[truedelphi]

30. Hey, I hear that two percent is the new 100 percent.

Two percent of all Americans run this nation, so why should things be 100% any more?

Why shouldn't only two percent of all Americans have decent schools. And grow up knowing that they will have jobs. (Even if that job is just cashing the inerited trust fund account monies each month.)

I mean, hey the people who are no longer served anything at all should have just made up their minds to be born rich.

[ooglymoogly]

33. Hay don't bother looking at this greedy little Trojan pig....

look at that much bigger pie in the sky, it is getting bigger by the hour and its just dripping with all the good things you wanted and desperately needed in this bill. Don't worry, be happy, its all good...everything will come sometime down the road. Just keep voting for us and sending every last cent you have got; Otherwise you know what will happen; A word to the wise. Here is a hint; The bad cops will get back in and well.... we all know what that means.

[Better Believe It]

34. President Obama should propose legislation to reform healthcare.

Isn't it about time that someone take on the insurance industry and big Pharma?

[Shagbark Hickory]

35. Yeah I don't like how the focus went from "health reform" to "health INSURANCE reform".

Health insurance IS THE PROBLEM.

Insurance only works when the probability of risk is fairly low.
But doesn't everyone eventually get sick or injured? The only way for an insurance company to make a profit is to charge more that the medical care is actually worth which they do through manipulating prices and competition and also by denying claims.

Preserving the 'employer-based healthcare system' was one of the goals of the administration and congress and sadly it will perpetuate this butt raping of the country.

[dysfunctional press]

37. raise your hand if you're honestly surprised.

did anyone really expect anything other than a total fuck-over...?

this SHITTY "healthcare" legislation will be the death knell of the democratic party.

[change_notfinetuning]

38. When it is this long and complex, it is because they are appeasers. It takes

that many pages to make all those lobbyists happy because each favor has to be intricately woven like an Afghan(istan policy).

Make health care a right, delete all the bullshit, and it can be short and sweet. And we can pay for it if they would only listen to all parties' ideas, like candidate Obama promised.

Unfortunately, this will probably pass because King Rahm wants it. My biggest concern is if we don't get a roll call vote on single payer, or the Kucinich amendment, how do we know for sure which assholes to try to get rid of in the next election?