HC "reform" as it is developing...how can anyone support it?

[SHRED]

Many here do, so I am curious:

Is it for political reasons based in fear of Republicans gaining ground should nothing pass?
Because you believe it is shaping up to be sound legislation that will be for the people?
Because it's "better than nothing"?
Is it for some other reason(s)?


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[Warpy]

1. I've lived with nothing since 1987

so trust me, this is better, at least the House version would be if the Senate didn't have a big chance to gut it and if it didn't give Big Insurance another 5 years to rob and kill us.

The problem with getting any health care reform through has always been Congress, conservative as hell and bribed to the earlobes by the industry it is supposed to be regulating.

I don't hold out a lot of hope here. I hope it gets better for other people. It's just too little and too late for me. Medicare will kick in before anything this chickenshit Congress does will.

Still, don't say it's worse than nothing until you've lived with nothing as long as I have. It sucks, but it's not nothing.

[stray cat]

2. If you have good health insurance from work and a secure job - its a moderate improvement

If you pay more than 10% of your income on health insurance, can not purchase insurance due to a pre-existing condition, pay increased insurance based on your health, are a young person no longer under your parents insurance, have hit a lifetime benefit, have insufficient insurance as this caps out of pocket total expenses, or have gotten sick and dropped from insurance, or are one of the people who will now be included in Medicaid or will benefit from government subsidies - then this is an important bill.

If you don't want to pay anything for insurance or health care - you will remain unhappy as this will not give you free health care if you make enough money to live on (not your opinion).

It is not going to give the cost benefit of single payer - which would still cost people money.

[KharmaTrain]

3. So We Leave It As It Is???

That's the question I ask. I'm not 100% with what I see or hear but do we sit and do absolutely nothing and let the bastards win? Ruin any chance of tackling this complicated matter for another 15 or 20 years? Give up any gains like forcing insurance companies to honor their contracts regarding those with pre-existing conditions or strip them of their anti-trust exemption so there can be some competition? I'm just askin'.

This isn't a zero-sum game. It's always been a first step in a long process that IMHO will eventually lead to a single-payer system...to get a government subsidized system to compete with insurance companies to drive costs down or provide the alternative for those who either have no coverage or have lost coverage due to job loss. Do we just walk away cause it's not "perfect" and hope for a better day (which won't come as politicians will shy away from going near such a contentious matter)?

My hopes are the power of Progressive Democrats in the Senate to hold the line on watering this reform down further and to stand up to the many special interests who would love to see no reform at all.

As I always ask of those so critical of what's happening...what's your realistic alternative. Not a wish list, but a solid proposal that would get the 60 plus votes to get past cloture and then 51 or more for final passage.

[Shagbark Hickory]

4. Many people believe it's a first step.

This is a very conservative country and enacting radical changes to social programs is and always has had lots of opposition from idiots and profiteers. Baby steps, Bob. Baby steps.

[pampango]

5. The Congressional Progressive Caucus is for it and the republicans are against it.

It could be better, but with that alignment of supporters and opponents, it would take much convincing for me to oppose it.

[customerserviceguy]

6. I've long said that we try again in 2013

By that point in time, either the economy will be generally perceived as recovered, or we simply won't be in power anymore to do anything about it, whatever we enact now will be undone by a Rethug congress and President Moose Hunter.

I'm figuring that the worst of it is getting over with about now, and while we might take some usual off-year hits in a few swing districts next year, we should come roaring back when President Obama is at the top of the ticket. We might just shake off a few Blue Dogs, have them replaced temporarily by Repukes, then replaced again in 2012 by more progressive Democratic candidates. Then, we'll have more than a mere numerical majority.

Besides, there are a lot of fools living in a fool's paradise about their own insurance right now, we will have more of them on our side in a few years as they finally figure out that the health insurance industry is just out there to screw them. I think it would be better to have effective reform that takes place in 2014, rather than ineffective reform that takes place in 2013.