Sen. Wyden wins big healthcare concession

[babylonsister]

Sen. Wyden wins big healthcare concession
By Jeffrey Young - 11/20/09 02:25 PM ET


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) have taken a long stride toward locking down the support of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

The three senators announced an agreement Friday on an amendment that would allow many more people who get health insurance at work to opt out and instead purchase coverage on the new health insurance exchanges the bill would create.

More important to the debate on the healthcare reform bill that would kick after Thanksgiving -- presuming Senate Democrats unite to clear a procedural vote Saturday evening -- is that the deal could quiet Wyden's frequent complaints that the bill as introduced would do too little to offer consumers more health insurance plans from which to choose or to create a more competitive insurance marketplace that would drive down healthcare costs.

“As I have long said, empowering Americans to choose the health insurance that works best for them and their family is the single best way to hold health insurance companies accountable,” Wyden said in a statement. “While this is just one step in the direction of guaranteeing choices for all Americans, it is a major step because – for the first time – it introduces the concept of individual choice to a marketplace where it has long been foreign. This is a significant step toward real reform.”

Throughout this year's healthcare debate, Wyden has remained a steadfast and very vocal proponent of his own reform legislation. One of the signature aims of Wyden's bill, which is co-sponsored by Republican Sen. Bob Bennett (Utah), is to transition people away from employer-sponsored insurance and into a competitive marketplace that offers them more choices of health plan than most people get at work.

more...

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/68897-sen-wyden-wins-big-healthcare-concession

[laughingliberal]

1. This is a step in the right direction

Now, include a public option in the exchange and we've got a bill I can live with and which can be built on.

[alstephenson]

2. K & R

[Captain Hilts]

3. A step towards more choice. Good!

[MannyGoldstein]

4. K&R - If This Is What It Sounds Like, It's A Very Big Deal nt

[PHIMG]

5. A real choice would include the option to buy into what Grandma has.

And really...shoudln't everyone have a Cadillac healthcare plan?

Medicare For All NOW!

[alfredo]

8. First thought: a 1995 Oldsmobile?

[alfredo]

6. K n R

[derby378]

7. Doesn't the PO still cost more than private insurance under the Senate plan?

I mean, sure, it's a nice step in the right direction, but I need to see more before I start cheering for this.

[mdmc]

9. A public option is only public if the public is allowed access

I know I would take a public option over my employer paid insurance..

[Cleita]

10. That is a big step.

We're starting to see a rainbow peaking through the clouds.

[euphoria12leo]

11. This sounds good

today but what will happen tomorrow?


:shrug:

[SpartanDem]

12. K&R

[quiet.american]

13. Good news. nt

[eomer]

14. How would that work?

Does it include eliminating the pre-existing condition exclusion? If so then what would stop me from choosing a cheap plan while I am healthy and then optioning up later when I come down with something major.

I don't know how more choices meshes with no pre-existing condition exclusion.