Chuck Schumer: Made a Pledge There Will Be a Public Option in the Final Bill, Some Form of It
By Heather Monday Jul 06, 2009 3:45pm
Chuck Schumer on Face the Nation appeared to issue some of the strongest language yet on whether there will be a public option in the final version of the health care bill, but he gave himself some wiggle room. Just what does "some form of it" mean? Either there is a public option, or there isn't.
At least Schumer spoke out very well about what a bad idea waiting for things to get even worse and using a "trigger" before offering a public option would be. Everyone in America deserves access to affordable health care coverage now, not after the insurance companies have had a couple more years to rake us over the coals and line their CEO's pockets.
John Amato:
Here's what Chuck said that was stronger and somewhat more hopeful than normal.Shumer: There will be a public option in the final bill, some form of it. And hopefully Chuck Grassley and I and others can come to an agreement on how that should work. We want it to be a fair, level playing field, but you need something the big boys honest. And the only thing that really is out there is a public option.
We don’t trust the private insurance companies left to their own devices and neither do the American people. Seventy percent of the American people support a public option.
The recent polling telling Congress that America wants the government to step into health care reform and offer a public plan cannot be minimized. We are going to hold you to it. We'll be running our Blue America ads shortly. I'll be writing a post to let you know by tomorrow.
Christy Hardin Smith writes: Health Care: We’re Gonna Hold You To That Guarantee, Sen. Schumer
We're going to hold you to that guarantee, Chuck. No idea when you became the Great and Powerful Oz on health care on the Hill.
But now that you've made this public guarantee? We expect you and everyone else in the House and Senate to deliver on it. And we'll be watching you closely to be certain that you do.
Yes We Will! That's my new slogan and I hope Congress is listening.
Transcript via CBS:
SCHUMER: Well, we’re making every effort to reach common ground. But let me just say this. We need somebody to keep the public -- the private insurance companies honest. They are terribly concentrated. In Chuck Grassley’s own state, 71 percent by one company.
In 94 percent of the markets, according to the Justice Department, health insurance is highly concentrated. So without a public option, you’re going to have no competition. And the public is going to be forced -- you know, they don’t like the insurance companies simply raising prices and raising prices and cutting back on coverage and cutting back on coverage.
I am not saying that the public option should be the only option. There are some who do say that, particularly in my party. But we shouldn’t say there should be no public option. We should have this insurance exchange and let both sides compete. And let’s see which one does better.
Each one claims to have advantages. I think both will exist in the market. A public option may be better for some. A private insurance company may be better for others. No one is going to force anyone who has private insurance to give it up. The president has promised that over and over again. And we can come to a middle ground.
Already, John, the House has proposed its plan, has a strong public option. The HELP Committee, the other committee in the Senate doing this, has proposed a strong public option. The Finance Committee, we’re trying to come to some compromise but make no mistake about it, the president is for this strongly.
There will be a public option in the final bill, some form of it. And hopefully Chuck Grassley and I and others can come to an agreement on how that should work. We want it to be a fair, level playing field, but you need something the big boys honest. And the only thing that really is out there is a public option.
We don’t trust the private insurance companies left to their own devices and neither do the American people. Seventy percent of the American people support a public option. So do 50 percent of...
DICKERSON: Let me interrupt you just there, Senator Schumer. I’m sorry. Let me just ask, there has been a lot of sort of vague talk about public options, but you’ve been at work here -- and I’ll throw this question to Senator Grassley.
Senator Grassley, you have said you’re interested or intrigued at least with the notion of patient-owned cooperatives. So you’ve been in discussions with Chuck Schumer and other senators about trying to forge a compromise. Are we anywhere towards an actual compromise or is there over, broken down, and we’re moving on?
GRASSLEY: If it is in the area of what we have known cooperatives in America -- and there’s even a few insurance cooperatives already operating in America, if they’re within what we have known of cooperatives and the concept of cooperation for the last 150 years, I think we can reach a favorable compromise, and then enhance competition and enhance it in the private sector.
And then we don’t have to worry about what Senator Schumer was talking about, having the government enhance competition and teach insurance companies to be honest, because quite frankly, the government is not a fair competitor in anything, and they get us into more trouble, as you find out with Fannie Mae and housing, as just an example.
And then the other thing, if you want to keep people honest, you know, if there’s collusion within the insurance industry, we can put people in prison for collusion.
DICKERSON: Senator Schumer, let me ask you a question. Step back here for a moment, if I may, about just a question of timing here. We’re still circling around the public plan here. You have 25 days to meet the president’s deadline. He wants something by the August recess. Why so fast?
SCHUMER: Well, look, I think it is very important to get this done. And the president has pushed us and pushed us. Now, we’ve been working on this for two or three months already. We’re coming close.
There are a whole lot of areas where Chuck Grassley and Max Baucus , Chairman Baucus and I agree, such as an insurance exchange, such as an emphasis on prevention and information technology, such as some real tough regulation on the insurance companies and delivery.So, on a whole lot of this, we have agreement. There are three areas we don’t: how to pay for it, public option, and employer mandate.
And we’re working very hard to come to an agreement. Look, I’ve said to Chuck Grassley and to Kent Conrad and Chairman Baucus, if -- I don’t care what you call it. But whatever we have that has to compete against the private insurance companies -- and of course, I prefer a public option, but these are the minimum requirements.First it has to be available, on the first day, to everybody. Second, it has to be -- so there shouldn’t be a trigger, two years later, maybe we’ll have one.
Second, it has to be national. You know, I know there are co-ops in Iowa. There are even co-ops in New York. I live in one. I live in an apartment building that’s a co-op, so I’m a co-operator.
But to just have one little co-op, say, Ogdensburg, New York, and say New York is covered, when 99 percent of the people have nothing, that’s no good. Third, it has to be transparent.
In other words, we want to know -- the public option, the advantage is, when it makes a deal with the drug companies or big hospital association, we’ll know what it says and it will keep the insurance companies honest.
They don’t make their deals public. And since there’s no competition, they jack up prices. And it has to have the clout to go against the big boys. Now if we could get those four things, we could do it.
But it’s a...(CROSSTALK)
It’s a road to go.
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We'll damn sure hold you to that pledge, Chuck!
We demand single-payer. Just who do you work for, anyway? No more political contributions until we get an answer to this question. Who do you work for? Whose side are you on? Please answer. This is a no bullshitting zone. Tell the truth, even if it's ugly. Exactly why is the single-payer option "off the table?" You went to law school, right? Negotiating 101? Remember it? Why was this off the table before you even started negotiating? Just tell us the truth.
1.800.828.0498...Tell them that we need a 'WORKABLE PUBLIC OPTION" not some form with no teeth that favors the Big Pharma, HMO's, and Insurance Companies...
LETS NOT FORGET THE 'DONUT HOLE' THAT AARP SHOVED DOWN OUR THROAT AND PROMISED TO CHANGE!!!!! NOT
Obama is preparing to cave:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1246924079828...
Guess he really wants to be a one termer.
The massahs must really like us! The massahs are giving us bread crumbs tonight! We should be ever so happy.
Now, what "form" of public option are we getting Mr. Shumer?
health INSURANCE like the human body is a vehicle built by GM?
Yeah, that's why the cooperative rocks. I call, they say "Sure, come in, what 10 minutes." I get there and someone's worried about me. They give me pills for my PTSD. I'm not a machine. But, again, it's a little island in a sea of badness.
I'm at Group Health Cooperative, and it rocks, but it costs my employer a fortune (I'm a unionized academic with Cadillac benefits--er, wait--very good benefits).
Cooperatives might defuse some of the market concentration since they're not for profit, but they have to contract with for profit vendors (doctors' groups, hospitals, big Pharma) so it's kinda of spitting in the ocean.
The public option: mandating that the PUBLIC purchase PRIVATE insurance.
"And then the other thing, if you want to keep people honest, you know, if there's collusion within the insurance industry, we can put people in prison for collusion." You paid-off cowards will not even consider putting war criminals in prison. Do you think for one second we believe you will put those who pay you "campaign contributions," bribes, in other words in prison? Stop the insults. We know what you do.
...that vehicle operators either buy insurance or prove they can can self-insure, on penalty of all sorts of horrible state-imposed punishments. And yet, how many people drive without insurance? It cost a lot less to insure a vehicle than it does to buy health insurance, and we all know how well that's working. A law making it mandatory to buy health insurance is going to be unenforceable. Besides, it's like writing a law that requires you to shop at the compny store; any such law is an act of corruption. wjile they're at it, they may well as include a provision establishing debtor prisons.
Straight up single payer health care. Or socialized medicine. Or whatever you want to call it.
Even most of the conservative republicans I know are now OK with it. Except the most hard core Rush listeners and they don't really count anymore.
Single Payer:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/18/obama-doctor...
Somebody should tell Obama that HE SHOULD FOLLOW HIS DOCTORS ORDERS!!!!
Abbybwood, R.N.
agree that single payer or social medicine is best. when we initially had debates about it, this person was spewing all the GOPer/corporatist talking points. To come around to single payer/social medicine is quite the unexpected transformation of opinion. I would never have expected such a change.
it affected him somehow, screw everybody else.
.
It affects more and more people every day.
By the time 2012 rolls around...
They will end up giving us a public option that is pre-designed to fail so they can say "We tried" and enough of the public will be fooled to screw us all once again.
George Carlin had it right: "The Public Sucks! F@#K Hope!"
will be a vehicle for the insurance companies to dump the un-insurable to the Government, only the healthy will be covered by them.
Then they can tell us how socialized medicine doesn't work
I agree. There must be strict guidelines that will prevent insurance companies from dropping their most expensive policy holders. If there is not, then all of those dropped people will flood the so called public option driving up premiums.
Single payer; ofcourse, would eliminate having to enforce such guidelines because there will be no more middleman.
...but there is nothing they can do that cannot be undone, once they have been voted out of office. They are operating under the assumption that once they put something in place, anything - no matter how shitty and corrupt, the public will be placated and the issue won't arise again. In the after math, they will go about further corrupting an already corrupt and inadequate system. They're wrong, and are seriously misreading the public sentiments.
I predict that if they betray their trust to the American People, in favor of prostituting their offices to the entities that have bribed them into committing that betrayal, that they will be ejected from office and replaced with people of integrity. So what if they write a law that fucks us over? Their vote merely identifies them for prompt removal from office. Once some measure of integrity in the halls of Congress and the White House has be established, single -payer can be made a reality. A single payer or social medicine system is inevitable, because it's the only thing that will work without bankrupting the country. The elected representatives can either go about it the hard way or the esay way.
As an aside, if ever there was a case for publicly funded elections, this is it. You can tell who accepts bribes and who doesn't by the position they take on the healthcare issue. It's never been easier to tell the good guys from the rotten-to-the-core bad guys.
"There will be a public option in the final bill."
Translation: "There will NOT be a public option in the final bill."
Also, we're not leaving Iraq.
But I seen it on the TeeVee, we left, we're out already, no? yes, no?
(I'm being snarky I am well aware we are long off from being out of Iraq, just another place Obama is dragging his feet. I'm not sure what he is waiting for but let's get going)
Notice there's no mention of all the private corporate mercenaries who will be left there working for Xe (formerly Blackwater, Inc.), Triple Canopy and many others.
In the hundreds of thousands I understand...in "security" positions and with huge salaries and "Cadillac Benefits".
Oh, and they will be there without taking any oath to the Constitution and they are NOT under the mandate of The Uniform Code of Military Justice.
government.
Insurance is not the proper device for handling health care.
You can insure a business venture or decide that it is too risky. You can't make that kind of business decision about health coverage. It is contrary to the public good to drop people from medical coverage because of health or income.
The issue needs to be "is a for profit health care system moral or ethical?" and "Is health care the birthright of every Human in a civilized society?"
go hungry every day. Is food a birthright? Is this really a civilized society? A "for profit" health care system is neither moral nor ethical, but neither is our society. Corporations have all the benefits of human beings, with none of the responsibilities, and they are in charge. What are we going to do about that? Our actions will determine if we are even capable of being moral and ethical.
Insurance relies on the selection and controlling risk. 47 million people aren't insured because the industry can't make a profit on them. The poor are an adverse selection.
Insurance as a method of delivering healthcare is a failure.
food is a birthright, as evidenced by our federal food assistance programs, and all of the various world agencies dedicated to feeding hungry people.
They'll fix healthcare in just the way they've "fixed" education with NCLB--by making it MORE difficult to receive good, fair service that even more people will be disenfranchised and forced to quit and home school or send their kids to private school.
Socialism, DONE RIGHT, works. Socialism created by capitalists is doomed to fail.
Remember when the oil and car companies banded together to save L.A.'s public train system? They created something called Freeways.
by the corporate insurance companies and big pharma.
They are owned.
He/she who pays the fiddler calls the tune.
None of the Congress CARES what the American People want.
..is that although the lobbiests have all the cash, they do not have the vote. I daresay that with the public united on the issue with a now ~83% majority, that it's not going to be hard getting the votes together to throw the corrupt out of office. I'm betting that the crooks are going to be in for some rude surprises in the coming election cycles.
Two weeks ago I decided it's time to get a checkup. I have a plan that is supposed to have lower co-pays than medicare and better prescription drug co-pays. I called the doctor's office on the insurance card. They were no longer excepting patients on that plan. So I go to the directory and called other offices on the list. Nonee of them were taking new patients on my plan but one gave me a number to call for a medical referals thaat would have a list of doctors that were under the insurance plan. They gave me the number of a doctor that I called and gave them my insurance information over the phone. I made the appointment for this morning and when I got there I gave the receptionist my insurancee card.
Then, then a nurse escorted me back to the room and I waited for the doctor. My blood pressure was taken and I was weighed. When the doctor came in, he asked me about me changing from one of their doctors to this doctors office. I told him that the other doctor wasn't on the provider list and showed him the card. He must have seen a red flag because he said that he would double check with the billing clerk to make sure I was covered through their office. Well you probably guessed it, no I wasn't. I'm still looking for a doctor. All of you idiots that think you have a choice of doctors under a private plan are wrong, wrong, wrong.
you've got no choice.
You get to choose the plan your employer is willing to pay for.
And then you get to choose the doctors who that insurance company is willing to pay for.
The saddest part is, you have to PAY OUT THE NOSE for the privilege of having that LACK OF CHOICE.
In Australia, I pay nothing and get to go to any doctor I want to see--WITHOUT A REFERRAL.
I would love it if those congresspersons that trash talk public health care get rid of their public health care immediately. It's gonna be horrible! It's gonna ruin health care! You won't ever be able to see a doctor! Just don't take mine away...
with no jobs , no insurance and little hope for the future , hey whats a ton of stress to a bum ticker . If we check out just think of all the money that was saved on hospital bills and the ( worst part ) best part the gov wont have to pay SSI ( i have only paid into for the last 44 years , guess im not paid up yet ) I would say this country is a joke , but is not a joke .
I would say we need to change the laws , but then who makes the laws , save your breath its all a show , yes I will keep trying for single payer , it will never happen in the usa , to much money to be made off the chumps like me .
n/c
youngsters and the elderly whose life savings or salary's need to be confiscated to Federal custody for safekeeping.
developing in this country. Basically, we the people are sick of getting screwed by the coporate boys, and now we are powerful enough to do something about it. I mean, these insurance companies have brought this on themselves. They charge outrageous premiums, and give crap coverage, put you through a Brazilian labryinth of procedures to resolve claims. This is just like the Republicans. They screwed things up so badly during 8 years of rule that Americans were ready to elect a (somewhat) progressive (and he's black too, something no one thought would ever happen) Also, the credit card companies screwed consumers so badly that major regulations passed. If a public option is passed (please Lord) they have no one to blame but themselves. Back when Clinton took this on, one could still get decent coverage for decent price, and at least where I lived then, there was plenty of competition. Now things have changed, and its their own damn fault. People are demanding a public option because of what they have experienced with these so-called "insurance companies"
And so if we the people flood are REPS with e-mails and phone calls , that will make a huge difference compared to those big checks from ins/med/mic complex etc ? , untill the system is changed and the people who are elected to repersent us , instead of big money , there will be no change , or at least not to our benefit .
...at the polls, they will respond. The problem is what qualifies today as an avalanche of email is really a very small number when compared with the number of voters. If DiFi gets 20,000 emails in a state with millions of voters and the polls reveal no reason for her to worry, then of course she won't respond. However, if she got five million emails, and she knew those people would all work against her re-election, she would pay attention or she'd give up being a senator. (She's got lots of other options. Most of which will make her even richer.) If politicians knew that constituent contacts translated into action at the polls, and if they got enough contacts, they would respond -- or be out of office.
My point was that there simply is no overwhelming group that can be meaningfully called "we the people." If there were a true consensus and those people chose to be actively involved -- things would change. They don't change because politicians can behave the way they do and get re-elected over and over. So, why change?
The number of people who frequent C&L is utterly inconsequential in the context of incumbent re-elections.
some semantic argument over the phrase "we the people", It is just a way to indicate a majority of voters, as shown in the last two election cycles. It's either voice your opinion with your vote or....
Let's face it. It was politically expedient for her to pretend to be a Dem. That is all there is to her. Let's throw her out of the party. Hell, let's throw her out of the country. You go now, Diane! Begone traitorous wench. Go spend your money in Europe.
have voted out the repukes, and we the people, (over 70%) want a public option, and we the people are typing away about these subjects right now. Yes, there are T-baggers, corporate shills, racists, and ignoramuses(sp?) who are also "the people", but the majority rules, and right now, it seems that the majority is in favor of these progressivs policies, despite what fox news would have you think.
Huh? What do you think the reason for that is? Seriously.
n/t
.
"They charge outrageous premiums, and give crap coverage, put you through a Brazilian labryinth of procedures to resolve claims."
Isn't that what they've been telling us GOVERNMENT-RUN healthcare would be like?
I have to say, that was my experience with private health insurance as well. Red tape on a Kafka-esque level. They will fight tooth and nail to avoid paying for claims they advertise that they pay for.
from one hospital to another , 30 miles away , they the ambulance company charged my ins $7 for a pillow , $15 for a blanket , $50 for oxygen , the whole bill for going 30 miles $1700 + , what a rip .
Did you get to keep that stuff? Besides the oxygen? I once got charged $15.00 for a very small box of tissues and that was 20 years ago. They're probably $70 a box now. I had to pay over $150 to lay on some kind of plate so I wouldn't be electrocuted when my doctor cauterized my elbow. Sounds like a joke, but it's not one.
When I called about the bill , told them I was just at ***** and bought a pillow for $5 , their response so .
About your elbow , hope it ok , i know the pain mine was broken in 17 places when i was 5 years old , been a pain every since .
Mine is fine, now. How did you break it that badly? Good thing you didn't do that now. Your insurance (if you have any) would have been canceled 30 seconds before the fracture, right?
racist attack by a 17-18 year old , who picked me up and slamed me into the pavement ( he was never caught , of that im thankful for my dad would of ripped his heart out ) not all was bad it lead to music and mineralogy and a world of books and ideas .
Good philosophy. Good for you. I am speechless about the attack. If you knew me, you would know that is a rare occurrence. Sometimes, I just hate certain people. God may forgive them, but I rarely do.
no , would i extract my revenge yes , but its all a moot point , it is at this level a personal point .
I hope the children of the wars forgive and understand that they are not the only ones that suffer .
and you'll have more credibility.
...(single payer off the table) the compromise position now is the "middle ground" between a strong public option and no public option at all. That middle ground doesn't sound like a strong public option to me, and a weak public option is not going to do the job.
Cooperatives are not a compromise position between a strong public option and the Republicans favored private insurance monopolies.
How about this compromise: the Republicans agree to support a strong public option and Democrats will agree to allow Republican ideologues to continue to get screwed by private insurers.
I'd also be willing to agree to a special exemption from mandated coverage for Republicans. They still have to have insurance, but they can opt for $10,000 deductibles, with no drug benefit, and no stop loss. They can also be allowed to forgo hiring attorneys to help them with their bankruptcy cases.
That sounds like meeting Republicans half way.
.
this may become an issue with any type of Public Option; should/are medical malpractice claims, or "tort reform" going to become a bargaining chip for this legislation? Should we be prepared to have some sort of limitation on liability as to the medical providers under a public plan?
liability for a long time. You know how it is said, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature?" Well it's not nice to screw with a large group of lawyers, either. The insurance companies want what they call "tort reform," as they do not want to pay any more than they absolutely have to for anything. Lawyers are the only things standing between you and anyone who hurts you. How nice for the insurance companies if they should go away or be limited to a few thousand dollars in damages instead of a few million. The insurance companies jacked up premiums for malpractice insurance to "inspire" doctors to complain about lawyers being responsible for that increase. However, doctors are smart, and they figured out who was really causing the increase in the cost of insurance. At least many of them did. This is an ongoing battle.
THEY WILL OFFSHORE IT
like in I'd rather die then give insurance company thugs any of my money?
We're taking every damn cent and asset you accumulated in this life first before you leave.
are you conducting a debate with yourself?
how many sense ( lol ) i have right
We're in a world of shit.
Hopefully, Heather wasn't thinking "hedge" in regards to Schumer?
The day there is a viable public option, will be the beginning of the end for the corporate welfare queens in the insurance industry. They know it, and so does everyone else.
Hell, even that jackass Ben Nelson knows it.
In fact, once people see how much better health care is without the CEO's and their henchmen, single payer will be instituted with 10 years.
every time I hear this kind of crap from a corporatist, I want to roll it into a ball and fling it at them. people are getting sick of this passing of the bullshit baton from Obama to schumer to ... and the bluedogs or harry reid get in front of a mike and compromise it away. until they actually do something - "FUCK THEM ALL".
I am not buying another bag of bullshit from a democrat. fuck the DLC/DSCC/DCCC. the only difference between them and the repugs is that they get more lobbyist money because they are in the majority. If they want to worry about getting elected, they should fix the voting system and serve the people.
I know... THAT is too much to ask.
With most politicians in the pockets of the healthcare lobby, a watered down/useless public option may come to pass, but it will have no positive effect on the average schmuck out there. Truly, dear fellow Americans, when are we not going to be fooled again? A nationalized healthcare system is the only answer. A public option won't accomplish jack sh*t. Wake up.
I personal do not Like or trust Schumer..
Looks as if Schumer has carried lots of Bush's policies over into Obama's administration thru Emanuel...
The Democratic Senator was a key supporter of even the most radical Bush appointees, and then led the way in sinking an Obama appointee who made "statements against Israel."
Hayden when Bush's CIA Director, implemented, oversaw and was the chief defender of Bush's illegal NSA spying program.
Before the Senate vote, his nomination was supposedly complicated by the disclosure that the spy agency under Hayden's control illegally collecting phone records on millions of phone records on Americans.
Two weeks later, Schumer voted to confirm Hayden.
********
Schumer and Feinstein selected and picked Mukasey to be the Attorney General how refused to say waterboarding was torture and refused to repudiate the radical theories of Bush's executive power.
including the right to detain American citizens indefinitely without charges and to attack Iran without Congressional authorization.
Schumer not only voted to confirm Mukasey, but his early announced support for Mukasey (as 1 of only 6 Democrats to do so) was, along with Feinstein's support, the event that assured Mukasey's confirmation.
Bolton as Bush's U.N. Ambassador: Bolton is extremist as it gets, so much so that Senate Democrats and even some Senate Republicans joined together to refuse to vote on his nomination. But not Schumer:
Schumer is more of a citizens of Israel then that of America "As far as I am concern...
Schumer is as dirty as they get.
"We don’t trust the private insurance companies left to their own devices and neither do the American people." Schumer was right about one thing.
So let me ask you something Chuck, why even keep the insurance companies around?
We need single payer. For more info on a single payer - watch
http://1payer.net/what-is-single-payer-health...
cpt ,
Because they pay sooooooooooooooo gooooooooood ,
bol chuckie
7 senators who have been tasked with the job of killing single-payer:
Ben Nelson (DLC-NE- $1,196,799)
Max Baucus (DLC- MT- $1,184,113)
Joe Lieberman (DLC- CT- $1,036,302)
Arlen Specter (R-D- PA- $1,035,530)
Chuck Schumer (D-NY- $981,400)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY- $929,207)
Chuck Grassley (R-IA- $884,724)
So says Bob Cesca and Lee Stranahan
We need to cut THEIR medical benefits.
It is absolutely unfathomable that we taxpayers continue to foot the bill for healthcare coverage they won't let us have!
If they don't believe in government-run, taxpayer-paid insurance, they need to relinquish theirs, pronto.
90% of these idiots are millionaires. They can afford their own insurance.
The concept of insurance for business ventures, even life insurance performs a necessary function. When it comes to the nation's health it is a concept that doesn't match the needs of society
With insurance you're gaming public health. Your betting that you can pick who you can provide health coverage to and dumping a huge sector of society by the side of the road. You're allowing a guessing game of demographic analysis that you use to predict who gets coverage and who is kicked to the curb.
The concept of insurance allows highly capitalized insurance institutions to manipulate the rule of large numbers to select the segment that they can make a profit on. The greatest determinant being wealth. The poor who slave in low paying jobs are more likely to suffer from chronic illnesses that insurance companies can't make money at so simply but charging a ever increasing amount they insure their own profits by casting the poor to destitution should they or someone in their family suffer a major illness.
Using insurance as a device to provide healthcare is deplorable in a civilized society.
i think schumer is the point man for a boatload of crapola. when obama complains about moveon and various other groups pushing too hard for a public option then schumer magically pops his head up and takes the heat off obama and the waffling dems i call a technical foul for smoke and mirrors. when i hear obama,loud and clear, advocating for a public option i'll believe it, until then it's snake oil.
snake oil to keep warm , or in our ve-hickles ? .
to be something crossing ideological lines because even very conservative, religious, republican people are getting totally screwed by insurance companies too. This should not be a partisan issue, hey, republicans get sick too, and their health insurance efs them the same as everyone else. The only people against a Public option are the ins. cos and the politicians they have bought.(Oh, and the librul media, who makes dough of the prescription drug ads. And the rabid fox newsies who are going to hate anything Obama does anyway.)
in the healthcare sector seems to lie in "End of Life" Care. One saves their entire life just to give most or all of their money to medical facility that cares for them in the last few years of their lives. This needs to be be emphasized in the "cost" analysis of a Public Option.
Puhlease. Corrupt Chuck can say whatever he wants, but in the end he always sides with military and big business. He knows he has his seat as long as he wants it and can do and say whatever he wants. His actions have spoken much louder than his words over the years.
In a democracy, when someone wants change, they have to get out and make their case.
I'm not sure I've heard the case for single-payer healthcare.
And I'm absolutely certain I haven't heard a sound reason why single-payer healthcare wouldn't work.
The odd thing about this process is, IT'S NOT BEING DEBATED IN PUBLIC. The struggles, the arguments, the decisions are taking place behind closed doors.
Why is the PUBLIC being excluded from the debate?
because we do not live in a democracy.
It's still being crafted as a give away to criminals who run the insurance rackets. There should be only one option: single payer and if you don't want that buy your own insurance out of your own funds. As a tax payer, I consider any money paid to the insurance companies to be an act of theft and am unwilling to see my tax dollars going to them. If somebody wants to stay private insurance, let them pay for it out of their own pockets.
Is a pedge anything like what fills a doughy pantload?
There ain't gonna be a public option.
...keep on believing that senator Schumer. Meanwhile Rahm Emmanuel just announced that the White House would be agreeable to a bill that didn't include a public option.
So tell me of what possible use it would be? A feather in Obama's cap and nothing more. What a fucking joke.
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