Thursday, July 2

Talking Point for the Public Option



This debate over healthcare makes my brain hurt.

Here's the deal: anytime anyone brings up an argument against the public option, we should treat that argument as a direct attack on Medicare.

By 2050, 21% of the American public will have a "public option" in the form of this over-65 health care coverage. People who argue against a public option need to defend their position based on the public option so many Americans already have, and are violently opposed to losing.

By the way, at least half of the babies born in West Virginia, for instance, are born while on Medicaid, another "public option." The insurance/pharma concerns are sponsoring plain folks ads arguing for "affordable coverage for every American" without a public option. While I sit here and laugh, please-- I'd like to know what Blue Cross, the other big insurers, and Congress think a West Virginian single pregnant woman can "afford." Blue Cross thought I could afford over $900 a month for me and three kids. And three insurance companies rejected me for pre-existing conditions when I attempted to enter the "competitive" market and reduce my costs.

And shut the fuck up about how we'll pay for it. Costs will be reduced dramatically if we ban pharmaceutical advertising and reform executive compensation. Doctors and insurance company executives, bankers and investment analysts, can make 25 times what entry-level employees do. And CEOS can make 50 times what entry level employees do. NOT 821 TIMES.

In 2005, an average Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was paid 821 times as much as a minimum wage earner, who earns just $5.15 per hour. An average CEO earns more before lunchtime on the very first day of work in the year than a minimum wage worker earns all year.


Socialism? Populism? It's like the unregulated capitalism of the nineteenth century. It's like the unregulated capitalism of the 1920's. Once again, over and over, the ownership class is asking for a backlash from the average working person.

The public option in health care is just the beginning, and the corporate health care lobby knows it. They've milked the public by providing at highest possible cost and lowest possible payout, a product most people feel they MUST have. They have priced themselves out of the market unless they can use political corruption to buy Congress and the White House. My brain hurts.

PS. On topic, I've got a very special t-shirt to wear to Joe Lieberman's next "public" appearance:

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:55 PM

    My only argument against the "public option" is that it doesn't go far enough.

    Why limit their salaries, etc, when you can eliminate them totally (for the health insurance companies are nothing but blood sucking leeches with no value added).

    What I don't get is that the Single payer option is, by far, the most conservative solution, yet there are so few "conservatives" to endorse it.

    Why? You know why.

    MONEY

    The reason I come against proponents of the public option is that I see it exactly as I see those who voted for Obama in lieu of his hypocritical actions compared to promises made during the Primaries. And worse in the general, even after the real Obama started to emerge.

    We are, sadly again, being FORCED into the lesser of two evils, when the "Good" is Single payer.

    Most people know it, but since it is "off-the-table" they are too chickenshit to stand up for what they KNOW is right and best for this country.

    It sickens me.

    (At least I still have the health insurance to cover it... for now)

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  2. I for one openly hope that the threats Congress was clearly put under over single payer come back to haunt them. I suspect Obama does too if I'm reading his press conference performance a la "The insurance companies say they offer great service at a great price, let them compete and no preexisting condition mumbo jumbo" right.

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  3. Yes, let's milk the population's libertarian fear of evil government waste and corruption to serve our own ends.

    Works EVERY time. *rolls eyes*

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  4. jacksmith7:12 PM

    AMERICA’S NATIONAL HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY!

    It’s official. America and the World are now in a GLOBAL PANDEMIC. A World EPIDEMIC with potential catastrophic consequences for ALL of the American people. The first PANDEMIC in 41 years. And WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES will have to face this PANDEMIC with the 37th worst quality of healthcare in the developed World.

    STAND READY AMERICA TO SEIZE CONTROL OF YOUR NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.

    We spend over twice as much of our GDP on healthcare as any other country in the World. And Individual American spend about ten times as much out of pocket on healthcare as any other people in the World. All because of GREED! And the PRIVATE FOR PROFIT healthcare system in America.

    And while all this is going on, some members of congress seem mostly concern about how to protect the corporate PROFITS! of our GREED DRIVEN, PRIVATE FOR PROFIT NATIONAL DISGRACE. A PRIVATE FOR PROFIT DISGRACE that is in fact, totally valueless to the public health. And a detriment to national security, public safety, and the public health.

    Progressive democrats the Tri-Caucus and others should stand firm in their demand for a robust public option for all Americans, with all of the minimum requirements progressive democrats demanded. If congress can not pass a robust public option with at least 51 votes and all robust minimum requirements, congress should immediately move to scrap healthcare reform and request that President Obama declare a state of NATIONAL HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY! Seizing and replacing all PRIVATE FOR PROFIT health insurance plans with the immediate implementation of National Healthcare for all Americans under the provisions of HR676 (A Single-payer National Healthcare Plan For All).

    Coverage can begin immediately through our current medicare system. With immediate expansion through recruitment of displaced workers from the canceled private sector insurance industry. Funding can also begin immediately by substitution of payroll deductions for private insurance plans with payroll deductions for the national healthcare plan. This is what the vast majority of the American people want. And this is what all objective experts unanimously agree would be the best, and most cost effective for the American people and our economy.

    In Mexico on average people who received medical care for A-H1N1 (Swine Flu) with in 3 days survived. People who did not receive medical care until 7 days or more died. This has been the same results in the US. But 50 million Americans don’t even have any healthcare coverage. And at least 200 million of you with insurance could not get in to see your private insurance plans doctors in 2 or 3 days, even if your life depended on it. WHICH IT DOES!

    If President Obama has to declare a NATIONAL STATE OF EMERGENCY to rescue the American people from our healthcare crisis, he will need all the sustained support you can give him. STICK WITH HIM! He’s doing a brilliant job.

    THIS IS THE BIG ONE!

    THE BATTLE OF GOOD Vs EVIL!

    Join the fight.

    Contact congress and your representatives NOW! AND SPREAD THE WORD!

    God Bless You

    Jacksmith – WORKING CLASS

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  5. Jacksmith Where's your blog?

    http://www.blogger.com/start

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  6. I think the democrats are starting to realize that if they don't pass a health care reform bill with a real public option, they are fucked. My concern is that they will pass something that looks pretty--at first--but which is intended to fail. That should be enough to skate them over 2010. Then they have to hope that the GOP nominates Palin-Bachmann and they are home free. I think that Rahm et al. believe that they can achieve a permanent democratic majority. Didn't work well for the GOP, did it?

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  7. Anonymous12:59 AM

    I don't need Health Insurance. I need Medical Care. If I could afford Health Insurance, I could afford to just pay the doctor myself whenever I needed to go.

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  8. i think single payer is best also..... however, insurance corporations make money in two ways: 1. shaping their insured population through exclusion and pricing practices and 2. denying services by exclusion or pricing practices.

    it would be interesting to see how well they fair if there is a public competitor with no requirement to make profits or pay overpriced executives and bureaucracy, AND are regulated with respect to items 1 and 2 cited above.

    there is a massive amount of money flowing in the arena of health care. the architecture, however, is specifically designed to maximize profits, not deliver health care at all, really, but absolutely not to deliver health care to everybody.

    ReplyDelete

I really look forward to hearing what you have to say. I do moderate comments, but non-spam comments will take less than 24 hours to appear... Thanks!