Has Obama gone too far?

The health care insurance industry is running scared. All those lovely profits are in danger. So they are engaged in a huge campaign of disinformation and rumor-spreading. It is to be expected.
I just hope and pray that they fail, because we NEED reform.

Why is it that a decent portion of the public doesn't seem to realize this (or refuses to admit it)? I was absolutely disgusted when Palin released a statement that referred to a part of the health care plan as the "death panel". Even after the White House responded to this horrendous and ridiculous claim by releasing the website whitehouse.gov/reality, that addressed all of the rumors, she still stood by her horribly ignorant/inflammatory statement.

The fact is that health care reform MUST happen.

"Republicans in the House and the Senate on Wednesday introduced comprehensive health care legislation. In doing so they showed that as the party continues to redefine itself, it is choosing to embrace some of the principles and rhetoric that have proven successful for Democratic party.

The Patients' Choice Act, introduced today by Senators Tom Coburn (R-Ok.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Reps. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), adopts many of the same goals Democrats are pursuing as they continue to draw up their own health care reform bill.

The Republican plan, however, promotes very different policies.

"Universal access to affordable health care for all Americans should be guaranteed," a summary of the legislation reads. "Congress should enact a comprehensive solution that will make our health care system work for every American every time."

The bill stands little chance of progressing in the Democrat-led Congress, but it makes a clear statement that the Republican party can "emerge as the party of new ideas," as Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele said Tuesday.

While the sponsors of the bill are critical of proposals for a "system run by politicians and bureaucrats," they have opted to propose the creation of state-run health insurance exchanges.

"States should provide direct oversight of health insurers to make sure they are playing by fair rules," the summary reads.

The bill would also promote the individual health insurance market by redirecting funds that currently subsidize employer-based funds to individuals in the form of tax credits. It also focuses on reforming Medicare and Medicaid, improving preventative medicine, and legal reforms. The legislation does not include any mandate for individuals to sign up for health insurance -- something Democrats are considering.

"As a practicing physician, I have seen first-hand how giving government more control over health care has failed to make health care more affordable and accessible," Coburn, who is a medical doctor, said in a statement. "The Patients' Choice Act will provide every American with access to affordable health care without a tax increase, more debt and waiting lines."

Insurers in the state exchanges would have to offer plans that "meet the same statutory standard used for the health benefits given to Members of Congress." They would also be discouraged from "cherry-picking" patients; the bill calls for a non-profit, independent board to penalize companies who try to do so.

States would be able to join regional arrangements to increase the size of their risk pool. The could also auto-enroll citizens into plans at places like emergency rooms or the DMV, though people would not be required to enroll.

Some people could be looking for new insurance plans, however, since the Patients' Choice Act eliminates employer subsidies for providing health care. Instead, families would get tax credits of about $5,700 a year and individuals about $2,300 to buy insurance. That may not cover the cost of signing up for a private plan, as premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $12,680 annually for family coverage in 2008, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The bill aims to move people out of Medicaid by directly subsidizing health care costs for low-income citizens. Pointing out that preventable diseases makes up 75 percent of total health care expenditures, the authors of the bill also call for increased investments in chronic disease prevention, including $50 million annually for increased vaccine availability.

As Republicans promote the private market, some Democrats are speaking out against the plan. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is responsible for crafting a proposal for a "public option," released a report today with the health care reform group Health Care For America Now showing that health insurance industry consolidation has resulted in a market failure.

Still, as Republicans embrace the message of "health care for all," some Democrats are also trying to tamper down the rhetoric of the left.

The newspaper Roll Call reported Monday that aides to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) have asked top Democratic lobbyists to hold off on giving any public opinions on health care reform. If they do not do so, the aides reportedly said the Democratic lobbyists could be left out of future negotiations, which Baucus is leading in the Senate Finance Committee. "

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/05...y5028816.shtml

Dear President Obama,

I understand you’re thinking of dumping your “public option” because of all the demagoguery by Sarah Palin and Dick Armey and Newt Gingrich and their crowd on right-wing radio and Fox. Fine. Good idea, in fact.

Instead, let’s make it simple. Please let us buy into Medicare.

It would be so easy. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with this so-called “public option” that’s a whole new program from the ground up. Medicare already exists. It works. Some people will like it, others won’t – just like the Post Office versus FedEx analogy you’re so comfortable with.

Just pass a simple bill – it could probably be just a few lines, like when Medicare was expanded to include disabled people – that says that any American citizen can buy into the program at a rate to be set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which reflects the actual cost for us to buy into it.

So it’s revenue neutral!

To make it available to people of low income, raise the rates slightly for all currently non-eligible people (like me - under 65) to cover the cost of below-200%-of-poverty people. Revenue neutral again.

Most of us will do damn near anything to get out from under the thumbs of the multi-millionaire CEOs who are running our current insurance programs. Sign me up!

This lets you blow up all the rumors about death panels and grandma and everything else: everybody knows what Medicare is. Those who scorn it can go with Blue Cross. Those who like it can buy into it. Simplicity itself.

Of course, we’d like a few fixes, like letting Medicare negotiate drug prices and filling some of the holes Republicans and AARP and the big insurance lobbyists have drilled into Medicare so people have to buy “supplemental” insurance, but that can wait for the second round. Let’s get this done first.

Simple stuff. Medicare for anybody who wants it. Private health insurance for those who don’t. Easy message. Even Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley can understand it. Sarah Palin can buy into it, or ignore it. No death panels, no granny plugs, nothing. Just a few sentences.

Replace the “you must be disabled or 65” with “here’s what it’ll cost if you want to buy in, and here’s the sliding scale of subsidies we’ll give you if you’re poor, paid for by everybody else who’s buying in.” (You could roll back the Reagan tax cuts and make it all free, but that’s another rant.)

We elected you because we expected you to have the courage of your convictions. Here’s how. Not the “single payer Medicare for all” that many of us would prefer, but a simple, “Medicare for anybody who wants to buy in.”

Respectfully,

Thom Hartmann

Yes, health care reform should happen but not in the way some people want it. It's wonderful to have a public option but all this crap about how its not going to change one's current plan or you get to keep your insurance if you want is BULLCRAP. I don't think the government is capable of running Medicare much less universal care.

While the sponsors of the bill are critical of proposals for a "system run by politicians and bureaucrats," they have opted to propose the creation of state-run health insurance exchanges.

"States should provide direct oversight of health insurers to make sure they are playing by fair rules," the summary reads.

The bill would also promote the individual health insurance market by redirecting funds that currently subsidize employer-based funds to individuals in the form of tax credits. It also focuses on reforming Medicare and Medicaid, improving preventative medicine, and legal reforms. The legislation does not include any mandate for individuals to sign up for health insurance -- something Democrats are considering.


Insurers in the state exchanges would have to offer plans that "meet the same statutory standard used for the health benefits given to Members of Congress." They would also be discouraged from "cherry-picking" patients; the bill calls for a non-profit, independent board to penalize companies who try to do so.

Some people could be looking for new insurance plans, however, since the Patients' Choice Act eliminates employer subsidies for providing health care. Instead, families would get tax credits of about $5,700 a year and individuals about $2,300 to buy insurance. That may not cover the cost of signing up for a private plan, as premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $12,680 annually for family coverage in 2008, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

LOL. Who do you think runs medicare right now?