rssAnd the Alienation Begins
Friday, June 05, 2009 at 6:37 pm
- 7 Comments
Just two days after receiving a letter from the White House urging that a public plan be part of the Democrats’ health reform strategy, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) indicated that the bill he’s working on will likely include such an option, Roll Call (subscription) reported last night.
“I think a bill that passes the Senate will have some version of a public option,” Baucus said.
That’s music to the ears of liberal lawmakers and many patient advocates, who argue that the public plan option would prevent private insurers from dictating all the terms of cost and coverage, as they do now. But Republicans have lined up in near unanimity against the idea, contending that public plans would skew the market with artificially low costs, eventually putting private insurers out of business altogether.
Democrats, including President Obama, have stressed the importance of producing a bipartisan agreement on health reform, but with the inclusion of a public plan, that wish could be shot.
Leaving the same gathering where reporters caught Baucus, Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa), the senior Republican on the Finance panel, was none too pleased that his counterpart is now leaning toward inclusion of a government-sponsored plan.
“Our caucus is very much against [a public plan.] It’s kind of a litmus test,” Grassley said. “That’s all you can say. There’s no follow-up question that you can ask me. There’s no further statement I can make about it.”
Not much room for compromise there, although Joseph Antos, health analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, did offer one suggestion about how Democrats could include their public plan and still get Republicans on board: Water it down and then name it something else.
We’ll know more next week, when Baucus is expected to unveil his proposal.
7 Comments
Comment posted June 6, 2009 @ 7:55 am
Thanks God , This will end to Insurance companies Raping of American public, Finally we would have plan people can afford and they wont hear Your not cover for this you are NOT cover for that , you have cant buy insurance because sick or u have cancer , Lord why cant u Kill this insurance companies ? They NEED TO BURN IN HELL .
Comment posted June 6, 2009 @ 4:12 pm
Not so fast there, Mike.
Bob Reich's blog warns of the moves by the Max Baucus Secret Caucus and Olympia's Snowe-job to shoot down the public option with a “trigger”:
http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2009/06/public-…
Only a continuous barrage of communications to Senators and Representatives by those favoring a real, full public plan option — no triggers, no delays, no piecemeal approaches — will be enough to overcome the entropic effects of Big Insurance and Big Pharma.
Pingback posted June 8, 2009 @ 12:31 am
[...] I assume GOPers are saying they prefer artifically high costs for your health insurance expenses and medical treatments, [...]
Comment posted June 8, 2009 @ 6:44 am
Don't blame the Republicans. We Democrats control everything except the Supreme Court.
If Congressional Democrats Want Single Payer, Voters can have Single Payer,
But Congressional Democrats don't want SP because their Campaign Contributors
would get mad at them. The problem is that Congressional Democrats have not the courage to buck Big Health Care. Where would their campaign money come from if they gave the Voters Single Payer?
I've said for a long time that Democrats Who Refuse To Enforce US Federal Torture Laws for obvious violations by Bush, Cheney and lawyers WILL NEVER GET YOU Single Payer.
They haven't the courage. Their Oath meant nothing to them.
TORTURE IS A FEDERAL CRIME SEE http://tinyurl.com/besdd3
WHY IS OBAMA PROTECTING BUSH AND CHENEY?
They obviously violated Federal Law.
IS Obama SOFT ON CRIME ?
SIGN THE PETITION To Prosecute Them For Torture
AT ANGRYVOTERS dot ORG
Over 250,000 have signed
Join them and call yourself a Patriot
.
Comment posted June 8, 2009 @ 6:59 am
There is a good way to get Republicans to push for Single Payer Health Care. Tell them that the Unions are fighting it so they can use the terrible system as a recruiting tool, and Republicans would throw their own Grandmother under the bus to stop unions.
Having heard them speak in favor of the Baucus plan I am very sorry to think it might be true.
Comment posted June 8, 2009 @ 1:44 pm
Don't blame the Republicans. We Democrats control everything except the Supreme Court.
If Congressional Democrats Want Single Payer, Voters can have Single Payer,
But Congressional Democrats don't want SP because their Campaign Contributors
would get mad at them. The problem is that Congressional Democrats have not the courage to buck Big Health Care. Where would their campaign money come from if they gave the Voters Single Payer?
I've said for a long time that Democrats Who Refuse To Enforce US Federal Torture Laws for obvious violations by Bush, Cheney and lawyers WILL NEVER GET YOU Single Payer.
They haven't the courage. Their Oath meant nothing to them.
TORTURE IS A FEDERAL CRIME SEE http://tinyurl.com/besdd3
WHY IS OBAMA PROTECTING BUSH AND CHENEY?
They obviously violated Federal Law.
IS Obama SOFT ON CRIME ?
SIGN THE PETITION To Prosecute Them For Torture
AT ANGRYVOTERS dot ORG
Over 250,000 have signed
Join them and call yourself a Patriot
.
Comment posted June 8, 2009 @ 1:59 pm
There is a good way to get Republicans to push for Single Payer Health Care. Tell them that the Unions are fighting it so they can use the terrible system as a recruiting tool, and Republicans would throw their own Grandmother under the bus to stop unions.
Having heard them speak in favor of the Baucus plan I am very sorry to think it might be true.
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