Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 13:38:48 PST
|
( - promoted by buhdydharma )
According to Dr. Angell on that ;-) right wing rag, the HuffingtonPost, here's what we get with the House bill before the Senate even touches it.
* It enshrines and subsidizes the "takeover" by the investor-owned insurance industry.
* It expands Medicaid.
* It eliminates denial of coverage because of pre-existing conditions, but since it doesn't regulate premiums, the industry can respond to any regulation that threatens its profits by simply raising its rates.
* It does very little to curb the perverse incentives that lead doctors to over-treat the well-insured.
* It is so complicated, it'll cost a brazillion dollars to administer and enforce it.
(more) |
| dkmich :: Health Care Reform |
What does the insurance industry get out of it? (emphasis mine)
If a similar bill emerges from the Senate and the reconciliation process, and is ultimately passed, what will happen?
First, health costs will continue to skyrocket, even faster than they are now, as taxpayer dollars are pumped into the private sector. The response of payers -- government and employers -- will be to shrink benefits and increase deductibles and co-payments. Yes, more people will have insurance, but it will cover less and less, and be more expensive to use.
But, you say, the Congressional Budget Office has said the House bill will be a little better than budget-neutral over ten years. That may be, although the assumptions are arguable. Note, though, that the CBO is not concerned with total health costs, only with costs to the government. And it is particularly concerned with Medicare, the biggest contributor to federal deficits. The House bill would take money out of Medicare, and divert it to the private sector and, to some extent, to Medicaid. The remaining costs of the legislation would be paid for by taxes on the wealthy. But although the bill might pay for itself, it does nothing to solve the problem of runaway inflation in the system as a whole. It's a shell game in which money is moved from one part of our fragmented system to another.
Could somebody please explain to me exactly what the Democrats are celebrating? No one is even looking at what's in the bill, and they're still clapping, slapping Kucinich and Massa, and whipping the hell out of it. From what I can see, a Lieberman filibuster would be doing this country and the so called Democratic Party a favor.
Oh yes, and we get prayer therapy, Viagara and more restricted access to abortions. Let's here it for the Democratic majority's health care reform. |
|
|
WikiLeaks Mirror Sites
|
