Well, we do pay for it indirectly no matter what.
Cost and risk have been pushed onto the middle class huge. This is why everybody is bitching about taxes. The real culprit is this cost and risk consuming all the liquid dollars.
Right now, the average person making 50 to 70K, simply cannot live a modest life, save for retirement, put a kid through school, save for health care, and eat.
We all want more of our paycheck because our buying power per hour worked has remained essentially flat, while cost and risk have been rising each year, along with availablity of good paying jobs being on the decline.
If I were all of you, I would consider getting on the phones to push for some good reform.
Right now, the mandate is locked in. Right now, there are some regulations on what insurers can do, but no cost caps, no real cost containment.
It could be that you get forced to buy shitty coverage, and to pay for that same shitty coverage and high cost in the form of subsidies for lower income people.
If we don't get Medicare for all, Strong Public Option --the middle class will see more cost and risk to bear, not less.
This will basically pass. I don't see it not passing.
Insurers, bolstered by corporate Republicans (basically the whole party), and corporate Democrats (Blue Dogs), have positioned the deal such that they give some consesions:
1. No pre existing
2. Some modest cost caps in terms of young to old ratio
3. No dropping policies
etc...
These are things that people want. Why did we get them locked in so easy?
Mandates! That's why. If they expand the pool of insured, and that's a captive market with subsidies that are keyed to their costs, not some government baseline, it's a feeding frenzy for them that will easily wipe away any reduction in revenue they would see from the regulation.
This is not the right way to go. What will happen is our tax burden will go up and we all will be forced to pay for very expensive health care, getting the least services for the dollar, backed by a federal mandate.
The insurers can't wait for this to occur.
Whatever you think about this, know it will pass.
Now you decide whether or not you want your tax dollars paying insurers to maintain a 30 percent margin on health care, while adding NO value, or whether or not you want a public non-profit plan to compete and reduce costs, or you want to extend something like medicare on a buy in option, or for everyone.
By way of reference, the co-ops might save 20 percent on your annual cost, not impacting your out of pocket significantly, and would largely leave deductables intact
the public option could cut costs by 30 40 percent and have coverage comparable to medicare
extending medicare could be half or more of what your current premiums are.
Medicare for all with a tax, might double your federal tax, which for a lot of people is less than half their current premium.
This exchange being touted is an exchange that you will have to participate in. You will be forced, and without some meaningful competition, the choice of how you want to get fucked over is the change we can believe in.
I am a progressive. I am completely in favor of sharply diminishing the role of greedy, for profit insurers so that more of my dollars go to care and not CEO's.
My party is split on this. We have corporate Democrats perfectly willing to sell all of us out, get the photo op with REFORM written on it, then point fingers at election time, all while receiving huge contributions from the same insurers laughing all the way to the bank, seeing 1000 percent or more returns on their 1.4 million a day investment to prevent competition from cutting their profit, and our costs.
Progressive Democrats are the only ones right now holding the line for every day Americans. Republicans are holding together as a party, knowing that they can only gain, if there is failure right now.
This will screw you.
Blue Cross Democrats will gladly play the good cop / bad cop game with anybody willing to give them the out.
This will screw you.
Obama can only sign the legislation that comes to him. The house is a lock. Public option at a minimum. This won't screw you.
The Senate doesn't have the 60 necessary to lock the minimum legislation necessary; namely, public option. This will screw you.
http://www.firedoglake.com
Make the calls. Get on the mailing list. Donate, even if you have to hold your nose.
As Americans, we all need to wake up and realize this is about regular and substantial amounts of our money being taken from us every year, for nothing. We all need to realize that if we actually want to see some benefit, we are going to have to fight for it, like we did civil rights and other key pieces of legislation.
As Americans, we need to realize Democrats have taken us down this road. The deals have been made. Democrats own the legislation, and it's this ownership that we voted a strong majority for.
Corporations are happy to see us squabble and lose out.
Progressives right now, are not going to screw you. The rest of Washington is, and that's a fact.
Call, write, donate, get the word out.
If it were me, I would pull for extending medicare, and settle for the non-profit public plan, knowing you can choose to keep what you have got, and know you will have choices should things go bad for you.
If you don't, you will become a mandated health care consumer, member of a captive market, and all of us know what that means.
More of your dollars filling their pockets with nothing to show for it.
This is not a party thing anymore. This is corporations and wealthy against ordinary people.
Again, Progressives right now are the only ones in Washington towing the line for all of us to get a fair shake on this. Consider supporting them because it will cost you dearly not to, if for no other reason.
Thanks for reading, KSKD.
Posted on August 20, 2009 - 10:28 PM
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