Watering Down the Watered-Down

The Democrats are at it again. In order to further appease the minority Republicans and Blue Dogs, as well as their paymasters in the insurance industry, Dems have further watered-down the already watered-down public option...by privatizing it. So we've gone from dreams of single payer, compromising out to a public option, compromising further to a public option that allows states with Republican governors to "opt out", and finally to a plan that just forces poor people back into the private insurance market.

Thanks, Democrats. You're really turning this country around.

Leiberman Sells Us Out on the Public Option

No surprises here. Joe Lieberman, who's in the pocket of the insurance industry, will not vote with Democrats to cut off debate on health care reform if it includes even a watered-down public option. I always figured it'd be dirty Joe who shot down any chance at real reform.

A Case In Point...

A few months ago I had to take the girlfriend to the emergency room. No, I didn't end up on Cops...she was experiencing tightness in her chest and was having difficulty breathing. After calling her health plan's difficult-to-find advice line, we were advised to go to the hospital. The ER staff at CPMC took chest x-rays, an EKG, and declared her fit as a fiddle...and prescribed her an inhaler.

We opened up the mail tonight to find a bill for nearly $700...and that's after her health insurance company paid their share. We also found that the hospital had added billing codes for lab work...which never occurred that night. Apparently, these billing errors are extremely common. Health care providers, especially hospitals, have every incentive to make these kinds of mistakes and not correct them. And insurance companies just pass the buck along to you.

This is a perfect example of how broken our current health care system is. Perverse incentives, duplicate and redundant bureaucracies abound. And all of this from the same companies fighting hard to prevent true health care reform. And it's coming out of your pocket. Isn't America great?

America's Health Plan: No Mandate, and a Public Option...PLEASE

I've been reading up on Congress' latest attempt at health care reform and I'm a little concerned. So far it looks like it will have a mandate to insure, and there's a nominal public plan in the mix. But there isn't a funding mechanism yet, and such a plan would have to survive the amendment process, where Republicans and corporatist Democrats could strip or water down the public plan.

One thing's clear: mandates do not belong in this or any other bill. Forcing Americans to purchase overpriced insurance plans won't reduce the cost of care, won't achieve universal coverage, and isn't fair. And without a real public option that could cover everyone it's not reform at all.