Big U.S. companies balk at healthcare public option

[toomuchtime_]

Some of the nation's largest companies pushed back against U.S. Democrats' plans to deliver a government-run insurance option in a healthcare overhaul, decrying it as a step backward that would drive up costs for employers and their workers.

The Business Roundtable, comprised of chief executives at Verizon Communications (VZ.N), JPMorgan (JPM.N), General Electric (GE.N), Wal-Mart (WMT.N) and other companies that together employ more than 12 million people, said the federal government is inefficient and would underpay providers. That would result in providers boosting prices for private insurers and employers, the group said on Wednesday.

"A public plan would neither manage cost nor encourage innovation," said Antonio Perez, chief executive of Eastman Kodak Co (EK.N) and head of the Business Roundtable's health initiative. "We believe it is the wrong direction for fixing our health care system."

On Monday, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said his bill would include a so-called "public option" as an alternative to those sold by private insurers. Individual states could "opt out" against offering the plan.

President Barack Obama, who has made health reform his top priority this year, has said a government alternative will force private insurers to be more competitive.

The U.S. House of Representatives' proposals also contain a public insurance option.

Although an earlier congressional analysis found that about 9 million to 10 million people, most uninsured, would opt for the public plan, the Business Roundtable fears that number will jump as people see their private plan premiums climb.

"The costs for all of us in the system will continue to go up and again put pressure on employers to get out of the healthcare system," John Castellani, president of Business Roundtable, told reporters at a news conference.

Big U.S. companies balk at healthcare public option - Yahoo! News

 

[Annie]

I don't know they'll stand up to the Chicago Way, but this does illustrate that they feel the tide is turning and want to try and keep it going.

 

[California Girl]

I don't know they'll stand up to the Chicago Way, but this does illustrate that they feel the tide is turning and want to try and keep it going.

Just look what happened with the Chamber. Obama loved the Chamber, all was well. Then the Chamber dared to question and now the Chamber are evil baddies who are in the pocket of big business. Which is interesting, given that the membership of the Chamber is 95% small businesses.

Hmmmm. Chicago style - it's not just a pizza.

 

[Annie]

I don't know they'll stand up to the Chicago Way, but this does illustrate that they feel the tide is turning and want to try and keep it going.

Just look what happened with the Chamber. Obama loved the Chamber, all was well. Then the Chamber dared to question and now the Chamber are evil baddies who are in the pocket of big business. Which is interesting, given that the membership of the Chamber is 95% small businesses.

Hmmmm. Chicago style - it's not just a pizza.

Yet even in Chicago they often go too far. See Jane Byrne with snow. Check of Richie now with both parking meters, selling the Skyway, now thinking of selling the water allocations.

Yet never should one doubt the cojones of those that deal from the Chicago Way.

Daley defends closing of Meigs Field
By: Greg Hinz and Kelly Quigley March 31, 2003

As critics accused him of employing "storm-trooper tactics," Mayor Richard M. Daley Monday strongly defended his decision to demolish Meigs Field's only runway in the middle of the night, saying the lakefront facility posed a severe threat to the city's security.Yep without court order, they ripped up the runway in the middle of the night.

"We have done this to protect the millions of people who live, work and visit in downtown Chicago in these very uncertain times," Mr. Daley declared to a room packed with reporters at City Hall.

"We have no control over airplanes in the air," he added. "But we can control whether we have a city airport a few seconds away from one of the heaviest concentrations of people and buildings in North America."

Mr. Daley has sought for years to shut the airport and replace it with a city park, and acknowledged that many persons will question the city's motives.

"Yes, I do want a park," he said. But the mayor insisted the city could not afford the "prolonged anxiety" that might have occurred had officials given public notice of the Meigs closure, allowing the demolition to be challenged in court.

"I am not willing to wait for a tragedy to happen here before making the tough decisions," Mr. Daley said.

A 'land grab'
The mayor's critics were equally vehement, matching him rhetorical bullet for bullet.
"This smacks of totalitarianism," said Rachel Goodstein, president of Friends of Meigs, a non-profit group that represents general-aviation pilots. "It is nothing but an unmitigated land grab."

Steve Whitney, the group's founder and long-time leader, ridiculed the mayor's suggestion that someone could slip into Meigs, fill a plane with explosives and then crash it into the Loop....