119 Million Americans Want a Public Health Option -- Why Aren't Politicians Listening

[Life_Long_Dem!]

As the health insurance industry and its defenders in Congress lay out their case against permitting a public option in a reform bill, perhaps their most curious argument is that some 119 million Americans are ready to dump their private plans and jump to something more like Medicare – and that's why the choice can't be permitted.

In other words, the industry and its backers are acknowledging that more than one-third of the American people are so dissatisfied with their private health insurance that they trust the U.S. government to give them a fairer shake on health care. The industry says its allies in Congress must prevent that.

The peculiar argument that 119 million Americans must be denied the public option that they prefer has been made most notably by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which is one of two panels that has jurisdiction over the health insurance bill.

"As many as 119 million Americans would shift from private coverage to the government plan," Grassley wrote in a column for Politico.com. That migration, Grassley said, would "put America on the path toward a completely government-run health care system. … Eventually, the government plan would overtake the entire market."

Grassley's logic is that so many Americans would prefer a government-run plan that the private health insurance industry would collapse or become a shadow of its current self. That, in turn, would lead even more Americans entering the government plan, making private insurance even less viable.

119 Million Americans Want a Public Health Option -- Why Aren't Politicians Listening? | Health and Wellness | AlterNet

 

[WillowTree]

all this means is that 1/3 of you are extremely dumb!

 

[STAND4LIBERTY]

119 Million Americans Want a Public Health Option -- Why Aren't Politicians Listening

Probably Because the other 195 million are apparently smart enough to figure out that we can't afford it, have woken up to the fact that government without limits is unworkable, just plain don't trust the federal government anymore or a combination of the above.

Let's hope politicians continue "not" to listen to nanny staters this time around.

 

[Fraulein Hilda]

Nobody wants government making their health care decisions.

And sooner than later, as with all doomed entitlements, the public run health plan would be unviable.

 

[Lycurgus]

119 Million Americans Want a Public Health Option -- Why Aren't Politicians Listening

ahuh and wait until they have to live with such a system,
they will miss the thieving insurance underwriters! lol

 

[AllieBaba]

When did yahoos stop understanding the basic tenets of democracy?

 

[sealybobo]

all this means is that 1/3 of you are extremely dumb!

It's coming. I can tell because the conversations I'm having are making it obvious to me that enough people get it.

Fuck it Willow. Nobody needs you for nothing so this isn't any different. We don't need you to get this done. You get great healthcare sitting at home doing nothing to earn it. And you don't pay for it, so fuck it, right? Loser.

 

[sealybobo]

119 Million Americans Want a Public Health Option -- Why Aren't Politicians Listening

ahuh and wait until they have to live with such a system,
they will miss the thieving insurance underwriters! lol

Thats about how rediculous your arguments sound to the rest of us at this point.

Back when us worker bees had good healthcare for cheap, it would have been hard to convince us to give healthcare to everyone else.

But the healthcare companies got greedy and started overcharging us and denying us the best procedures.

So FUCK THEM! Fuck their CEO's, their PROFITS, their shareholders, etc. Fuck em! And fuck the employees that work for them. Like Auto workers, they're going to have to retrain themselves and find something else in the new global economy. Don't complain when you take a step back either. Fucking whiners.

Just like we have private schools, we can have private doctors who only cater to the rich.

And trust me, you won't be able to afford it.

 

[Navy1960]

After having read the article more than a few times, it occurs to me that your lust for a Govt. mandated health insurance program will fall short of it's goal and i'm going to tell you why. If it even passes with the current Govt. offered public health insurance. you do realize the Federal Govt. contracts all these services out don't you? Yes folks even Medicare administration is contracted to private companies because the Federal Govt. simply does not have the ability to manage 100 plus million people on a medical program. So private enterprise will win out here anyway. Let's forget the fact this is blatently unconstitutional for a moment. The Federal Govt. when it competes with a private entity that it also regulates will result in all the other entities closing up or simply not offering those services any longer. What will result is Govt. run medical insurance. the reason all this screaming is going on from the left, is this fraud is seen for what it is and they wish it to be rammed down the throats of Americans as quickly as possible.

 

[STAND4LIBERTY]

But the healthcare companies got greedy and started overcharging us and denying us the best procedures.

LOL, couldn't have anything to do with the cost of healthcare delivery spiraling out of control now could it? Naw, must be that greedy private sector conspiring to screw you and yours outta your right to be coddled from cradle to grave, huh?

George Orwell must be laughing his ass off right about now.

 

[AllieBaba]

"It's coming..."

Lol.

Viva les resistance.

Or some such rubbish.

Bobo. We live in a democracy. If you want a communist tyranny, move to Cuba. Please. We're begging you. You'll love it there.

 

[PoliticalChic]

As the health insurance industry and its defenders in Congress lay out their case against permitting a public option in a reform bill, perhaps their most curious argument is that some 119 million Americans are ready to dump their private plans and jump to something more like Medicare – and that's why the choice can't be permitted.

In other words, the industry and its backers are acknowledging that more than one-third of the American people are so dissatisfied with their private health insurance that they trust the U.S. government to give them a fairer shake on health care. The industry says its allies in Congress must prevent that.

The peculiar argument that 119 million Americans must be denied the public option that they prefer has been made most notably by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which is one of two panels that has jurisdiction over the health insurance bill.

"As many as 119 million Americans would shift from private coverage to the government plan," Grassley wrote in a column for Politico.com. That migration, Grassley said, would "put America on the path toward a completely government-run health care system. … Eventually, the government plan would overtake the entire market."

Grassley's logic is that so many Americans would prefer a government-run plan that the private health insurance industry would collapse or become a shadow of its current self. That, in turn, would lead even more Americans entering the government plan, making private insurance even less viable.

119 Million Americans Want a Public Health Option -- Why Aren't Politicians Listening? | Health and Wellness | AlterNet

“…while the numbers clearly show that people are happier with their own health care than with the system as a whole, there is no dimension with which their happier than the quality of care they personally receive…a mere 15 percent complain about the quality of care they receive.”.(New England Journal of Medicine)"
Health Beat: The Quality Question

. When you adjust for these “fatal injury” rates, U.S. life expectancy is actually higher than in nearly every other industrialized nation.
United States Health Care ranking | Independence Institute: Patient Power

The American health-care system may be a crazy mess, but it is the prime mover in the global ecology of medical treatment, creating the world’s biggest market for new drugs and devices. Even as we argue about whether or how our health-care system should change, most Americans take for granted our access to the best available cancer treatments—including the one that arguably saved my life.
My Drug Problem - The Atlantic (March 2009)

…establishing a free-market system for health care services. They believe by creating tax-exempt medical savings accounts, the consumer would gain choice and increase their responsbility for their own health care, because they would get to keep any money left over, albeit with a considerable tax penalty. But MSA's would be penalty free for withdrawals made for health care related expenses.
Project Healthy Choice: A Libertarian Health Care Reform Plan | Suite101.com

 

[Fraulein Hilda]

The Obamabots want to trade a great healthcare system for a more "fair" and "equal" healthcare system.

Can anyone think of a system liberals made more "fair" and "equal?" I know! Housing!

What are you drones going to do when taxes on private insurance dry up when you run private insurance out of business?

 

[brownlou]

One day, I had a toothache. I went to the dentist and he said my tooth needing taken out. He made appointment with an oral surgeon. Now, I didn't have dental insurance. The oral surgeon said it would be really expensive. I said how? He said "$150." $150 is totally doable so the tooth got pulled.
A few months later, my dentist decides it is time to take out my wisdom teeth. I have dental insurance now. So the dentist sends to a different oral surgeon who accepts my dental insurance. I have to pay my deductable to the oral surgeon on the day the teeth get pulled. Guess how much it is?
$600.
$150 a tooth.
What good did having insurance do me?
Who is getting scammed? The insurance company? Or me?
I am certain it was me.

My young nephew got a summer job working for a farmer. He was 19 years old and just back from his freshman year in college. One day, while he was at work, one of the farmer's cows runs my nephew over and breaks my nephew's leg in 2 places. He is taken to a hospital and a cast in put on. 6 weeks later the cast is removed and my nephew starts physical therapy. After a couple sessions, the physical therapist says that my nephew shouldn't be limping any more. He sends my nephew to a specialist who says the orginal doctor set the leg wrong. My nephew has surgery to rebreak his leg and put in a pin. All of this is very expensive but it's okay because my nephew got hurt while at work so workman's comp should cover it. Wrong! By South Dakota law, the farmer only pays the first $1000 towards an on the job injury. My nephew tried to sue but no lawyer would take the case because he had no case. Now, my poor nephew is 21 years old and almost $30,000 in debt in medical bills.

Something definitely needs to be done about health care in our country.

 

[AllieBaba]

Yes. Get rid of the insurance companies.

 

[Missourian]

Yes. Get rid of the insurance companies.

The hospitals are in on it too. I need an annual DOT physical to drive commercially. If I just pay it in cash, it's $60 but if I submit it to my insurance the hospital bills them $230.

 

[sealybobo]

The Obamabots want to trade a great healthcare system for a more "fair" and "equal" healthcare system.

Can anyone think of a system liberals made more "fair" and "equal?" I know! Housing!

What are you drones going to do when taxes on private insurance dry up when you run private insurance out of business?

They don't pay taxes.

Most Companies in US Avoid Federal Income Taxes - ABC News

Wake up.

 

[Life_Long_Dem!]

all this means is that 1/3 of you are extremely dumb!

or could it just mean that 1/3 of America is tired of getting ass raped by the insurance industry and their outrageous co-pays and tired of the greedy profiteering and costs as a whole...why do you think 46 million have no insurance, such as myself and my wife?? well when we make a combined 17 grand a year we cant exactly afford it when costs are so high now.

 

[Tinktink]

Nobody wants government making their health care decisions.

QUOTE]

Personally I would trust the government more then I trust the high school grad working 10.00+ commission at the private insurance company telling my doctor what is wrong with me.