Democrats Decide a Universal Public Health Care Option Should Be as Bad as the Flawed Private Plans Now

After reading the following NY Times article, I couldn’t help but jot down a few quick responses. Let’s start with the premise brought up at the end of this piece:

“…some insurers and Republican lawmakers circulated a video clip of a recent speech by Representative Jan Schakowsky, Democrat of Illinois, in which she said insurers were right to fear that a public plan option could “put the private insurance industry out of business.” Ms. Schakowsky said that might happen because of “the superiority of the public health care option.”

The bottom line: The public plan smokes the competition. It is so much better in fact that people would abandon the failed for profit inhumane system we’ve had in place for years in a heartbeat.

Even with huge majorities in Congress and a Democratic president who ran on health care reform, it might surprise you to hear that this golden opportunity is about to pass us by, resulting in an unaffordable public plan cloned from the fatally flawed private sector. Beautiful!

Remember, with overwhelming public support for a total reworking of our current health care system, the Democrats have decided to require “the public plan to resemble private insurance as much as possible.”

Thank you Sen. Chuck Schumer for these jaw dropping compromises that are “looking for a middle ground that would address the concerns of political moderates:”

Democrats want to keep premiums unaffordable: “The public plan must be self-sustaining. It should pay claims with money raised from premiums and co-payments. It should not receive tax revenue or appropriations from the government.”

Democrats will not use its size and buying power to the lower costs as it does with Medicare, promising to pay MORE: “The public plan should pay doctors and hospitals more than what Medicare pays. Medicare rates, set by law and regulation, are often lower than what private insurers pay."

Democrats want to limit public plan health care providers: “The government should not compel doctors and hospitals to participate in a public plan just because they participate in Medicare.”

Health care reform?

Never mind!

Note: Check out Rocknetroots' look at health care: the next bubble to burst.